AUBURN | Notre Dame came into halftime with a lot of momentum closing with a 14-5 run at the break.

That momentum hit a brick wall in the second half.

Auburn started the second on a 13-0 run on its way to an 83-59 blowout win over the Irish Thursday night in the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

"We played great second half defense," said AU coach Bruce Pearl, who bemoaned AU's second-half struggles on defense in the first two games. "They were a little tired. I thought offensively, we got what we wanted. We got really good looks. I thought we shared the ball really well. So it was a good win.

"Notre Dame is a historic program in the ACC. It’s a good win in our league."

The Tigers, which improve to 2-1 on the season, shot 53.4 percent from the floor including 9 of 20 from 3-point range. Notre Dame was held to 26 points on 22.2 percent shooting in the second half.

Aden Holloway, in his first-career start, and Johni Broome led AU with 15 points apiece. Jaylin Williams had 11 and Tre Donaldson and Chris Moore 10 apiece.

AU had 21 assists for the game including five apiece by Donaldson and Holloway. Donaldson didn’t have a turnover in 17 minutes of play. Broome had seven rebounds and Williams six.

Auburn led by 15 points with four minutes left in the first half but Notre Dame cut it to 39-33 at the break. AU shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the first half including 5 of 10 from 3-point range, but was out-rebounded by ND 21-13.

AU turned the tables in the second half, out-rebounding ND 22-14.

Auburn will play St. Bonaventure in the championship game of the Legends Classic Friday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.