AUBURN | Johni Broome put Auburn on his back and carried the Tigers to a big non-conference win.

Broome finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds in Auburn’s 74-57 win over Virginia Tech Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge at Neville Arena.

"Johni Broome was the best player on the floor," AU coach Bruce Pearl told the Auburn Network. "That's what an All-Conference player is supposed to play like.

"Johni came back from Thanksgiving and I think he made a decision that it wasn't going to be because of his effort and energy that he wasn't going to be able to perform."

Broome shot 11 of 19 from the floor and added three blocks and one steal. His 30 points is the most at Auburn and two points off his career-high.

"My teammates, I can't thank them enough, and my coaches," said Broome. "We knew how they were going to impact ball screens. They were going to hedge them. So it was just give me the ball and let me be a playmaker.

"And I got a couple of easy ones. I feel like my teammates put me in position to make plays."

Leading the entire game, AU put VT away with a 12-2 run to build a 21-point lead with 5:42 left in the second half.

The Tigers scored 30 points off 21 VT turnovers and held the Hokies to just 27.5 percent shooting from the floor. AU outscored VT 42-14 in the paint.

"Nobody wants to play against them because they're too well coached, they're too physical, they're too tough. But I think Coach will tell you we guarded them really well," said Pearl.

"We guarded them really hard and made it hard for them to run their stuff. I really appreciate the kids playing with such effort and energy."

AU struggled from 3-point range, making just 2 of 16.

Chad Baker-Mazara was the only other AU player in double-figures with 15 points. Tre Donaldson added nine points and Denver Jones eight.

Auburn scored 14 points off 12 VT turnovers in the first half but led just 33-24 at the break after making just 1 of 11 3-pointers. Broome had 16 points and five rebounds at the half.

"What a great crowd. We needed a great crowd. The energy was amazing," said Pearl.

Auburn, which improves to 5-1, returns to action Sunday at Appalachian State. Tip-off at the Holmes Center is scheduled for noon CT on ESPN2.