AUBURN | No. 1 Auburn showed it’s pretty good even without its All-American.
With Johni Broome sidelined with an ankle injury, the Tigers thrashed No. 15 Mississippi State 88-66 Tuesday night at Neville Arena.
"You can't be anything but impressed. You can't," said AU coach Bruce Pearl. "First of all, the crowd was amazing. We set a record tonight: the most students we've ever had in Neville Arena.
"We felt the energy in the building, our guys felt the energy in the building. Hearing Chaney (Johnson) get introduced with the starters, and the way the crowd and the students received him. I thought it was awesome."
Auburn improves to 16-1 overall and 4-0 in the SEC.
Chad Baker-Mazara led the way scoring 18 of his 20 points in the first half and totaling four steals. Starting for the first time this season, Johnson also had a big game with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
"Knowing that Mississippi State is a physical team and knowing that they have great energy ... we knew we had to come box out and be the most physical team. I think we did that today," said Johnson.
Miles Kelly had his 5th-career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Denver Jones added 13 points and three assists, Tahaad Pettiford 12 points and three assists, and Dylan Cardwell nine points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
AU shot a scorching 55.0 percent from the floor including 10 of 24 3-pointers, had 10 blocked shots and scored 20 points off 14 MSU turnovers. The Bulldogs shot just 34.9 percent and were held 18 points short of their season average.
"Our first-shot defense was elite tonight," said Pearl. "Chaney and Dylan, their ability to stay down, be second off the floor, blocked all those shots. Just really worked hard at defending without fouling. That was the difference in the game."
AU was out-rebounded for the third time in four conference games with MSU holding a 42-30 edge. MSU scored 24 second-chance points on 20 offensive boards.
Auburn led 46-27 at halftime, holding MSU to one field goal over final 9:26. AU led by as many as 26 points in the second half.
Auburn plays at No. 23 Georgia Saturday at noon on SEC Network.
