AUBURN | The 3-pointers weren’t dropping but the defense and a bevy of high-flying dunks were more than enough for No. 5 Auburn against Kent State.

The Tigers held the Golden Flashes to 32.8 percent shooting in a 79-56 win Wednesday night at Neville Arena.

Auburn, which improves to 3-0, had 12 dunks including four by Chaney Johnson, who had 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He added five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

"Chaney's our hardest worker. He's in the gym all the time," said AU coach Bruce Pearl. "His confidence is up and his teammates believe in him. He can sit down and guard and you know what, you better bring it strong to the rim because he's a freakshow."

Johni Broome had his 61st double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. He added four assists and three blocked shots. Chad Baker-Mazara and Denver Jones added 12 points apiece.

The Tigers shot 49.1 percent from the floor but made just 6 of 24 3-pointers. AU held a 41-33 rebounding advantage and had 23 assists.

Auburn out-scored Kent State 22-3 to open the game and led 36-22 at the break as the Golden Flashes made just one of their first 12 shot attempts.

But KSU got back in the game with a 12-0 run late in the first half and opened the second out-scoring AU 15-5 to cut the lead to 41-37 with 15:38 left.

The Tigers responded with a 13-2 run and held a double-digit lead for the remaining 14 minutes of the game.

“We beat a good Kent State team,” said Pearl. “They’ve got a chance to win their league. They’ve obviously got a lot of heart. Got it to five in the second half. They made shots, made plays.

“I thought offensively, we really shared the ball. We did not have a letdown after the big victory on Saturday.”

Auburn hosts North Alabama Monday night at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.