Auburn Handles Memphis to Win Maui Invitational

Another big night from their big men wins Auburn the mid-season tournament

Auburn took down Memphis to win the Maui Invitational / Marco Garcia-Imagn Images

The No. 4 (7-0) Auburn Tigers took down the Memphis Tigers (6-1) 90-76 in the Championship Game to win the Maui Invitational. 

“Our fans traveled. Our kids were excited about playing every single game,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “We dominated and we controlled the game. Big win for our program. Auburn’s name is going to be on this building forever. We came here to make history and I’m really proud of our club.”

Just like its wins over No. 12 North Carolina on Tuesday night, Auburn never allowed Memphis to hold a lead. It went on a 9-0 run out of the gate and never looked back. Memphis never cut Auburn’s lead to a single-digit margin in the second half.

Once again, the standout for the Tigers was Johni Broome with another double-double (21 points, 16 rebounds). 

"I trust the guys around me,” Broome said. “I don’t mind having 10 assists. If they want to keep double teaming me, that’s fine.

“We played tremendous defense and tremendous basketball against great opponents,” Broome said. “Our word this year was sacrifice, taking care of your body, not being up too late, getting to things on time. All those things help win championships.  These last two days, we’ve shown how committed we are to each other because we see how good we can be.”

While Broome dominating games has been nothing out of the ordinary for Auburn since he joined the program, Auburn’s other big man stepped up as well. Dylan Cardwell had 18 points, three rebounds and shot a perfect 8-8 from the field.

Similar to other wins this season, Auburn’s control of the glass helped it get the job done. Auburn out-rebounded Memphis 32-26 total, 11-8 on the offensive side and 21-18 on the defensive side. This led to an 18-14 advantage for Auburn in second-chance points.

Auburn shot 56.7% from the field, 33.3% from 3-point range and 82.4% from the free-throw line. The Tigers, wearing white jerseys, were led in points and rebounds by Broome who had 21 and 16 respectively. Broome and Cardwell co-led the team in assists with six.

Memphis shot 50% from the field, 66.7% from 3-point range and 73.7% from the free-throw line. The Tigers, wearing black jerseys, were led in scoring and rebounds by PJ Haggerty 27 and nine respectively. Tyrese Hunter led the team in assists with five..

Auburn returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 4 when it takes on No. 11 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. 

Another tough non-conference opponent on the schedule has arrived. 

“We played really well,” Pearl said. “We put a really good foot forward. We’re going to celebrate this for a couple days. I’m going to give the guys Friday and Saturday off. It’s been a pretty good few days for the Auburn Tigers.”

Tipoff is set for 8:15 p.m. CT and ESPN will carry the television broadcast.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn wins the first Maui Invitational title in program history and joins Vanderbilt (1986) and Kentucky (1993) as the only SEC programs to win the title. It was Auburn’s fourth in-season tournament title in the last six seasons, including three straight, after winning the Legends Classic in both 2019 and 2023 and the Cancun Challenge in 2022.

• The Tigers are 5-1 in two all-time appearances in the Maui Invitational after posting a 2-1 record in the 2018 event.

• With the win, Auburn now leads 3-1 in the all-time series with Memphis (including 2-1 under head coach Bruce Pearl).

• For the fifth-straight game, Auburn went with the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell.

• Auburn is off to a 7-0 start for the third time under head coach Bruce Pearl after starting 15-0 in 2019-20 and 8-0 in 2022-23.

• The win marked Coach Pearl’s 207th victory in his 11 seasons at Auburn, putting him six wins behind Joel Eaves, who won 213 games 14 seasons as the Tigers’ head coach, for the most career coaching wins in program history.

• Auburn shot 56.7 percent (34-of-60) including 64.0 percent (16-of-25) in the second half. It marked the fourth time the Tigers have shot over 50 percent this season.

• The Tigers tied a season high with 11 offensive rebounds for a season-high 18 second-chance points against Memphis.

• Auburn scored 20 points off 11 Memphis turnovers and 44 points in the paint, which was the third time the Tigers have scored at least 40 paint points including a season-high 50 points in the paint against North Alabama.

• The Tigers had four players score in double figures, led by Johni Broome, who recorded his fifth straight double-double with 21 points and 16 rebounds to go with six assists, four blocks and a steal versus Memphis. Broome secured his 65th career double-double in the first half, making it the second-straight game he has posted a double-double in the first half with 15 points and 11 rebounds to go with five assists, three blocks and a steal before halftime.

• Broome became the first Auburn player to record five-straight double-doubles since Jeff Moore in 1988. He moved past Charles Barkley for 28th on Auburn’s career scoring list finishing the game with 1,188 points. Broome averaged 21.7 points, 15.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.0 blocks per game to bring home 2024 Maui Invitational MVP honors.

• Dylan Cardwell set new career highs with 18 points on 8-of-8 field goals including one 3-pointer and six assists against Memphis. He added three rebounds and one steal in the win. Today was Cardwell’s 135th career game, which surpassed Frankie Sullivan for second in program history.

• Chad Baker-Mazara scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting including 1-of-2 from long range against Memphis. He also went 3-of-3 from the foul line for his fifth-straight game in double figures and sixth of the season. Baker-Mazara finished the day with five assists and three rebounds. He averaged 15.3 points on 51.7 percent shooting, including six 3-pointers, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in three Maui Invitational games.

• Denver Jones chipped in 11 points, including 4-of-4 from the foul line, to go with three rebounds and two assists for his sixth game in double figures this season including five straight. Jones averaged 11.0 points in three Maui Invitational games.