Second-Half Surge Leads Fightin' Auburn Tigers Past No. 4 Houston

After turning the plane around like an angry dad, the Auburn Tigers made it to Houston and upset the No. 4 Cougars.

Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome celebrates with head coach Bruce Pearl after the game against the Houston Cougars / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

HOUSTON – With an estimated 2,500 Auburn fans trekking to Texas, freshman Tahaad Pettiford and senior Johni Broome took over down the stretch to lead the No. 11 Tigers to a come-from-behind 74-69 win over No. 4 Houston Saturday at Toyota Center.

It was an odd start to the trip after Auburn had to turn the plane around like an angry dad with some unruly kids.

“That’s a big old win right there,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “That’s Auburn being Auburn.”

Fans chanted “It’s Great to be an Auburn Tiger” as time expired after Auburn outscored Houston 46-36 in the second half and made 7 of its last 8 shots.

“Our guys stepped up,” Pearl said. “Johni was absolutely unstoppable. Tahaad Pettiford stepped up and showed up. Big road win for Auburn. A historic win. We needed this. I was so pleased with our competitiveness.”

In his second college basketball game, Pettiford hit 5 of 8 3-pointers and scored a game-high 21 points without committing a turnover in 24 minutes.

“This is what we worked for all week,” Pettiford said. “We prepared for this. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. Coach always tells us to be ready when your time comes, and tonight was my time.”

Broome made 10 of 11 2-point attempts to score 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Chaney Johnson recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Broome and Pettiford combined for 31 second-half points.

Trailing 33-28 at the half, JJ Pegues opened the second half with a steal that led to Broome’s bucket in the paint.

Houston made its first four shots and built a nine-point lead before Auburn used an 8-0 run to cut the Coogs’ lead to one on Pettiford’s jumper.

Pettiford hit a 3-pointer and a layup to keep the Tigers close before Broome’s layup tied the score at 49-49 with 8:38 remaining.

Houston hit its first 3-pointer of the half to go up by four but Pettiford and Chad Baker-Mazara answered with 3s in a 6-0 run that gave Auburn a 57-56 lead with 5:14 to play.

The lead changed hands thrice more before Pettiford’s fifth 3-pointer at the 4:14 mark put Auburn ahead 62-60.

Broome twice gave Auburn four-point leads before Houston reclaimed the lead with a steal and 3-pointer with 2:14 to go.

Baker-Mazara’s jumper at the 1:50 mark gave Auburn the lead for good and the Tigers secured the victory by going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute.

“I’m so happy for our fans and our families,” Pearl said. “The guys came together. I couldn’t be prouder of them. It takes everybody. This is going to be one happy ride home.”

After a cold-shooting start for Auburn, Dylan Cardwell’s steal and slam pulled the Tigers within one point before Johnson’s pair of free throws gave the Tigers their first lead.

Pettiford hit two 3-pointers in 39 seconds during an 8-0 run that gave Auburn a 19-12 lead.

Miles Kelly ended an Auburn dry spell with a jumper with 8 seconds left in the half, but Houston hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a five-point halftime lead.

The Coogs capitalized on eight first-half Auburn turnovers by outscoring the Tigers 11-2 in points off turnovers. Houston also outrebounded Auburn 20-16 in the first half, including 10 offensive boards, to amass a 10-4 advantage in second-chance points. Auburn outrebounded Houston 17-13 in the second half to even the battle of the boards at 33-33.

Johnson led Auburn with nine points in the first half on 3-for-4 shooting.

Auburn (2-0) returns to Neville Arena to host Kent State Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network/ESPN+ and the Auburn Sports Network.

HOUSTON POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn went with the same starting lineup as the season opener with JP Pegues, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell.

• Pegues has started his first two games in an Auburn uniform after starting 66 games in three seasons at Furman. Jones started for the 70th in his career including 35 starts in two seasons at Auburn.

• The game marked Broome’s 130th career start including his 69th start in three seasons at Auburn. Cardwell started for the fourth time in his career after starting once each of the last two seasons.         

• Auburn improves to 2-7 against Houston in the all-time series. The Tigers picked up their first win over the Cougars since 1962.

• Saturday night was the second head coaching meeting between Bruce Pearl and Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars won the first matchup between the two head coaches, 81-64, in the 2023 NCAA Second Round in Birmingham, Ala.

• The win over fourth-ranked Houston is Auburn’s highest-ranked regular season non-conference win in program history, topping the Tigers’ wins over UAB in 1984 and Louisville in the 1995 Puerto Rico Shootout when both teams were ranked No. 13. Auburn is 19-14 in its last 33 games against ranked opponents. It was the eighth time the Tigers have played a regular season non-conference game against a Top 4 opponent all-time.

• Auburn placed three players in double figures including freshman Tahaad Pettiford with a game-high 21 points, Broome with 20 points and Chaney Johnson 11. Pettiford is the first Tiger freshman to score 20 points since Aden Holloway scored 24 points against Indiana last season. He was 5-of-8 from long range including 3-of-4 in the second half when he scored 15 points.

• Broome, who recorded his 28th straight game in double figures, pulled down nine rebounds and added five blocks, two assists and two steals. He scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the second half. Johnson also grabbed a game-high 10 boards for his sixth career double-double and his first at Auburn.

• AU shot 27-of-51 (52.9%) from the floor including 16-of-28 (57.1%) in the second half and 7-of-8 to end the game against a Houston program that has led the country in field-goal percentage defense the last four seasons and five of the last six.

• The Tigers are shooting 54.8 percent through two games after shooting 36-of-64 (56.3%) in the season opener against Vermont.

• Auburn has started the season 2-0 for the seventh time in the last nine years and the first time since starting 8-0 in the 2022-23 season.

• AU’s bench scored 39 of the Tigers’ 74 points led by Pettiford and Johnson. This comes after Auburn’s reserved scored half of the team’s 94 points (47 bench points) in the season opener against Vermont.