Broome Injured, but Johnson Breaks in Auburn's 100-59 Win Over Georgia State

A dominant outing from Chaney Johnson in Johni Broome’s absence allowed Auburn to dominate Georgia State.

Auburn Tigers forward Chaney Johnson has a breakout night to take down Georgia State / Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 2 Auburn Tigers earned a 100-59 win over Georgia State in its penultimate game before the holiday break

Chaney Johnson had A breakout performance, leading all scorers with 26 points and shot 12-of-14 from the field. Denver Jones put on a 3-point shooting show case, nailing 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Auburn won its third game in a row in its second-to-last home game of non-conference play.

“Chaney Johnson was dominant,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “I’m really proud of him. Nobody works harder than Chaney. (Assistant coach) Ira Bowman is in the gym with him all the time. He’s got a really nice inside-out game.”

“It’s a great feeling,” Johnson said. “I’m playing behind two of the best bigs in the country. It was a great feeling to get on the court a little more than usual and perform.”

This 100-point night comes without Johni Broome for the majority of the game after he left due to a shoulder injury. 

“His right shoulder came out and came right back,” Pearl said. “He did it a year ago, so he’s had some experience with it. We’ll know a lot more tomorrow. I hope he’s going to be okay.”

Georgia State (4-7) managed to hang with Auburn (10-1) throughout the first half, but an 11-0 run by Auburn helped them pull away for good. Georgia State’s Malachi Brown ended the run with a lay-up to trim Auburn’s lead to 18, but the Tigers’ lead did not dip below 16 for the rest of the game.

Auburn did not out-perform on the glass tonight, something that has not been a common theme this season. Both teams had 34 total rebounds, Georgia State controlled the glass on the offensive end 17-10, leading to a two-point advantage for them in second-chance points, and Auburn led 24-17 on the defensive end.

Auburn shot 57.4% from the field, 36% from 3-point range and 80.8% from the free-throw line. The Tigers were led in scoring and rebounds by Johnson who added eight boards in addition to his 26 points. Chad Baker-Mazara led the team in assists by six.

Georgia State shot 33.9% from the field, 18.2% from 3-point range and 65% from the free-throw line. The Panthers were co-led in scoring by Cesare Edwards and Nick McMullen with 15 points each. McMullen led the team in rebounds with 16 and co-led in assists with Brown, each having two.

Auburn returns to action on Saturday when it takes No. 16 Purdue at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. at 3:30 p.m. CT. ESPN will carry the television broadcast.

POSTGAME NOTES

• With the win, Auburn now leads the 8-1 all-time series against Georgia State. The Tigers are 7-1 against the Panthers on their home court including 3-0 in Neville Arena.

• Head Coach Bruce Pearl improves to 3-0 versus Georgia State with all three meetings coming during his tenure on The Plains.

• The win marked Coach Pearl’s 210th victory in his 11 seasons at Auburn, putting him three wins behind Joel Eaves, who won 213 games in 14 seasons as the Tigers’ head coach, for the most career coaching wins in program history.

• For the ninth-straight game, Auburn used the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. Jones, Baker-Mazara, Broome and Cardwell have started all 11 games this season.

• Auburn has now won 59 consecutive home non-conference games.

• The Tigers played before a sold-out crowd of 9,121 for the 60th consecutive time at Neville Arena.

• Auburn has recorded three wins by at least 40 points in a season for the third time in program history – 94-43 over Vermont, 98-54 over Richmond and 100-59 over Georgia State. The Tigers’ three 40+-point victories are the third most in a single season in program history. The 1998-99 and 2018-19 Tigers both had four 40-point wins.

• AU cracked the 100-point mark for the second time this season (102 points vs. North Alabama). The Tigers have scored at least 90 points in three-straight games and four of the last five.

• Auburn scored 57 points in the second half, the most points for the Tigers in any half this season. The Tigers shot 69.2 percent (18-of-26) overall in the second half including 6-of-11 from long range. They also went 15-of-20 from the foul line after halftime. Auburn shot 57.4 percent (35-of-61) for the game, the fifth time the Tigers have shot 50 percent this season.

• The Tigers scored a season-best 50 bench points against Georgia State. Their previous high was 47 bench points against Vermont.

• After holding Georgia State to 59 points, Auburn has now held five opponents to under 60 points this season including the last three contests.

• Auburn set season highs with 20 turnovers forced and 30 points off turnovers. The Tigers’ previous season highs were 16 turnovers forced versus Vermont and 26 points off turnovers against North Alabama. Auburn also set a season high with 11 steals, topping the Tigers’ 10 steals against Vermont and Richmond.

• Auburn placed three players in double figures, led by Chaney Johnson, who scored an Auburn career-high 26 points on 12-of-14 field goals to go with eight rebounds, a season-high-tying four assists and a season-high two steals against the Panthers.

• Chad Baker-Mazara scored in double figures for the ninth time this season including the eighth time in the last nine games. He turned in a season-high 19 points and added a season-best six assists, four rebounds and one steal. Baker-Mazara went 11-of-11 from the free throw line, moving his streak to 35-consecutive made free throws (his second attempt after going 1-for-2 against North Alabama on Nov. 18), which breaks Wendell Green Jr.’s school record of 34-consecutive free throws during the 2022-23 season.

• Denver Jones scored 17 points on a season-best 5-of-7 three-pointers. It was the ninth time Jones has scored in double figures this season.

• Johni Broome tied Frank Tolbert for 23rd on Auburn’s career scoring list with 1,242 points.

• Dylan Cardwell’s two blocked shots moved him ahead of Horace Spencer for fifth on Auburn’s career blocked shots list with 171 blocks to date. Cardwell played in his 139th career game, which tied Jaylin Williams for the most games played in program history.

• JP Pegues surpassed the 1,100 career scoring mark with his 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining in the game, finishing the night with 1,101 points.