Fresh off a statement win over Ohio State, No. 2 Auburn aims to extend its dominant run against visiting Georgia State on Tuesday.
The Tigers (9-1), who received 12 first-place votes in Monday’s AP Top 25 poll, followed a 98-54 win over Richmond with Saturday’s 91-53 victory against the Buckeyes in Atlanta.
AP Preseason All-American Johni Broome became the first Auburn player to record 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Kelvin Ardister in 1989. Broome tallied 21 points and 20 boards, increasing his team-best 19.7 points and nation-leading 12.7 rebounds per game.
“(Johni) is so incredibly talented,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “A 20-20 game where he missed nine shots, and every one of them looked like they were going to go in.”
Following the Tigers’ six-point loss at then-No. 9 Duke on Dec. 4, Auburn’s two-game winning streak has provided historic offensive numbers. Looking to extend the trend Tuesday, Pearl’s group won’t take any opponent lightly.
“That was the largest margin of victory Auburn’s ever had over a power five school,” Pearl added Saturday. “It’s because we took a really well-coached Ohio State team and respected them. But now we’ve got Georgia State on Tuesday, so it’s a short turnaround and then Purdue on Saturday in Birmingham. So we’ve still got two tests before Christmas break.”
Following Broome’s lead, Chad Baker-Mazara chips in 12.6 points per game, while Tahaad Pettiford has added 11.1 points per contest in 10 games off the bench.
Walking into the buzzsaw that is Auburn basketball, Georgia State (4-6) enters on a three-game losing streak. Tuesday marks the Panthers’ third game against a Southeastern Conference opponent, they’ve already suffered a 35-point loss at Mississippi State and a 29-point drubbing at then-No. 8 Kentucky.
Last time out, Georgia State fell at home to Charlotte on Saturday, 77-63. The Panthers’ shooting woes proved fateful, as they shot just 34.5 percent from the field and 11.1 percent (2-for-18) on 3-pointers. Zarique Nutter (19 points) and Nick McMullen (13) combined to shoot 12-for-20 from the field on Saturday, with the rest of the Panthers totaling just eight made field goals.
Seeking its first win since Nov. 17, and 1-7 all-time against Auburn, Georgia State won’t roll over.
“We’ve got a lot of courage in this locker room,” Georgia State head coach Jonas Hayes told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday. “That’s the little voice in the back of your head that tells you to mail it in and you say, ‘You know what, I’m going to get up and we’re going to try this thing again.’ And that’s what we’re going to do. That’s the next step.”
Nutter paces the Panthers with 17.9 points per game, followed by Toneari Lane’s 14.5, Cesare Edwards’ 11.8 and McMullen’s 10 ppg marks.
Georgia State stays in the state of Alabama on Saturday with a meeting at Troy, before hosting Mercer in its final nonconference game of the season.
–Field Level Media
