Johni Broome racked up 20 points and 12 rebounds as No. 2 Auburn held on for an 87-82 win over Texas in a Southeastern Conference game on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.
The win was the 214th for Tigers coach Bruce Pearl, propelling him to No. 1 in all-time coaching wins at the school. He had been tied with Joel Eaves (1949-63).
Broome’s double-double was the 70th of his career – and his 10th this season. Miles Kelly added 18 points, Chad Baker-Mazara had 16 and Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford tallied 10 each for Auburn (14-1, 2-0 SEC), which won its seventh straight game and first true road contest this season.
Arthur Kaluma scored a career-high 34 points for the Longhorns (11-4, 0-2), who have dropped two straight games. Jordan Pope added 19 and Tre Johnson scored 11.
The Tigers broke open a tight game with a 12-2 run early in the first half on the way to 12-point lead at halftime. Auburn pushed the margin to 21 points seven minutes into the second half, but the Longhorns began chipping away at the deficit, pulling to within 83-80 on two free throws by Pope with 33 seconds remaining.
A pair of free throws by Jones with 17 seconds left was answered by two from the charity stripe by the Longhorns’ Tramon Mark six seconds later. Pettiford then iced the game with two free throws with six seconds to play.
The Tigers came out of the game’s first media time out on fire, scoring 12 of the ensuing 14 points. Pettiford’s 3-pointer granted Auburn a 20-10 lead with 10:18 left in the half.
Texas responded, culling the deficit to five points after a pair of free throws by Kaluma at the 2:06 mark. Auburn answered by finishing the half on a 9-2 run to forge a 39-27 lead at the break.
Kelly led Auburn with 13 points in the half as the Tigers outshot Texas 50 percent to 40 percent, including 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. Kaluma paced the Longhorns with 14 points; Texas stayed in touch by outscoring the Tigers 7-1 at the free throw line.
Auburn scored the first four points of the second half and stoked its advantage to 20 points on Jahki Howard’s layup with 13:54 to play.
–Field Level Media
