The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
Auburn head basketball coach Bruce Pearl
November 27, 2024 – HAWAIII - the Auburn University men's basketball team defeated number 12 ranked North Carolina to advance to the championship round of the Maui Invitational. The number 4 Tigers had previously beaten number 5 Iowa State. They will play Memphis who has beaten Michigan State and the University of Connecticut. Auburn is 6 and 0 with three wins against teams in the top 12.
While Auburn had to come from behind to narrowly outlast Iowa State, Tuesday's (in Hawaii time) game against North Carolina was total domination by the Tigers 85 to 72. Auburn led by 8 points at halftime.
6-10 Senior Forward Johni Broome had a monster night against North Carolina to lead the Tigers in scoring and rebounds with 23 points and 19 rebounds. Broome also had five assists in a truly all-around performance.
Chad Baker-Mazara contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds; while Miles Kelly added 15 points and 2 rebounds. Denver Jones had 10 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Chaney Johnson came off the bench to brings 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists along with Tahaad Pentford who added 10 points 2 rebounds, and 3 assists.
The Tigers shot 43.5% from the field, 36.7% from three, and 82.4% from the free throw line.
Auburn head Coach Bruce Pearl said, "Having six guys in double figures was really, really, goud. Our guys shared the ball very well."
Pearl said that Broome was just a three star prospect who did not play for the best AAU teams in Florida and does not have an NBA body. "He just proves people wrong." "He still has got a big chip on his shoulder."
"Our perimeter defenders are all going to be challenged," Pearl said of playing Memphis in the Championship game. "Penny always plays a really tough schedule and he has a lot of great guys that have transferred in from other places."
Auburn will play Memphis at four p.m. today on ESPN. (an earlier version of this articles reported that as "noon" as that was the number quoted in the aftergame press conference).
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