BY NOAH GRIFFITH | FOR THE OBSERVER
Auburn –– No. 16 Auburn men’s basketball (14-2, 3-0) won its ninth consecutive game with a 93-78 win over LSU on Saturday.
The victory over LSU (10-6) was its eighth in that stretch by 15 points or more – all of which have come by double digits. It was its third straight win to start SEC play, while previously unbeatens Kentucky, Georgia and LSU went down. That leaves Alabama and Auburn as the only teams without a loss in conference play.
“I feel like every game we’re clicking even more on and off the court,” said junior guard Chad Baker-Mazara. “I’m still trying to get a little bit more, but it will come.”
LSU went on a 9-0 scoring run to bring the game within single digits with 5:34 left in the game, but Baker-Mazara quickly turned the tides with his third 3-pointer of the night and Auburn ran away with the win.
Baker-Mazara notched his season-high in scoring with 19 points off the bench on 5-for-10 shooting, and he led the swipe party with six of the team’s 16 steals. The team forced 17 LSU turnovers and turned them into 26 points.
“Chad’s length and his IQ – he’s a problem out there,” Pearl said. “He’s so versatile, offensively. The fact that he knocked down three threes tonight, shot a good percentage, I trust him as a playmaker and obviously trust him defensively.”
Following Baker-Mazara’s lead, Johni Broome dropped 18 points, capitalizing on his three steals and seven rebounds. Joining the big men in double figures, Aden Holloway splashed three more 3-pointers to notch 13 points on the night.
Auburn was hot from the start, jumping out to a 17-point halftime lead after Holloway got the game started with two threes in the first 2:23. LSU showed some fight, but it couldn’t keep up with Auburn without its top scorer in the last 16 minutes of the game.
LSU’s leading scorer, Jalen Cook, scored seven points in the first 3:28 of the game but didn’t score again, as he left the game after the first four minutes of the second half and didn’t return.
In his absence, Auburn limited the prolific guard duo of Cook and Jordan Wright to 25 points combined. While Wright and Trae Hannibal each put up 18 points and Tyrell Ward hit four straight shots from beyond the arch, LSU’s offensive explosiveness was dampened by the constant turnovers.
After Baker-Mazara’s 3-pointer extended Auburn’s lead to 12 with just over four minutes to play, Auburn’s sound shooting from the free-throw line propelled it to the buzzer. It went 27-for-31 from the free-throw line, led by a perfect 6-of-6 from Baker-Mazara to close out Auburn’s third straight win over LSU.
With Pearl’s 187th win at Auburn, he moved into second in all-time wins as a head coach for Auburn basketball. He surpassed Cliff Ellis (1994-04) and now trails only Joel Eaves (1949-63), who has 213 victories.
Pearl will go for win No. 188, his tenth straight, in Nashville on Wednesday, January 17, when it takes on Vanderbilt (5-11) at 8 p.m. CST.
