BY JEFF SHEARER
AUBURNTIGERS.COM
Oklahoma 70, AU 98
AUBURN — Reaching the halfway mark of SEC play without a conference loss, No. 1 Auburn blocked 11 shots in a 98-70 thrashing of Oklahoma on Feb. 4 at Neville Arena, the Tigers’ 14th straight win.
“We had an advantage on the inside,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “I was really pleased with our effort. We’ve got great size at the rim. That was the key to us being able to hold them down.
We’ve got some big, long guards. Our length was a factor tonight.”
Dylan Cardwell swatted six of Auburn’s rejections, adding eight points on four dunks, including a sensational reverse slam of Denver Jones’ lob, prompting the game’s loudest cheers.
“I just threw it to the rim,” Jones said. “I had no idea he was going to try to reverse that.”
Like every other opponent this season, Oklahoma had no answer for Johni Broome. The national player of the year frontrunner again filled the box score with 15 points, a team-high six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
“Cardwell’s so big and he’s active on the glass,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “It’s two of them, and then they’ve got shooters everywhere. They’ve really got a complete team. The physicality and the size they have, they make you pay.”
Leading by 10 at the half, Chad Baker-Mazara scored Auburn’s first eight points of the second half and the Tigers led by double-digits the rest of the game.
Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the home team ahead by 18 points. Jones scored 13 points and was 3-for-3 on 3-pointers, adding four assists and three rebounds while compiling a team-best plus-26.
Baker-Mazara fouled out with 9:34 to play but not before scoring 11 of his 15 points in the second half to help the Tigers lead by 21.
Tahaad Pettiford added three 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 11 points, one of five Tigers in double figures.
Chaney Johnson scored 13 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
The Tigers held the Sooners to 33.3% shooting, including 7-of-23 (30.4%) on 3-point shots.
“They made 18 baskets,” Pearl said. “Pretty good defense. Our offensive efficiency numbers are what they are, we’ve got inside-outside, and the fact that we will guard. Those two things together are why we are the No. 1 team in the country.”
Auburn shot 68.1 percent on 2-point attempts int the first half while building a 10-point halftime lead.
Miles Kelly opened the game with a corner 3-pointer after Broome’s assist, but the Tigers made only 1 of 11 long-range shots the rest of the half.
Auburn post players Broome, Cardwell and Johnson combined for 24 first-half points on 9-for-14 shooting.
Pettiford drove and dished to Cardwell for the first of Dylan’s dunks. After Pettiford hit a pair of free throws following a technical foul on the Sooners, Johnson lobbed to Cardwell for another slam that gave Auburn a 10-point lead.
Auburn ended the half on a 6-0 run, taking a 44-34 lead to the locker room after Chris Moore’s driving layup with 3 seconds left.
“They tell me every day to be aggressive,” said Moore, who scored six points and grabbed three rebounds. “When I’m aggressive, that adds another element to our offensive side.”
POSTGAME NOTES
• Auburn improved to 21-1 overall this season – the nation’s best record. It marked the 13th time the Tigers have won 21 games in a season including the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
• The Tigers remain the only undefeated team in SEC play at 9-0.
• The 28-point win is Auburn’s largest margin of victory over an SEC opponent this season.
• AU blocked an SEC season-high 11 shots against Oklahoma.
• Baker-Mazara, Jones and Cardwell have started all 22 games this season. The group is 16-1 as a starting unit this season.
• Broome passed Rasheem Barrett for the 15th all-time on Auburn’s career scoring list and became the 15th player in program history to surpass 1,400 career points, finishing the night with 1,406 points.
• Jones was perfect on the night going 4-of-4 from the floor, 3-of-3 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line. He added four assists, three rebounds, one steal and only one turnover. He finished the night with exactly 1,500 career points.
• Cardwell became the first player in Auburn history to play in 150 career games on Tuesday night. He set a career high with six blocked shots to go with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting, three rebounds and one assist.
Florida 90, AU 81
AUBURN — No. 1 Auburn started fast but No. 6 Florida made 13 3-pointers to win 90-81 Saturday at Neville Arena, ending the Tigers’ 14-game winning streak.
“Give Florida all the credit,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “They came in here like they had to win it. That’s how they played every possession. They played harder, they played better, they played more desperately. We did not look like the No. 1 team in the country, we did not act like the No. 1 team in the country, we didn’t prepare like it and as a result, we got beat.”
Chad Baker-Mazara got the Tigers off to a great start with a 4-point play. A 9-0 run gave Auburn an early 10-point lead before Florida outscored Auburn by 20 points over the last 14 minutes of the half.
Miles Kelly made two 3-pointers in 33 seconds and led Auburn with 12 first-half points, but the Gators outscored the Tigers 14-5 over the final 3:09, ending on a 6-0 run to lead 48-38 at halftime.
The Tigers fell behind by 21 early in the second half when Florida’s Urban Klavzar hit two 3-pointers in 13 seconds.
Auburn scored six points in 50 seconds on a free throw — Tahaad Pettiford’s 3-pointer and Kelly’s layup after Denver Johnson’s steal — leading to a Florida timeout with 13:11 to play and the Tigers trailing 68-53.
Johni Broome scored and drew a foul, missing the free throw but getting an offensive rebound and passing to Kelly for a corner 3-pointer, pulling Auburn within nine with 8:33 remaining.
“Just trying to cut the lead, “Kelly said. “At that moment, we needed a couple stops that we didn’t get.”
Florida’s offensive rebounding cost Auburn a chance to get closer, leading to Denzel Aberdeen’s third-chance 3-pointer with 7:08 to play, a turning point in the Tigers’ comeback bid that helped the Gators lead by double digits until the final 90 seconds.
“The last 36 minutes of the game, I thought we were as good as you can be in an environment like this,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “Our players deserve all the credit for this victory today. Bruce and their program have done an incredible job. They’re the best team in the country. It’s an incredible venue.”
Looking to rebound from its first SEC defeat and first loss in more than two months, Auburn (21-2, 9-1) was set to play at Vanderbilt on Feb. 11.
“Keep doing what we do,” Pearl said about preparations for that matchup. “You’ve got to embrace the grind. It’s a grind for everybody. We know that’s going to be a tough place to win.”
Results of the Vanderbilt game were unavailable at press time.
Auburn retained its No. 1 national ranking this week despite losing to the Gators, while the University of Alabama moved up to No. 2.
Auburn and Alabama will face off on Saturday, Feb. 14 in Tuscaloosa, marking the first time in SEC history that the top two teams in the country will meet in a conference showdown. The game will air at 3 p.m. on ESPN.