Auburn Tigers Ride Johni Broome to Scrappy 62-57 Win Over Ole Miss Rebels

The Auburn Tigers entered the SEC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, and they looked like a team that lost their last-two games and hadn't played in a week. It was a slow, scrappy start, but the Tigers pulled off a 62-57 win vs. the Ole Miss Rebels.

When the Tigers struggled on offense, SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome put the team on his back with 23 points and 15rebounds.

“Johni carries us,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He puts us on his shoulders. He’s one of the best competitors. He hates to lose.

“We held them to 57 points. Defense and rebounding win championships, and that’s what carried the day. If you can get stops, you can win. It was a good team effort.”

Tying Mike Mitchell’s 50-year-old program record with his 18th double-double of the season, Broome scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

“BP talks about it all the time, keep trying to make history,” said Broome, who was 8 of 14 from the field and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. “I play for the name on the front and the back of my jersey. Auburn means a lot to me. To cement myself into Auburn history is a blessing.”

Chad Baker-Mazara didn't start for the Tigers. He was ejected after a flagrant-two in Auburn's last game against Alabama. He checked into the game after three minutes in the first half.

Auburn got off to a slow start to open the game. The had just six points after seven minutes on 2 of 9 shooting. Both of those makes were 3-pointers from Denver Jones.

Ole Miss was cold to begin the game as well. The game was tied at six at the 15-minute mark.

Dylan Cardwell got into early-foul trouble. He picked up his second foul with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half and went to the bench.

Auburn opened the game with eight of their nine shots as three pointers before going inside to Broome. Broome was fouled at 12:39 and marked the first time the Tigers went to the foul line.

The Tigers had fallen behind 11-6 but went on a 7-0 run punctuated by a Broome slam.

This Johni Broome dunk over 2 Rebels gives Auburn its first lead since 3-2. pic.twitter.com/mVgKQJXfRR
— Matthew Wallace (@mattwallaceAU) March 14, 2025

After the slow start from beyond the arc, Auburn found success moving the ball inside. However, Tahaad Pettiford hit a three-pointer at 3:09 to give Auburn a 27-18 lead.

A scrappy first half closed with Auburn leading 29-22. Neither team shot particularly well in the first half. Auburn was just 10/28 (35%) but Ole Miss struggled even more at 7/26 (26%). Despite having four offensive rebounds to Ole Miss's three, the Rebels had eight second-chance points to the Tigers' four, helping to keep them in the game despite the poor shooting.

The second half provided much better execution on offense including an alley-oop from Baker-Mazara to Broome that helped stymie an Ole Miss run. The teams were a combined 11 of 12 from the floor in the first-six minutes of the second half.

This lob 👀 pic.twitter.com/WdxSDeRvcd
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 14, 2025

Auburn held a 46-39 lead with 10:46 left to play when Ole Miss went on a 5-0 run to cut it to 46-44 with just over seven minutes to play. Auburn came out of a timeout and got the ball low to Broome who missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Sean Pedulla hit a running left-hander in the lane to tie the game for the first time since early in the first half. Chris Moore was fouled on the other end for Auburn, and like Broome, he missed the front end of the one-and-one.

Some good defense led to an open three pointer for Chaney Johnson who buried his first basket of the game to give Auburn a 49-46 lead. A three-point play by Broome pushed the lead back to 52-47 with four minutes to play.

Some sloppy ball handling kept the Rebels within shouting distance in the final two minutes. Auburn had an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers, but a clutch left-handed bank from Broome put the game on ice with 11 seconds left.

Auburn vs. Ole Miss Box Score

Auburn takes on the winner of Tennessee and Texas Saturday at noon EST.