The Auburn Tigers got back on track on Valentine’s Day night with an absolute dismantling of No. 11 South Carolina by a score of 101-61.
The huge win was good for Auburn’s largest win over a ranked opponent in the entire history of the program.
Auburn is now 13-0 at home this season along with a 20-5 overall record and 9-3 in the SEC.
The Tigers were flying on all cylinders from the opening tip, leading 50-28 at halftime against a Gamecocks team that had not allowed more than 40 in a half all season. South Carolina had been giving up just 64 points per game, good for 8th in the nation in scoring defense.
Slingin' it pic.twitter.com/bsP2ERsec2
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 15, 2024
https://t.co/1xupOOly0b pic.twitter.com/32wijlOxHb
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 15, 2024
https://t.co/Vyu5kqSelu pic.twitter.com/HCxctwRcFo
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 15, 2024
The second half would present more of the same for Auburn, resetting their record total given up by the Gamecocks in a half with a 51-point second frame.
It was the usual suspects putting up big numbers for the Tigers as well, with Jaylin Williams scoring 16 in just the first half and finishing with 23 while Johni Broome put up 21 of his own along with two blocks.
THIS MAN CAN'T STOP🧹🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/YmeKkK3FqL
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 15, 2024
And that's a 20 point game for JWill 🥹🪣 pic.twitter.com/fQGrQrHKhF
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 15, 2024
Dylan Cardwell had 8 points, 5 assists, and four blocks including an alley-oop slam in the game’s final minutes to electrify the crowd:
The Exclamation Point pic.twitter.com/ytB3mwWIKD
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) February 15, 2024
“When you get nine three-balls from your starting front court, it kind of makes everything you might try to do offensively work,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl after the game.
“That makes you hard to guard, because what do you do? If you don’t switch, we’re going to get those shots. If you do switch, we’re going to have mismatches on the inside.”
It seemed everything was falling for the Tigers, shooting 12 of 20 (60%) from the three-point-line and 36 of 59 (61%) from the field, while the Gamecocks shot just 3 of 15 (20%) from three and 18 of 52 (34.6%) from the field.
Auburn now pulls into a tie for second place in the conference with South Carolina at 9-3, while 9-2 Alabama remains a half game ahead.
Pearl’s group has another huge matchup at home this Saturday, taking on Kentucky at Neville Arena at 5:00 P.M. CST on ESPN.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP
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