It looked like Auburn basketball’s undefeated start was as good as done in its first game of Maui Invitational play.
That was after a nearly 20-point deficit at the half, and an impressively efficient start from the fifth-ranked Iowa State Cyclones.
But the Tigers had their answers all the way to the finish, capped by an impressive tip-in from All-American Johni Broome in the game’s closing seconds to give the third-ranked Tigers an 83-81 win in the first game of 2024 Maui Invitational play on Monday — and their second win over a top-five opponent this season.
It propelled them to a matchup with the winner of Monday night’s contest against Dayton and No. 10 North Carolina, which will be played at 10 p.m. CST Tuesday.
Here are three takeaways from Auburn’s fifth-straight win.
Auburn basketball’s Chad Baker-Mazara puts on gutsy display
After leaving early in the first half with what appeared to be an injury to his right knee, it seemed the Tigers would be without Baker-Mazara for the remainder of the night.
But, in a good turn of events for Auburn, Baker-Mazara was back on the court at halftime, testing his knee. He started the second half and proceeded to play significant minutes despite visibly playing through injury.
At one point the game’s leading scorer, Baker-Mazara finished with 18 points, three rebounds and two steals. He made 62.5% of his shots.
Tigers overcome massive halftime deficit
The Tigers trailed by 18 at one point in the first half, with the Cyclones going up 41-23 at the 4:18 mark.
That lead was erased over the next 10:27, with Miles Kelly hitting a game-tying 3 to make it 53-53 with 13:51 to go. Auburn’s comeback erasure was a point shy of the biggest in the Bruce Pearl era.
Much of that comeback was boosted by a big second half from Auburn, which outscored the Cyclones 50-32 after intermission. It trailed by 16 points at halftime.
The Tigers saw their biggest performers step up in that time. Fourteen of Baker-Mazara’s 18 points came in that span. Denver Jones scored 10 of his 12 then, Miles Kelly dropped nine of his 12, and Johni Broome added 11 to his 21-point total.
Iowa State basketball’s uncharacteristic 3-point performance sets up early advantage
The Cyclones had made 27.3% of their triples through the first three games of the season.
What they did against the Tigers, though, was some of their best work yet.
Iowa State finished the night 38.9% from deep, a hair shy of their season-best 40% against Kansas City. That was propelled by an impressive first half, in which it made five of its 11 triples.
That cooled off tremendously in the second half. The Cyclones were just 2 of 7 from 3 in the final 20 minutes.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball’s Johni Broome sinks late tip-in to beat No. 5 ISU
