ATLANTA – Auburn made a season-high 14 3-pointers, tied the program record with only three turnovers and finished the first half with a nearly flawless stretch to beat Indiana 104-76 Saturday in Holiday Hoopsgiving at State Farm Arena.
"A great victory over a historic program," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "We played really well. I don't know that we can play much better. We shot it well, defended well, took care of the basketball and each player played to the level of their ability at a high end."
Aden Holloway connected on 5 of 8 3-pointers and scored a career-high 24 points and Jaylin Williams tied his career-high with 24 to pace six Tigers in double figures. K.D. Johnson scored 14 points, Denver Jones added 12, Chad Baker-Mazara scored 11 and Tre Donaldson scored 10.
The Tigers produced a sensational 25-3 assist-to-turnover ratio, committing their last one while holding the ball in the final seconds.
"That was beautiful basketball," Pearl said. "That's a big win for our league. That's our best win of the year so far."
Auburn connected on 14 of 29 3-pointers, a 48.3-percent clip, while making 20 of 23 free throws and outrebounding the Hoosiers 39-35. Dylan Cardwell led Auburn with eight rebounds while Johni Broome and Donaldson each grabbed seven.
Auburn turned a 12-point deficit into an 18-point halftime lead, outscoring the Hoosiers 42-12 over the final 12 minutes and 33 seconds of the half.
The Hoosiers came out hot, hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers to take a 16-6 lead out of the first media timeout, with Holloway's pair of 3-pointers accounting for Auburn's first points.
"That didn't rattle us at all," Johnson said. "We stuck together and fought until we came back."
Indiana used a 6-0 run to take a 22-10 lead, Auburn's biggest deficit of the season, before back-to-back 3-pointers by Williams and Jones cut the deficit in half at the under-12 media timeout.
Auburn erased the deficit entirely before the next timeout on a 6-0 run that featured Holloway's layup in traffic sandwiched between four Jones free throws.
Playing in his hometown, K.D. Johnson made highlight-reel reverse layups deserving of an NBA venue and gave Auburn its first lead with a pair of free throws.
Williams' follow-up slam capped a 12-0 run that energized the thousands of Auburn fans in attendance. Williams led the Tigers with seven assists and added six rebounds.
Johnson drew a foul on a reverse layup that took the crowd noise to another level before giving the Tigers a double-digit lead with another layup after Baker-Mazara's steal and assist.
"You can see a little bit of SEC speed and athleticism that was a factor in that game," Pearl said. "I'm really proud of K.D. for hanging in there and knowing this is what he can do to turn a game around."
Tre Donaldson's steal led to another Johnson layup to put Auburn up by 15 before another Indiana turnover led to Holloway's 3-pointer with 3 seconds left for a 52-34 halftime advantage.
"I got some clean looks early which got me going," Holloway said. "It was good after that."
The Tigers had 13 assists in the half against only one turnover while making four steals and outscoring Indiana 11-0 in points off turnovers.
Indiana shaved seven points off the lead to pull within 11 early in the second half before Williams, Baker-Mazara and Johnson made 3-pointers, with K.D's 3 giving the Tigers a 21-point advantage.
Donaldson and Lior Berman added 3s to give Auburn a 24-point lead, with Donaldson's second 3 putting Auburn past the century mark.
"They physically took us out of everything we wanted to do," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "You've got to give them credit."
Auburn (6-2) heads to Huntsville, Alabama, to play UNC Asheville Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT in the Rocket City Classic at Von Braun Center.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
INDIANA POSTGAME NOTES
>> With the win, Auburn evened the all-time series with Indiana, 1-1. The Hoosiers won the only previous meeting between the two teams, 107-90, in the second round of the 1987 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana.
>> The Tigers tied a school record with just three turnovers versus Indiana. It marked the third time they have committed only three turnovers in a game next to Jan. 19, 1970 at Georgia and Feb. 4, 2012 at Mississippi State.
>> Auburn set season highs for points in a half by scoring 52 points in each half and points in a game with 104 points. It was the most points the Tigers have scored in a game since scoring 109 points in a double-overtime game against UConn on Nov. 24, 2021, and the most in regulation since a 109-86 win at South Carolina on Jan. 23, 2021. It was also the most points in any half since Auburn scored 52 points in the second half against Iowa in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament. It was the most the Tigers have scored in the first half since scoring 52 points in the first half versus Georgia in 2022.
>> AU drained a season-high 14 3-pointers including going 8-of-12 from deep in the second half of play. It was the most 3-point field goals the Tigers have made since making 14 three-pointers versus Nebraska in the team's 2021 Holiday Hoopsgiving game. Auburn's previous season high was 11 3-pointers against Notre Dame in Brooklyn, N.Y. Seven different players made a 3-pointer for the Tigers versus the Hoosiers.
>> Auburn recorded 25 assists on 35 field goals against Indiana. It was the Tigers' most assists since they recorded 26 assists against Nebraska in the 2021 Holiday Hoopsgiving game. Eight players recorded an assist for Auburn on Saturday.
>> The Tigers overcame a 12-point first-half deficit (22-10) in their win over Indiana. It was the largest deficit they have overcome to win a game since erasing a 14-point deficit in an 80-71 victory at Ole Miss in 2022.
>> Auburn won its fourth straight game over a Big Ten Conference opponent. The Tigers previously defeated Nebraska (99-68) in the 2021 Holiday Hoopsgiving game, Northwestern (43-42) in the 2022 Cancun Challenge and Iowa (83-76) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
>> The Tigers had six players in double figures for the first time since the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament against Iowa.
>> Aden Holloway (24 points) and Jaylin Williams (24 points) became the first Auburn players to record 20-point games in the same game since Jabari Smith (31 points) and Walker Kessler (22 points) did so against Vanderbilt on Feb. 16, 2022.
>> Holloway scored a career-high 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, making 5-of-8 3-pointers and 5-of-5 free throws. He also added two assists and a rebound in the win.
>> Williams tied a career high with 24 points on 8-of-14 field goals and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. He finished with seven assists, one off his career high, six rebounds, one block and one steal.
>> K.D. Johnson scored a season-high 14 points on 5-of-9 field goals, including one 3-pointer, and made all three of his free throws in the win. The Atlanta native finished the day with three assists, two rebounds and a steal. He has scored in double figures in all three Holiday Hoopsgiving games played in his hometown, going for 12 points against Nebraska in 2021 and 14 points against Memphis last season.
>> Denver Jones recorded his third game in double figures of the season and the 49th of his career with 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting, 2-of-4 3-pointers and 4-of-4 free throws. He also contributed two assists and one rebound in the victory.
>> Chad Baker-Mazara came off the bench and chipped in 11 points, four assists, one rebound and one steal in the win over Indiana. He was 4-of-8 from the floor, 1-of-2 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
>> For the first time in his career, Tre Donaldson has registered consecutive games in double figures after scoring 10 points, all in the second half, on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc in the victory over Indiana. He added a career-high seven rebounds, three assists and two steals on the day. Donaldson scored 12 points in Auburn's last game at Appalachian State.
