AUBURN, Ala. – Selling out Neville Arena for the 50th consecutive full-capacity game, No. 16 Auburn never trailed, defeating Vanderbilt 81-54 Wednesday to sweep the season series from the Commodores.
Denver Jones and Jaylin Williams combined to make 7 of 12 3-pointers, and Johni Broome logged his 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds while blocking five shots and making both of his 3-point attempts.
"We did what we needed to do tonight," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "Really glad to see the ball go in for Denver Jones. This is three straight where Johni's been dominant. It's good to see Jaylin Williams play well again tonight. Chad was really good off the bench."
Williams led Auburn with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Jones scored a season-high 19. Chad Baker-Mazara added 11 points.
During the sellout streak, which began Jan. 25, 2020, and does not include the 2020-21 season when attendance was limited to 20 percent of capacity, the Tigers are 47-3 at home.
"It's a great venue. It's a great environment. Neville Arena is developing itself quite a reputation. It's because of the incredible passion and support we get from the Auburn family," said Pearl, whose team has won 14 straight at Neville Arena. "We are so grateful for the support."
Leading by 10 points at the half, Auburn extended its lead to 18 before the first media timeout on a 12-4 run that featured 3-pointers from Jones and Baker-Mazara.
Auburn used a late 20-2 run to extend its lead to 31 points.
Jones started hot, hitting a trio of 3-pointers to give Auburn an 11-2 lead before the first media timeout.
"Setting the tone, hitting the 3s early," Jones said. "Our energy carried us through the whole game. Coming home in the The Jungle and shooting well in front of our fans was very fun."
Auburn scored seven points in five seconds on one first-half possession thanks to Broome's 3-pointer, a pair of free throws by Baker-Mazara, who was flagrantly fouled while positioning for a potential rebound, and a Broome bucket in the paint.
"I've been getting in the flow lately," Broome said. "That's a good thing. Hopefully I can keep it going and give my team the best chance to win."
Auburn outrebounded Vanderbilt 45-34 and held the Commodores to 15 field goals on 56 attempts, a 26.8 shooting percentage.
"I thought our halfcourt defense was outstanding," Pearl said. "I thought we rebounded a little bit better."
"Coach always talks about defense and rebounding," Broome said. "You hold a team to 27-percent shooting and your chances of winning are pretty high."
Tre Donaldson started at point guard, contributing seven rebounds and five assists.
Ven-Allen Lubin recorded a double-double in the game's first 14 minutes and finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Vanderbilt (5-15, 0-7). The Tigers won the teams' first meeting 80-65 in Nashville two weeks earlier.
Auburn (17-4, 6-2) returns to the road Saturday at Ole Miss at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
"It gets real coming up Saturday," Pearl said. "It's going to take special. We have to continue to be able to step up if we're going to be able to keep winning."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
VANDERBILT POSTGAME NOTES
» Auburn has now won seven of the last eight games in the all-time series with Vanderbilt including sweeping the Commodores this season. It was the Tigers' eighth series sweep and first since 1990. It was also the fourth time Auburn has won both games by double digits in a single season. Vanderbilt leads 36-33 in games played in Auburn, but the Tigers have won four straight home games in the series. The two teams have split eight games at Neville Arena.
» The 27-point win on Wednesday night tied Auburn's second-largest margin of victory in the 148-game series with Vanderbilt, matching a 97-70 victory on Jan. 29, 1986. The Tigers' biggest win over the Commodores was a 62-28 victory on Feb. 1, 1928.
» Auburn improves to 17-4 on the season – the 10th time in program history the Tigers have started 17-4 or better including the fourth time in the last seven seasons (20-1 in 2021-22 and 19-2 in 2019-20 & 2017-18).
» Head Coach Bruce Pearl is 15-9 all-time in his coaching career versus Vanderbilt including 7-5 at Auburn. Pearl is 9-2 at home against the Commodores including 4-1 at Neville Arena. He is 5-1 in meetings with Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse – 3-0 at Neville Arena.
» Tonight marked the 50th consecutive sellout at Neville Arena (9,121).
» Auburn has won 14 straight games at Neville Arena, which is the seventh-longest home-court win streak in program history and the longest since the Tigers won 28-straight games from Feb. 27, 2021-Jan. 14, 2023. Five of the 10 longest home-court winning streaks in program history have come under Coach Pearl.
» Auburn is 17-1 when leading at halftime this season including Wednesday night's victory over Vanderbilt when the Tigers led 37-27 at half.
» AU improves to 110-34 as a ranked team under Coach Pearl including 64-4 at home. The Tigers are 99-26 as a ranked team versus unranked opponents under Pearl including 57-3 at home.
» Auburn held Vanderbilt to a season-low-tying 54 points, which the Commodores previously did against Texas Tech. It was the Tigers' SEC-best fourth game holding an opponent to under 60 points in SEC play this season.
» Vanderbilt's 26.8 field-goal percentage (15-of-56) was the lowest Auburn has held an SEC opponent since holding Georgia to 25.0 percent shooting (13-of-52) on Feb. 1, 2012. The Tigers held the Commodores to 4-of-17 shooting from long range, which was the sixth time in the first eight SEC games, and the 10th time overall this season, Auburn has held an opponent to under 30 percent shooting from 3-point range.
» The Tigers, who have won all 17 of their victories by at least 11 points, are the only team in the country who has 16 wins by at least 15 points.
» Auburn recorded an SEC season-high 21 assists on 28 made field goals against Vanderbilt. It was the seventh time overall this season the Tigers have registered 20 assists in a game.
» AU outrebounded Vanderbilt, 45-34. The Tigers' +11 rebounding margin was their best since outrebounding Arkansas, 46-32, in the SEC opener. Auburn is 11-1 this season when outrebounding an opponent.
» Auburn made double-digit 3-pointers for the sixth time this season and matched its SEC high with 10 3-pointers against Vanderbilt. The Tigers are 13-1 this season when they make more 3-pointers than their opponent.
» AU has now recorded 5+ blocked shots in 13 straight games after recording seven blocks against Vanderbilt – the Tigers' longest such streak since a 17-game stretch during the 2021-22 season. Auburn has blocked at least five shots in 17-of-20 games this season, including the last 12 games, and is 14-3 in those games.
» Auburn placed four players in double figures led by Jaylin Williams with 21 points on 7-of-9 field goals, a season-best three 3-pointers on four attempts and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. Williams added four assists, two rebounds and one steal. It marked his sixth 20-point game over the last 14 games. He also played in his 128th career game, tying him with Doc Robinson, Mamadou N'diaye and Chris Morris for sixth all-time in program history.
» Denver Jones scored a season-high 19 points on 6-of-11 field goals, a season-best 4-of-8 3-pointers and 3-of-4 foul shots. It was Jones' sixth game in double figures this season and his first in SEC play. He went over 1,100 career points on the night, finishing the game with 1,114 points.
» Johni Broome recorded his ninth double-double of the season and the 55th of his career with 16 points and 11 rebounds to go with five blocks, four assists and one steal against Vanderbilt. He has scored in double figures in 12 straight games during which he is averaging 16.2 points on 57.7 percent shooting from the floor and 8.9 rebounds.
» Chad Baker-Mazara scored in double figures for the 10th time this season including four times in eight SEC games. He finished the night with 11 points on 4-of-8 field goals, including one 3-pointer, and 2-of-2 free throws. Baker-Mazara added five rebounds and four assists versus the Commodores.
» Tre Donaldson made his fifth career start and grabbed a career-high-tying seven rebounds for the third time this season next to seven boards at Arkansas and versus Indiana.
