When two Tigers meet in the wild only one can stand alone as the king of the jungle.
Auburn basketball protected home court securing its first SEC victory of the season defeating the Missouri Tigers 84-68.
Now sitting at 13-1 overall, the Tigers will travel to Texas and South Carolina before returning back to Neville Arena to host Mississippi State Jan. 14.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s victory over Missouri:
Balanced first half from Auburn
Auburn held a 12-point lead at halftime as five Tigers had more than five points at the break. Johni Broome led the half with 13 points as the team shot 58% from the floor to start.
Seven different players hit 3-pointers for Auburn in the first half. Missouri shot 20% from 3-point territory only draining two to start the game.
The Tigers also scored 14 points off of seven Missouri turnovers helping extend its lead to double digits before halftime.
Missouri wins in the trenches, still not enough
Even with the shooting struggles from Missouri, the black and gold Tigers dominated the glass against Auburn leading the game in the rebound category.
Missouri shot 38% from the floor halting any possible comeback in the second half. As a team, Missouri finished the game with only seven made 3-pointers.
Big players shining in big games
Captains Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara were the team’s leading scorers combining for 37 points. In the first half, Mazara connected on his third 4-point play in the Tigers last two games.
Denver Jones hot shooting streak continues finishing the game with 10 points shooting 50% from 3-point range.
Tahaad Pettiford added 10 points to his final stats as Auburn ended the game with 29 total points from its bench.
Auburn’s next game will be Tuesday at Texas and tipoff is set for 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
