Auburn basketball’s balance carries the Tigers to ‘best road win of the year’

Auburn men’s basketball has won games in a variety of ways this season. That’s no surprise for a team that is 20-1, on a 13-game winning streak and ranks No. 1 in the country.

Against Ole Miss, a game Bruce Pearl called Auburn’s "best road win of the year," the formula was balance.

Five different Auburn players scored in double figures and each of Auburn’s starting big men --Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell -- finished with a double-double, heling Auburn earn the 92-82 victory in Oxford.

"It’s going to be a different guy every night. That’s the great thing about this team," Cardwell said after the game. “We’re all happy for each other. No one’s sad they’re not playing, no one’s sad they’re not getting the possessions they want. Everyone’s just happy for each other.”

Cardwell had one of the most impactful performances of the day, finishing with 10 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. He also made four of his five free throw attempts after coming into the game shooting 29.4% from the line.

Broome, Cardwell’s frontcourt partner, once again led the way in scoring, finishing with 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The two of them also combined for eight assists.

“They were just too physically dominant,” Pearl said after the game. “They’re two gentle giants. They’re great men, great people. But they can obviously play with a physicality and a dominance. Dylan has a double-double, four assists, no turnovers. I mean, that wins. It travels.”

Saturday was also Auburn’s best 3-point shooting performance of Southeastern Conference play, finishing 14-for-28 from beyond the arc. Five different players hit a 3-pointer and four made multiple.

Chad Baker-Mazara had the most success from long range, finishing with 18 points and making four of his six 3-point attempts.

What jumped out most about Auburn’s offensive performance was the Tigers' ability to make shots whenever Ole Miss started to go on a run and the Rebels' raucous crowd was able to get back into the game. Those big plays came from a variety of different players, further showcasing the depth and balance of the group.

“BP recruited some killers. We’ve got some guys that just aren’t right in the head,” Cardwell said. “I’ve never seen a group of guys embrace this -- it seems like sometimes when we have to play on the road, it’s more enticing. We love our fans, we love what we have in the stadium. But sometimes on the road, these guys just get going.”

The win gives Auburn its 13th Quad I win of the 2024-2025 campaign, one away from tying the SEC record for Quad I wins in a season. That would be another accolade for a team that continues to breeze past every midseason milestone with relative ease.

For context, Auburn won just three Quad I games all of last season, a campaign in which the Tigers finished 27-8 and won the SEC Tournament. It shows the difficulty of an SEC road win like Saturday’s that has come to feel routine.

“Just a tough, gritty road win,” Pearl said to Auburn radio postgame. “We’ve got things we know we need to work on. But to beat a ranked team? On the road? Like this? Wow.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com