AUBURN, Ala. - The 16th ranked Auburn Tigers stayed perfect in conference play Saturday night, moving to 3-0 following their 93-78 victory over the LSU Tigers in Neville Arena. Auburn pushed out to a huge 28 point lead behind hot shooting to seal their 14th win of the season.
A season high 16 steals was the driving factor to the Auburn victory. The Tigers took the ball away at an extremely high rate and ran the floor effectively.
“Just have Chad Baker-[Mazara] on the floor and that’s three or four before we even get started,” said head coach Bruce Pearl on the big takeaway total. “Chad’s length and IQ; he’s just a problem out there.”
Junior forward Chad Baker-Mazara’s six steals tied four others for second all time in program history for steals in a single game.
Baker-Mazara had it going on all sides of the ball, leading the team in scoring, putting up a season high 19 points. He would finish with a huge +23 in the plus-minus.
“It felt good,” said Baker-Mazara on his big night. “Just being out there hitting shots. Being able to help my team in many ways.”
The Northwest Florida State College transfer also saw his Auburn career high in minutes. Baker-Mazara did not waste his opportunity. “He’s so versatile offensively,” said Pearl. “I trust him as a playmaker and I obviously trust him defensively.”
Auburn would also receive a huge lift from the bench unit. The Tigers bench finished with 49 points, and sparked the run that gave Auburn their largest lead of the contest.
“It’s getting really obvious that our second group coming in is really effective defensively,” said Pearl. “[They are] playing with a different level of effort, energy and effectiveness.”
The bench was highlighted by Baker-Mazara’s 19 point night, as well as Sophomore guard Tre Donaldson’s 10 point performance on 3-5 shooting. When LSU had cut the Auburn lead to nine, it was a triple from Baker-Mazara and an and-one conversion by Donaldson that gave Auburn the breathing room they needed to polish off the win.
While the shooting stats were fairly even between the two teams, Auburn enjoyed a large advantage in the free throw category. The Tigers got to the line 31 times and made 27 of their foul shots.
“All the credit goes to the players, all of it,” said Pearl on the team's foul line success. “Those guys have spent tireless hours in the gym.”
Even Auburn big men Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell went for a combined 8-10 from the charity stripe. Auburn now averages 75% from the free throw line, a number that looks like it will continue to increase as the season progresses.
Auburn will travel to Vanderbilt for their next contest. “We have to continue to take it one game at a time,” said Pearl. “Stay humble and stay hungry.”
The midweek action in Nashville is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. CT tip on Wednesday evening. The Auburn Sports Network will have on site radio coverage, and the game can be streamed on the SEC Network.
