No. 4 Auburn rallies from 18 and under, stuns no. 5 ISU in the final seconds

Johni Broome tipped in with 1.2 seconds left to give the No. 4 Auburn a come-from-behind, 83-81 win over No. 5 Iowa State on Monday in the opening round of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Broome helped set up his game-winner with a steal at the other end of the floor. He cleaned up Denver Jones’ miss on a layup attempt, but when Broome was swarmed by his teammates, he lay on the court in pain and suffered a leg cramp.

The play capped a rally after Auburn (5-0) trailed by as many as 18 points at halftime. The Tigers outscored the Cyclones (3-1) 50-32 in the second half.

Broome finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Chad Baker-Mazara led the Tigers’ surge by scoring 16 of his 18 points in the second half. Jones added 10 of his 12 points in the second half, while Miles Kelly scored nine of his 12 after the break. Tahaad Pettiford had 14 points for the Tigers.

Next up for Auburn is a Tuesday semifinal against No. 12 North Carolina, which beat Dayton 92-90 later Monday night. Iowa State will oppose the Flyers on Tuesday in the consolation bracket.

Jones’ two free throws with 4:01 left gave Auburn its first lead of the game, 75-73. He extended the lead to four on the next possession with a corner jumper.

Keshon Gilbert, who scored 23 points for Iowa State, tallied six of his points in the final 2:07 to give the Cyclones an 81-79 lead. Kelly answered with a layup with 38 seconds left to set up the wild finish.

Curtis Jones provided 14 points off the bench for the Cyclones, while Dishon Jackson scored 13 points and Milan Momcilovic added 12 points.

After Iowa State (3-1) dominated the first half with its suffocating, contorting defense, Auburn flipped the script after halftime. The Cyclones hit just 31.8 percent of their shots in the second half after shooting 58.1 percent in the opening period.

Auburn got back into it with a 13-0 run early in the second half, with Baker-Mazara closing the game with a 3-pointer, followed by a four-point play that made it 51-48 with 15:30 left.

Iowa State clung to its slim lead before Jones’ free throws began the back-and-forth final minutes.

At the end of the first half, Momcilovic bookended a six-point run with a pair of buckets as Iowa State took a 49-33 lead into halftime.

–Field-level media