Johni Broome scores 21 as No. 4 Auburn wins Maui Invitational

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Johni Broome scored 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead No. 4 Auburn to the Maui Invitational championship with a 90-76 win over Memphis on Wednesday.

Auburn (7-0) opened the game with a 9-0 run spurred by Broome’s 3-pointer from the right wing just 22 seconds in.

Broome had 15 points and 11 rebounds at halftime, finishing 8-of-15 shooting from the field with six assists and four blocks.

Dylan Cardwell shot 8-of-8 from the field and finished with 18 points. Chad Baker-Mazara added 14 points and Denver Jones had 11 points for Auburn.

PJ Haggerty led Memphis (6-1) with 27 points on 11-of-20 shooting and Dain Dainja added 15 points.

Auburn, leading 47-31 at halftime, pulled ahead by 22 points with four minutes remaining.

Takeaways

Memphis: Senior guard Tyrese Hunter, an All-AAC preseason first-team selection, scored 23 points in Tuesday’s semifinal win over Michigan State. But he was held to 11 points Wednesday. Hunter didn’t score his first points against Auburn until 16:32 into the second half.

Auburn: Only two SEC teams had won the Maui Invitational in the tournament’s 40-year history. Auburn joins Vanderbilt (1986) and Kentucky (1993) as tournament champions.

Key moment

Auburn converted 3-pointers by Broome and JP Pegues on back-to-back possessions, both set up by offensive rebounds by Cardwell. After Broome hit a 3 from the right wing, Auburn forced a turnover before Pegues hit his 3 from the left wing to give the Tigers a 39-19 lead with 4:33 left in the first half.

Key state

Auburn had 23 assists and committed just nine turnovers.

Next

Both teams return to action Wednesday when Memphis hosts Louisiana Tech and Auburn visits No. 11 Duke.