Johni Broome had 18 points and 10 rebounds and No. 12 Auburn used a suffocating defense to overwhelm No. 15 South Carolina 86-55 in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament on Friday in Nashville, Tenn.
Chaney Johnson finished with 11 points and K.D. Johnson had 10 for the fourth-seeded Tigers (25-7), who allowed just seven field goals while building a 20-point halftime lead and coasted throughout the second half. They will face No. 9 seed Mississippi State, which upset top-seeded Tennessee 73-56 earlier in the day, in the semifinals Saturday.
B.J. Mack scored 14 points and Zachary Davis had 10 to lead the fifth-seeded Gamecocks (26-7), who weren’t much more competitive than they were in a 101-61 road loss to Auburn on Feb. 14. South Carolina shot just 28.1 percent from the floor.
South Carolina crept within 16 points early in the second half but couldn’t sustain its offense.
Tre Donaldson made a jumper and a 3-pointer and Auburn quickly expanded the margin to 24 before leading by as many as 32 points.
The Gamecocks led briefly during the first three minutes of the game before going ice cold.
Denver Jones scored five straight points and four teammates also scored during a 13-0 Tigers run that gave them a 28-14 lead.
Collin Murray-Bowles made one free throw for South Carolina to end a scoreless stretch of more than 4 1/2 minutes. Ta’lon Cooper added another free throw before Jacobi Wright made a jumper to end a field-goal drought that lasted 7:33.
Mack added two free throws to pull the Gamecocks with 10, but Chad Baker-Mazara scored four straight to give Auburn a 34-20 lead. Cooper’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 10 before South Carolina went cold again.
Chaney Johnson scored five points and Broome added four during an 11-0 run by the Tigers. Cooper’s free throw ended a scoring drought of more than three minutes for the Gamecocks, leaving Auburn with a 46-26 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media