BROOKLYN, N.Y. – It was déjà vu for Auburn on Friday night. Four years after hoisting the Legends Classic trophy at midcourt at the Barclays Center, the Tigers were back on the same court hosting the same trophy as winners of the 2023 Legends Classic.

 

This year’s Auburn team beat St. Bonaventure 77-60 in the championship game and outscored their two opponents in Brooklyn (St. Bonaventure and Notre Dame) by a combined 41 points.

 

“That’s a good win,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. “That’s a good St. Bonaventure team. Everybody knows what a great coach Mark Schmidt is and the job that he does. I’m proud of our kids for making history.”

 

The Tigers were led by Johni Broome who had a team high 18 points Friday and was named the Tournament MVP after averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in two games. 

 

“Honestly, I didn’t know that I would get MVP,” Broome said. “I was just happy for my teammates, especially Dylan Cardwell. I wasn’t really playing the best toward the end of the game, and he came in and made great plays, made six free throws, 6 for 6. He played unbelievable minutes.”

 

In Thursday’s 24-point win over Notre Dame, Auburn pulled away with a run at the beginning of the second half. On Friday night, the run came at the end of the first half as the Tigers closed the half on a 13-3 run to take a 48-28 lead into the locker room.

 

Freshman point guard Aden Holloway started the run with a 3-pointer. Broome made a tough lay-up inside. After St. Bonaventure made a 3, Chad Baker-Mazara responded with a 3-pointer of his own to swing the momentum back. Then senior Jaylin Williams nearly brought the house down with a steal and a left-handed windmill dunk in transition before Holloway found Denver Jones for another 3-pointer at the buzzer. 

 

“The last few minutes of the first half was pretty exciting basketball,” Pearl said. “You don’t always quite get on ones like that, but obviously we took control of the game.”

 

“Coach decided to go small and put Jaylin Williams at the 5,” Broome said. “They were quicker out there. He had an electric dunk. And we just fed off that energy. We hit a 3 ball and then another one to end the half. It just gave us energy and momentum going into halftime.”

 

Four years ago, it was Isaac Okoro who made Sportscenter’s Top 10 with his dunk in the Legends Classic championship. This year, it was Jaylin Williams. 

 

The fifth-year senior finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds to record his second career double-double. He was named to the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team along with Broome after averaging 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in Auburn’s two victories.

 

Jones’ 3 at the horn was one of three from long range for the FIU transfer who also scored in double figures with 12 points against St. Bonaventure. It was his second game in double figures this season and the 48th of his career.

 

K.D. Johnson just missed double figures with nine points while Holloway and Cardwell each chipped in eight points. Cardwell was 6 of 6 from the free throw line in the closing minutes.

 

With the win, it marks the second straight year Auburn has won an in-season tournament after winning the Cancun Challenge last season. The Tigers will return home to Neville Arena next week and face Alabama A&M on Tuesday, Nov. 21.

 

ST. BONAVENTURE POSTGAME NOTES

>> Auburn’s victory evens the all-time series against St. Bonaventure, 1-1. The Bonnies won the only previous meeting between the two teams 77-73 in the 1967 Tampa Invitational.

 

>> Auburn improved to 6-0 all-time in the Legends Classic with titles in 2019 and 2023.

 

>> The Tigers won an in-season tournament for the second-straight year after being crowned the Cancun Challenge Riviera Division Champions last November in Cancun, Mexico.

 

>> Auburn had three players in double figures led by Johni Broome’s 18 points on 7-of-11 field goals to go with five rebounds and an assist. Broome has scored in double figures in 13-straight games including all four games this season. He is averaging 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds during the stretch and 16.8 points and 8.3 rebounds this season. Broome averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in two games in the Legends Classic. He was named MVP.

 

>> Denver Jones added 12 points on 3-of-3 three-pointers and finished the night with three assists and two rebounds. It is Jones’s second game in double figures this season and the 48th of his career. He is shooting 7-of-13 from long range this season.

 

>> Jaylin Williams recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against St. Bonaventure. Williams’s first double-double was against Saint Joseph’s (another Atlantic 10 Conference member) in the 2020-21 season opener. He averaged 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in two games in the Legends Classic. Williams was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Broome.

 

>> Auburn scored 24 points off 16 St. Bonaventure turnovers. In two games in the Legends Classic, the Tigers scored 48 points off 29 turnovers.

 

>> Auburn assisted on 20-of-25 field goals against St. Bonaventure. For the season, the Tigers are averaging 20.0 assists per game and have assisted on 70.8 percent of their field goals. Nine different Tigers recorded an assist in Friday’s win.