No. 4 Auburn rebounds from a deficit of 18 and stuns No. 5 Iowa State in the final seconds

Johni Broome made a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left to give No. 4 Auburn an 83-81 victory over No. 5 Iowa State in the opening round of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Monday.

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

The game 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 the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Chad Baker-Mazara led the Tigers’ recovery 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 points after halftime. Tahaad Pettiford contributed 14 points for the Tigers.

Jones’ two free throws with 4:01 remaining gave Auburn its first lead of the game, 75-73. On the next possession, he extended the lead to four with a corner kick.

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

Curtis Jones contributed 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 stifling, pressing 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 came back with a 13-0 run to start the second half, Baker-Mazara capped the win with a 3-pointer, followed by a four-point play that made it 51-48 with 15:30 left .

Iowa State maintained its slim lead before Jones’ free throws started a back-and-forth affair in the final minutes.

Late in the first half, Momcilovic hit two shots to cap off a six-point run, giving Iowa State a 49-33 lead at the break.

–Field level media