Auburn basketball picked up a 78-65 win over Michigan basketball on Friday night that was a testament to their bevy of scoring options. National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome, Denver Jones, and Tahaad Pettiford led the onslaught for Auburn, and in the process, they became the first trio to score 20-plus points in regulation of a Sweet 16 game or later in 35 years.

“Tonight for Auburn:

Broome: 22 points, 16 boards
Denver Jones: 20 points
Tahaad Pettiford: 20 points

They’re the first trio each with 20+ points in a regulation game in the Sweet Sixteen or later in 35 years,” Jared Berson shared in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Of Auburn's 78 points, the aforementioned trio scored 62 of them. Broome led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-21 shooting, while also dominating the glass, chipping in 16 rebounds. If there was one thing head coach Bruce Pearl had a problem with in this game, though, it was Broome’s inconsistent shooting. 

During his postgame press conference, Pearl remarked on Broome’s inefficiency by quipping, “He scored 22 points, he had 16 rebounds, and he missed 11 shots! You had a triple-double!”

Pearl’s math was off because Broome missed 12 shots. However, the joke landed as cleanly as Denver Jones’ shotmaking. 

Jones did most of his damage from outside the arc, dropping 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, which included him hitting four of his seven three-point attempts. On a night when Auburn’s second-leading scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, was off the mark, Jones picked up the slack. The senior guard put on a show, drilling shots behind the arc off the dribble and splitting the defense in transition by picking up his dribble and wrapping the ball behind his back.

Off the bench, the 6-foot-1 true freshman Pettiford scored 20 points as well on 7-of-14 shooting. The 2024 McDonald's All-American has been on an absolute tear in the tournament, averaging 19.7 points per game during Auburn's run to the Elite Eight. After Broome picked up his fourth foul at the 6:51 mark in the second half, Pettiford went on to score 13 of his 20 points. That was the theme of Friday night for Auburn. When one teammate got cold, another kept Auburn’s offense sizzling.

Michigan held it close for a while but was overwhelmed in the second half. Auburn will now move on to the Elite Eight, where they will face off against Michigan State basketball in a highly anticipated matchup.