No. 2 Auburn uses team effort to dominate Richmond

Miles Kelly and Tahaad Pettiford scored 15 points apiece and No. 2 Auburn never trailed in cruising to a 98-54 rout of visiting Richmond on Sunday afternoon in Auburn, Ala.

The Tigers (8-1) bounced back from a disappointing showing at ninth-ranked Duke on Wednesday by placing six players in double-figure scoring and rolling to their third win by at least 30 points ahead of nonconference games later this month against Ohio State and Purdue.

Kelly and Pettiford combined to shoot 8 of 15, and each made four 3s for the Tigers, who led by double digits most of the game.

Chad Baker-Mazara added 13 along with Jahki Howard, who appeared in his second game since Nov. 6 against Vermont. Johni Broome added 11 as did Denver Jones, who was scoreless against Duke.

The Tigers shot 47.8 percent from the floor (33 of 69), hit 13s and converted 15 dunks and layups. Auburn also outrebounded Richmond 49-31 and scored 22 second-chance points.

Mikkel Tyne scored 16 to lead Richmond (4-5), which fell to 0-27 all-time against top-five opponents. Dusan Neskovic added 12 and Delonnie Hunt contributed 10, but the duo shot a combined 5 of 24 as Richmond shot 27.1 percent (16 of 59) in its first game since Nov. 27 and was unable to get its seventh win in school history over a top-10 opponent.

Pettiford sank 3 3-pointers in the first seven-plus minutes and finished off a four-point play for a 22-8 lead with 12:34 left in the first half. The Tigers kept surging ahead and consecutive dunks by Howard opened a 33-16 edge with 7:57 left. Auburn held a 52-27 lead by halftime after Kelly hit two 3s in the final 94 seconds.

Auburn put the game away in the opening minutes of the second half and scored 12 straight points for a 66-29 lead on Baker-Mazara's dunk with 15:35 left. Two free throws by Pettiford hiked the lead to 77-36 with 11:25 remaining and Auburn cruised the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media