Auburn, a new school basketball power, routed Indiana, one of the sport’s blue bloods, 104-76 on Saturday in Atlanta.

It did so in front of an NCAA Tournament-esque environment at an NBA arena where Auburn fans spent much of the day drowning out the well-traveled Hoosier contingent.

Auburn bounced back in an emphatic way from last weekend’s loss to Appalachian State. Head coach Bruce Pearl had all week to prepare, and it was clear Auburn took advantage of it.

Here are three takeaways from Auburn’s win.

A look at 42-12 run

Auburn was ambushed out of the gate by an Indiana team that has shot the 3-pointer terribly this season. Indiana made four of five 3-pointers before the under-16 timeout in the first half and eventually took a 22-10 lead.

In that stretch, Indiana was beating Auburn at its own game, getting out in transition and scoring from a variety of avenues.

And then Auburn made adjustments. It led to a dominant 42-12 run to close the first half.

So what happened? There were a few reasons.

First, Jaylin Williams quietly played a stellar first half. He was largely tasked with the not-exactly-enviable Kel’el Ware assignment, and he aced it. Ware did not have an impact on this game. While Williams gives up height to the Hoosiers big man, but proved to be a really good matchup with his length.

Auburn threw a number of assignments and looks at Ware and power forward Malik Reneau. Auburn tried a two-center lineup with Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome. It brought Chaney Johnson and Chris Moore into the post on doubles. It made the Hoosier front court appear uncomfortable.

Indiana’s 3-point shooting regressed back to its mean, and Auburn forced a nine-minute stretch where it did not allow a basket. On the other end, Auburn’s guards all made big offensive and energy-building contributions. Whether it was KD Johnson’s Tasmanian Devil-esque play, Aden Holloway returning to form or Denver Jones having his best half as an Auburn Tiger, the guards were stellar.

It led to a season-high 52-point first half and more than 100 total.

Bruce Pearl needed to see if Auburn could shoot it better. Answer? Yes.

Auburn had two consecutive poor shooting games against Virginia Tech and Appalachian State. It didn’t cost Auburn against the Hokies, but against the Mountaineers, Auburn could not overcome a 3-27 shooting day.

So on Thursday, Pearl said Auburn’s biggest question would be if it could shoot the ball better.

Yes, it could.

Auburn shot 14-29. That’s compared to Indiana shooting 6-17. That’ll work.

Seven different Auburn players made a 3-pointer. Holloway made five, in a true return to form after a two-game slump. Holloway as a whole was excellent both shooting and driving to the basket. Holloway’s best shot came in the final seconds before halftime as he drained a 3 to send even more momentum into Auburn’s locker room.

Holloway’s 24 points were a career-high. He once again had the look of the confident lead point guard Auburn needs him to be.

Auburn even got some timely 3s from Williams, on top of his defense. This was the 3-point shooting Auburn had shown it was capable of earlier this season. This team can shoot. It’s a slump. It broke out of it.

It all helped Auburn break the 100-point mark against a Hoosiers team that does in fact play good defense, and certainly isn’t some push over cupcake game.

MVP Jaylin Williams

Touched on this above, but Williams maybe had the most underrated role in this game. And in the same vein, the most important.

He played the largest role in making Ware a non-factor. Ware finished the game with 13 points and only made two shots.

On the other end, Williams quietly went on to be tied for the Auburn lead in scoring with 24 points. s

He contributed with six rebounds and seven assists. He gave Auburn physicality, energy and tight defense. He did it all while largely staying out of foul trouble.

Holloway will get a lot of headlines from the win. Williams deserves them just as much.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]