In maybe the most important game to-date at Neville Arena — and probably the most important game Auburn has played against South Carolina — with regard to No. 13 Auburn’s SEC title chase, head coach Bruce Pearl’s team annihilated No. 11 South Carolina 101-61.

The goal in this one was simple: Auburn (20-5, 9-3 SEC) win to keep pace in the SEC standings. Lose to South Carolina, which was tied for first in the SEC? Auburn would fall two games back with six to play. That would be a very difficult margin to make up.

Instead, Auburn blew past another team on its home court. Auburn scored more points than anyone has against South Carolina this year. And it hit that milestone with about six minutes still to play.

Here are three takeaways.

It’s really, really tough to beat Auburn in Neville Arena

Auburn is a perfect 13-0 in this building in the 2023-24 season, each win decided by double-digits.

What Auburn has done consistently at Neville Arena is go on a run in the first half to pull away from its opponent and build out to a lead at halftime, while cruising through the second half.

South Carolina got out to a five-point lead over Auburn in the first three minutes of the game. Auburn went on to outscore South Carolina 43-19 for the rest of the first half.

Auburn has gone on dominant first half stretches like this against both the best and worst teams it has played in this building. Only Texas A&M — which matches up well against Auburn due to its elite rebounding — has been able to give Auburn a competitive game here.

Auburn’s home court mastery has seen them has beat Virginia Tech by 17, Texas A&M by 11, Ole Miss by 23, Alabama by 18 and now South Carolina by 40.

Winning on the road anywhere is tough, but it’s been near impossible for visiting teams in Neville Arena this season. Auburn has only lost twice in this building over the last three seasons.

In a crucial game, Auburn keeps pace in the SEC standings

Auburn has never been further than a game out of first place in the SEC this season. Auburn’s two straight January losses to Alabama and Mississippi State moved Auburn from first place to a game behind Alabama and South Carolina. When Auburn beat Alabama last week, it jumped back into a tie for first place. It fell right back to a game behind when it beat Florida.

One of the two teams ahead of Auburn in the standings was South Carolina. This being the only matchup between the two this season, that made this a must-win game.

Alabama is now alone at the top of the SEC standings, a game ahead of Auburn, South Carolina and Tennessee.

All Auburn could do to keep pace in the standings was win. Mission accomplished. Now the attention turns to the second challenge of two ranked matchups this week: Kentucky visiting Neville Arena.

Johni Broome and Jaylin Williams are the best frontcourt duo in the SEC

Williams has now had eight 20-point performances this season. He’s scoring more than 13 points per game this season, by far the numbers of his career.

He’s improved his rebounding numbers and his free throw percentage from last season. He’s having easily the best 3-point shooting season of his career.

He’s transformed into a star for Auburn and its best option after Johni Broome. On several nights season, Williams has been Auburn’s best option, period. End of sentence.

On this night, it was both Williams and Broome.

Williams had a dominant first half against South Carolina scoring 16 points and going 4-5 on 3-pointers. He finished the game with 23 points making five-out-of-seven 3-pointers.

That was coupled with Broome going a career-best 4-5 on 3-pointers on a stellar shooting night from Auburn’s starting big men — combining to go 9-12 from deep. K.D. Johnson was the only Auburn guard to make a 3.

Broome has now made a 3-pointer in eight straight games. For an Auburn team that wants to play five-out offense, a proven ability to space the floor with its big men goes a long way.

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