Already known as Auburn’s resident Spanish language expert as a Dominican Republic native — leading Auburn’s stretching routine in Spanish as well as celebrating with and pestering his teammates in a language they don’t know — Chad Baker-Mazara only needed two Spanish words to describe how his team’s star center had played Wednesday night.

“Like tonight, this man right here left of me, he was just en fuego,” Baker-Mazara said of center Johni Broome after the 74-57 win against Virginia Tech. “So Coach made sure we got the ball to him and he did his thing. We just basically go with whoever is on fire.”

On a night when a typically prolific Auburn offense — characterized by its balanced scoring and depth — didn’t deliver, the Tigers and head coach Bruce Pearl looked to their best player: Johni Broome.

And Broome was, in fact, en fuego.

Auburn’s offense has been the team’s strength this season. It has been that way in large part because of playing a 10-man rotation where all 10 can contribute scoring. It’s why entering Wednesday, Auburn was already ranked fourth in the nation and best in the SEC in terms of bench points per game with 37.8. It has led to Auburn scoring 82.4 points per game as a team, which is fourth best in the SEC and 55th nationally.

In each of Auburn’s first five games, at least nine of the players in Auburn’s rotation scored.

Against Virginia Tech though, that offense didn’t bring its A-game. Eight of the 10 players in the rotation scored, but only three made more than one shot from the field. Center Dylan Cardwell scored two points, but made them both from the free throw line. Auburn shot 39% from the field and 13% on 3-pointers. It shot 67% from the line — scoring 24 points on 36 attempts.

Auburn played possibly its best defensive game of the season, but on a day when it didn’t have its best offense, it found a different way to win. It fed the hand on fire.

So Broome went on and scored a career-high 30 points.

“I was just trying to play as hard as I could,” Broome said. “Tire myself out. I feel like that’s what I need to do every night for my team. Coach talks about it all the time, just pick my motor up. Not even just rebounding, offense, defense, the whole game. Just playing as hard as I can. While doing that, it lets me be in the right spots and help my team out by crashing the glass.”

With so many new faces on this team, Broome’s place as the leading scorer has been a quiet talking point. It’s more the expectation than the news. On Wednesday, Broome reminded all viewers why he was a first-team All-SEC selection.

Broome made 11 of 19 field goal attempts and eight of 13 free throw attempts. His 30-point effort is coupled with his having a double-double, totaling 13 in all — seven offensive rebounds and six defensive. He had three blocks, one steal and only committed one foul.

With his scoring roll, Auburn continued to get him the ball. Broome didn’t actually know he was near to breaking his own career high as he closed in on the mark.

“They were telling me, ‘Go get it, go get it, go get it,’” Broome said. “And I got it. They all came and jumped me, hit me some more, hit me in the locker room. My teammates being more excited than I am, that’s big, and it makes me feel great.”

Broom played a key role in Auburn’s decisive run midway through the second half, scoring 11 points himself between when he was subbed in with 11:20 to play in the game until he came out with 1:32 to play. Auburn had seen its lead shrink late in the first half, but the Tigers were beginning to build the cushion back up again when Broome came in for the stretch run. The lead was 15 when Broome entered, and his offense pushed Auburn over the top.

The only others to make more than one shot in the game were point guard Tre Donaldson and Baker-Mazara himself. Starting point guard and freshman sensation Aden Holloway was one of the two main rotational players who did not score, but Donaldson stepped up for nine off the bench. As part of Auburn’s second half 28-14 run over 12 minutes from the 17:47 to go mark until the 5:42 time stamp, Donaldson had a period scoring seven consecutive points.

Baker-Mazara scored 15 points as part of a stat-sheet stuffing and energy-producing night. But his night may end up being most remembered for the one play he didn’t make:

Where Auburn was able to find success offensive came in taking advantage of turnovers and second chance opportunities.

Virginia Tech committed 21 turnovers and Auburn scored 30 points off them. By comparison, Virginia Tech had five points off eight Auburn turnovers. Auburn’s 26 second-chance points compared to Virginia Tech’s 14 — and that includes each team having an equal 17 offensive rebounds.

Auburn didn’t hit its 80-point mark. It found other ways to blow out an opponent anyway.

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