Johni Broome was honest when he sat in front of a microphone following Auburn men’s basketball’s 94-85 win at No. 2 Alabama.

Despite still celebrating arguably the biggest regular season win in Auburn history, Broome took one last chance to reflect on the previous week’s lost to Florida, a game that questioned Auburn’s status as the No. 1 team in the country.

“Florida, they scored way too many points,” Broome said. “Our defense lacked a lot in that game.”

Defense was an issue in both of Auburn’s losses this season, making the matchup against Alabama’s fast-paced, fiery offense a challenge that it’d have to conquer to hold onto the No. 1 ranking.

The Tigers did just that, but Broome was never convinced that Auburn couldn’t do it.

“We’re the No. 1 team in the country. We’ve just got to get our swagger back and play Auburn basketball,” Broome said. “As you can see, when we play Auburn basketball, we’re the only team that can beat us.”

The meaning of playing “Auburn basketball” largely lies in the eyes of the beholder. What’s hard to argue, though, is that the Tigers needed a complete performance to beat No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The Crimson Tide entered Saturday’s game ranking second in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency ratings and led the country in points per game.

While Alabama still scored 85 points against Auburn — the second most the Tigers have given up this season — the Crimson Tide averaged 1.076 points per possession and shot 39% from the field, including an abysmal 5-for-26 from 3-point range.

Auburn had the most success defensively in the first half, holding Alabama to 33 points and 31% from the field.

“Our coaches put a great game plan in — how to guard their actions, especially the hardest actions,” Auburn guard Denver Jones said after the game. “Honestly, it was just listening to that and trusting my teammates.”

Jones has been Auburn’s perimeter defensive specialist all season, and was the primary defender on star Alabama guard Mark Sears.

Sears scored 18 points, but shot an inefficient 4-for-17 from the field and making just two of his 11 3-point attempts.

“How do you stay in front of Mark Sears? Hardly anybody can. Denver Jones did, and nobody talked about it,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said postgame. “He’s one of the best defensive players in college basketball. He needs to be on the Naismith All-Defensive team.”

Jones’ performance against Sears stood out, but Auburn’s defensive effort was solid across the board.

Alabama shot 14-for-30 on layups, a relatively inefficient night for a team that came into the game second in 2-point percentage, shooting over 60%. Auburn did a good job throughout the game of challenging shots at the rim, and did so while navigating through foul trouble.

Dylan Cardwell and Chad Baker-Mazara both fouled out of the game, but Auburn was still able to get enough stops to prevent Alabama from taking control.

“I was worried we were going to run out of gas, especially with Dylan in foul trouble,” Pearl said. “But again, found a way, sucked it up, made history.”

The performance moved Auburn up from 17th to 12th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency ratings. More importantly, the win solidifies Auburn’s spot atop the Southeastern Conference standings and the AP poll.

Now, the focus shifts toward maintaining it.

“We’re gonna enjoy it for a little bit, but then it’s on to a good Arkansas team,” Broome said. “Credit to them, they played well. I’m proud of my teammates for putting up the fight that we did.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m