No.16 Auburn relied on double-doubles from Wendell Green and Johni Broome in a wire-to-wire 81-66 victory during Saturday’s road win against South Carolina.

Broome led the Tigers in scoring with a season-high 27 points. He also led the team with 11 rebounds. Green had a team-leading 12 assists and 16 points in the victory. Auburn jumped to a 9-2 lead, with Broome scoring on consecutive dunks. Green followed with a midrange jumper and deep three.

Broome and Green scored the first nine points for the Tigers as they coasted to their five consecutive win since a tough road loss on January 4th against Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum. Auburn is 2-0 on the week with road wins against LSU and South Carolina.

Auburn hosts Texas A&M on Wednesday at Neville Arena and travels to West Virginia next Saturday. Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are 16-3 and 6-1 in Southeastern Conference action. Let’s look at some observations from Auburn’s 81-66 victory.

— Auburn entered the locker room with a 17-point lead and pushed the advantage to 26 points on a three-pointer by freshman Yohan Traore, who finished the game with eight points on 3-6 shooting and 2-5 from the three-point line.

South Carolina went on a run and reduced Auburn’s lead to 10 points on a Gregory Jackson three off the fast break with 8:09 left in the game. Allen Flanigan scored four of his eight points with two free throws and a layup at the rim. Green hit another bucket and Broome’s fastbreak jumper with a little over four minutes left pushed the lead back to 20 points.

“We had a great response to their run,” Pearl said. “We had so many guys make plays.”

— Flanigan scored eight points, but his defense might’ve been more critical. Jackson scored 30 points, but the rest of the Gamecocks scored 36, and Flanigan played an impactful role in the effort. He also nabbed 10 rebounds and dished out three assists. Flanigan played 32 minutes without a turnover.

— Flanigan got the start since Chris Moore is out with a shoulder injury.

— Auburn shot 50% from the field but went 3-17 from three and 18-25 from the charity stripe. If there is an area to critique the Tigers, it would be shooting percentage. It’s also important to remember the Tigers lost two lottery picks, Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler. Losing those players and remaining relevant in the Southeastern Conference is quite a feat.

— Jaylin Williams was the third Tiger in double-digits with 12 points and six rebounds. Williams is having one of the better seasons for Auburn.

— Raise your hand if you are an Auburn fan who panicked after the Tigers lost that game against the Bulldogs. Auburn looked lethargic and shot poorly while struggling to defend Georgia’s guards. Auburn seems to have fixed its issues with wins against Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and South Carolina.

— Pearl acknowledged the schedule would get more challenging for Auburn, starting with next week’s games against the Aggies at Neville and traveling to play the Mountaineers.

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group