In a game Auburn had to have in its hope to win the SEC, No. 13 Auburn drubbed No. 11 South Carolina 101-61 on Wednesday night at Neville Arena.

In a season where Auburn (20-5, 9-3) has been so dominant — the Tigers have the seventh-best scoring margin in America winning by an average of 16.2 points per game — this may have been head coach Bruce Pearl’s team’s most convincing performance. And it came against the first-place team in the SEC.

It allowed Auburn to keep pace in the SEC standings, one game behind Alabama which now sits alone in first place because of Auburn’s win over South Carolina.

Below are some of the key stats that made up Auburn’s blowout win.

Bench points

Auburn has one of the deepest rosters in America. It bench scores an average of 35.76 points per game — the fourth most of any group in the country.

Auburn’s bench scored 39 points against South Carolina. South Carolina’s bench scored one.

Auburn did not allow a single made field goal to anyone on South Carolina’s bench.

South Carolina’s bench normally averages around 20 points per game.

Nor did any of Auburn’s bench points come from any one player. Chad Baker-Mazara had 10 points, K.D. Johnson had nine, Dylan Cardwell had eight and Chaney Johnson had six. Aden Holloway, Lior Berman and Jalen Harper each had two points off the bench.

“We had a couple guys that were quieter tonight,” Pearl said. “That’s fine. That’s why our depth obviously matters.”

Assist-to-turnover ratio

Auburn had 15 more assists (22) than it had turnovers (7). South Carolina had eight more turnovers (13) than it had assists (5).

That’s a huge difference, and is in many ways emblematic of how Auburn has played this season. Auburn is top 10 nationally so far in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Neither of Auburn’s two point guards — Tre Donaldson and Holloway — had a turnover.

Not only did Auburn take care of the ball, it also took advantage of its opportunities off turnovers. Auburn had 25 points off the 13 South Carolina turnovers. South Carolina had eight points off the seven Auburn turnovers.

3-point shooting

First, Auburn’s best 3-point shooters Wednesday were, well, it’s big men — who are apparently referring to themselves as the “Splash Bros” now.

Broome and Williams combined to shoot 9-12 from deep. Williams has been a better 3-point shooter throughout this season, while Broome has been working to add that to his game.

And maybe — well, definitely — Auburn isn’t going to get nine makes on 3-point shots from its front court every night, but the threat Auburn’s big men can hit those shots changes how defenses can play Auburn.

“That makes you hard to guard,” Pearl said. “It makes you hard to guard because what do you do? If you don’t switch, we’re going to get those shots. And if you do switch, we’re going to have mismatches on the inside. It’s not rocket science.”

K.D. Johnson was the only Auburn guard to make a 3-pointer in the win. Donaldson didn’t even attempt one. Auburn didn’t need its guards to produce much shooting when the big men had the hot hand. But it goes to show that it’s a night that could have been even better.

For the whole game, Auburn made 12 3s and South Carolina made 3. That’s a 27-point difference just purely on 3-point shooting. It’s another huge margin in a blowout win.

Auburn’s shooting as a whole was just much better than South Carolina’s. It must be to create a 40-point margin.

Auburn shot a blistering 61% from the field while holding South Carolina to 35%.

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