Johni Broome’s tip-in with one second remaining gave No. 4 Auburn an 83-81 come-from-behind victory over No. 5 Iowa State Monday in the Maui Invitational, the second biggest comeback in the Bruce Pearl era and the Tigers’ second top-five win this season.

Auburn overcame an 18-point deficit, one point shy of the Tigers’ 19-point comeback win at Ole Miss in 2020. 

“Our kids didn’t quit,” Pearl said. “Iowa State played great in the first half. You could tell both teams were very well prepared. I think they got a little tired. We started guarding them. We came here to make history.

“This team now owns two top-five wins. Not since 1990 when Kansas started the season 5-0 with two top-five wins has it happened, so we made some history.”

Broome led five Tigers in double figures with 21 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 18 points, Tahaad Pettiford added 14 while Miles Kelly and Denver Jones each scored 12 points.

Auburn outscored Iowa State 50-32 in the second half, outrebounding the Cyclones 21-10 after intermission while enjoying a 14-2 advantage in second-chance points, including Broome’s game-winner. 

Trailing by 16 at the half, Auburn came out sizzling in the second half, pulling within three during a 13-0 run after Baker-Mazara’s 4-point play. 

“Don’t let adversity take the best out of us,” Baker-Mazara said. “The guys responded very well, and we came back and put up a fight.”

Auburn needed only six minutes to erase the Cyclones’ lead, tying the score at 53-53 on Kelly’s 3-pointer with 13:51 to play.

Iowa State regained the lead, holding onto it for nearly 10 minutes until Broome’s second-chance 3-pointer tied the score at 73-73.

Jones hit a pair of free throws to give Auburn its first lead with 4:01 to play before hitting a jumper that put the Tigers up 77-73 lead with 3:19 remaining.

A flagrant foul on Auburn led to a 4-point possession for Iowa State that tied the score at 77-77 with 2:07 remaining. 

Baker-Mazara gave the Tigers another lead, but Iowa State hit four free throws to lead by two with 51 seconds to play.

Kelly tied it once more with a layup with 38 seconds left. Broome’s steal with 11 seconds left gave Auburn a chance to win. 

Jones drove and shot a layup that Broome tipped in for the win.

“I trusted Denver to get downhill,” Pearl said. “Somehow the ball circled out and Johni Broome, after he set a screen, they put two on the ball and let Johni get to the backside and make a play.”

Iowa State used a 10-0 run to build a double-digit lead midway through the first half, expanding the advantage to as many as 18 late in the half. 

Broome made a 3-pointer during a 7-0 Auburn run, then Kelly’s 3-pointer pulled the Tigers within 10 points with 1:28 to play before the Cyclones ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 49-33 halftime lead. 

Iowa State shot 58.1 percent in the half while holding Auburn to 38.5-percent shooting. The second-half shooting percentages were nearly the opposite: 54.5 percent for the Tigers, 31.8 for the Cyclones. 

The Cyclones valued possessions more effectively than Auburn in the first half, forcing seven turnovers while committing only two to build an 11-0 edge in points off turnovers. 

Iowa State, as Pearl pointed out while previewing the Cyclones last week on the Plains, excelled in transition, outscoring Auburn 14-3 in fastbreak points in the half.

Broome and Pettiford each scored 10 points in the first half to lead Auburn.

The Tigers (5-0) take on the winner of Monday’s late game between No. 12 North Carolina and Dayton Tuesday in the semifinals at 10 p.m. CT on the Auburn Sports Network from Lahaina Civic Center.