The No. 2 Auburn Tigers suffered a critical blow in Tuesday’s win over Georgia State as forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] was removed from the game due to a shoulder injury.
The task of taking on Broome’s production is tall, but it was a role that senior forward [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] filled beautifully.
“First off, all of the glory and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because without him I wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t have been able to drop 26 points,” Johnson said postgame. “It’s a great feeling to have a team believe in you and the work finally paying off. Finally, not being in early foul trouble.”
In 30 minutes of play off the bench, Johnson built a stat line of 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Johnson reached a career-high in points by shooting 85% (12-of-14) from the field and connected on 2-of-5 free throw opportunities.
Johnson said he was prepared for the challenge despite unexpectedly taking on the new role.
“We always have the ‘next man up’ mentality. With Johni (Broome) going down, I knew I had to take a little more of the workload,” Johnson said Tuesday. “BP (Coach Pearl) would give me the ball in the right spots and my teammates would find me in the right spots.”
Pearl complimented Johnson’s work ethic by expressing pride in his performance. Pearl says Tuesday’s game was a by-product of the work put in by Johnson and assistant coach [autotag]Ira Bowman[/autotag].
“Ira Bowman is in the gym with him all the time and they’ve created a really nice inside-out game,” Pearl said. “He hasn’t shot the ball from the perimeter yet. Wait until he can shoot it and we can get that aspect going.”
At the time of this post, it is unclear whether or not Broome will be able to play in Auburn’s key game with No. 17 Purdue on Saturday at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Should he not, expect Johnson to play a major role in Auburn’s final test of nonconference play.
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