bruce pearl – Syndication Server

Auburn’s win over Purdue is a win for the SEC says Bruce Pearl

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl addressed the challenges of playing a tough non-conference slate following his team’s win over No. 17 Purdue on Saturday.

The Auburn Tigers rode the positive vibes of an SEC Tournament championship into the 2024 NCAA Tournament. However, morale quickly dropped as the Yale Bulldogs defeated Auburn, 78-76, in the first round to force the championship-minded Tigers’ season to end abruptly.

That was the moment Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] knew a change needed to be made. He would need to build a stronger non-conference slate to prepare his squad for a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament.

Pearl further proved that his idea continues to work on Saturday as the No. 2 Tigers smashed the No. 17 Purdue Boilermakers at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, 87-69. The win moves Auburn to an impressive 11-1 record on the season, with six of those wins coming against “quad-1” competition. Auburn is also 4-1 against teams ranked in the latest USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Following Saturday’s win, Pearl addressed the risk of playing a challenging non-conference schedule but is pleased with the way his squad has handled it to this point.

“We beat a good basketball team (in Purdue), but we beat a great basketball program,” Pearl said Saturday. “I’m really proud of our league. I was concerned about the toughness of our schedule. If we couldn’t handle it, we could’ve hurt our league. But we didn’t. We helped our league, and that matters to me a great deal.”

Auburn bested Purdue through strong defensive play. The Boilermakers were limited to 39% shooting from the field and 35% from three-point territory. Auburn turned 12 Purdue turnovers into 23 points, and won the defensive rebound battle, 27-20.

Pearl says its game plan for Purdue was executed positively.

“You can control your outcome with how you defend,” Pearl said. “I just thought we did a better job of making it difficult for Purdue They’re better from 3 than they are from 2. We made them make tough 2s. They made some, but they missed enough.”

According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, Auburn holds the No. 11 toughest schedule and has the 10th-toughest non-conference schedule. Their 11-1 record against their slate to this point is the best in the nation. Auburn will take a small break before playing one final non-conference game on Dec. 30 against Monmouth at Neville Arena in Auburn. The SEC portion of the slate begins Jan. 4 at home vs. Missouri.

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Photos: Auburn derails Purdue behind Broome double-double

What shoulder injury? Senior forward Johni Broome scores 23 and rebounds 11 in Auburn’s 87-69 win over Purdue in Birmingham.

What shoulder injury?

After exiting Auburn’s win over Georgia State on Tuesday, [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] was in the starting lineup for the Tigers game vs. No. 17 Purdue, where he delivered one of his best performances in his three-year Auburn career.

The senior forward notched his eighth double-double of the season by scoring 23 points and hauling in 11 rebounds in No. 2 Auburn’s 87-69 win over the Boilermakers at Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Saturday.

Broome played a major role in the win, but [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s squad also received solid production from [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag] (18 points, five assists) and [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] (15 points, 4 assists).

Re-live Auburn’s impressive win over Purdue by checking out this photo gallery from Saturday’s game in Birmngham.

In photos: Auburn basketball crushes Georgia State, 100-59

Check out the best photos from Auburn’s blowout victory over the Georgia State Panthers on Tuesday at Neville Arena.

The No. 2 Auburn Tigers claimed its 10th win of the 2024-25 season Tuesday night by crushing Georgia State, 100-59 at Neville Arena in Auburn.

Production was heavy and plenty as three players reached double-figures in points while four players recorded at least four rebounds. [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] was the star, scoring 26 points and registering eight rebounds off the bench. [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] tied [autotag]Wendell Green[/autotag]’s record of 34 straight made free throws by connecting on all 11 opportunities, and [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] went 5-for-7 from three-point territory en route to a 17-point night.

Those players had incredible nights in the absence of [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], who exited the game less than three minutes in with a shoulder injury. Following the game, head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] shared that Broome would be re-evaluated on Wednesday, which should provide a clearer picture of his status for Saturday’s game vs. No. 17 Purdue in Birmingham.

Re-live Tuesday’s big win by checking out the photo gallery of Auburn’s 100-59 win over Georgia State.

Johni Broome injury: What is the latest update?

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl shares an update on forward Johni Broome, who suffered shoulder injury in Tuesday’s win over Georgia State.

This story was updated to add new information regarding Johni Broome’s injury status.

Auburn basketball recorded another convincing win on Tuesday, taking down Georgia State, 100-59.

Auburn outscored the Panthers, 57-28 in the second half and closed the game on an 11-0 run. However, the biggest takeaway from the game was Auburn’s ability to earn the dominating win despite being without [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] for most of the game.

On Wednesday, Auburn Athletics announced great news for Auburn fans: Broome will not require surgery and will start his rehabilitation right away. The release stated that Broome will undergo daily evaluations by the team’s medical staff and physicians.

Broome exited Tuesday’s game with a shoulder injury at the 17:42 mark in the first half after recording two points and two blocks. Following the game, Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] shed light on how severe Broome’s injury was, and how long the team could be without him.

“Obviously, his right shoulder kind of came out, came right back in. He did it a year ago, so he’s had some experience with it,” Pearl said postgame. “We’re going to take a look at it tomorrow, and we’ll tell you more. Hopefully, he’s OK.”

Broome leads the Tigers in all major categories including points per game (18.1), rebounds per game (11.5), and assists (3.5). He was also named the co-SEC Player of the Week for the third time this season after dropping 21 points and securing 20 rebounds in Auburn’s 91-53 win over Ohio State last Saturday.

Next up for Auburn is a trip to Birmingham to face No. 17 Purdue at Legacy Arena. Auburn’s deep roster is filled with plenty of candidates to fill Broome’s shoes should he be unable to play. In the second half of Auburn’s win over Georgia State, [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] scored 26 points, dropping 13 in each half. [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] added 19 points and six assists while connecting on all 11 free throw tries. [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] also had a strong night by shooting 5-of-7 from beyond the arc en route to a 17-point outing.

The Tigers and Boilermakers will square off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT. The game can be seen live on ESPN.

What did Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl have to say about Duke superstar Cooper Flagg?

Check out what Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl had to say about Duke’s freshman superstar Cooper Flagg after Wednesday’s game.

It felt impossible for freshman forward [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] to meet the offseason hype that follows his generational label, but the 17-year-old has done an admirable job through his first eight collegiate games.

Against the No. 2 Auburn Tigers on Wednesday night, Flagg finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a pair of blocks. He paced the Blue Devils in all five categories, becoming the first Division I freshman to do so in a top-five win so far this century.

After the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl had some high praise for the future lottery pick.

“He affects winning on both ends of the floor,” Pearl told Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman after the game. “His motor runs, he’s a tough matchup, he’s a really, really good player.”

Flagg’s performance against the Tigers was his third 20-point game and third double-double of the season. He’s averaging 16.6 points, 8.6 boards, 4.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks per night.

Pearl also acknowledged Flagg’s 12 trips to the free-throw line, including some calls that put some of his starters in foul trouble down the stretch.

“He does get a pretty good whistle in here now,” Pearl added. “He’s not in the NBA yet. And so, we got good players, too…He gets them because he’s a great player, but I’m sure coaches in the ACC are going to be pulling their hair out.”

Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl says Jon Scheyer ‘doesn’t get enough credit’

After he and the Tigers came up short in Durham on Wednesday, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl praised Jon Scheyer’s work with the Duke Blue Devils.

The Duke men’s basketball team picked up one of the best wins of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday night, an 84-78 home victory over the undefeated Auburn Tigers. According to the opposing head coach after the game, Blue Devils coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] played a large role in the outcome.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl stopped by a Field of 68 live stream to speak with basketball reporter Jeff Goodman after Wednesday’s game, and he offered nothing but praise for [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag]’s successor.

“Jon Scheyer doesn’t get enough credit for the job he does,” Pearl told Goodman. “They run really good stuff that’s hard to guard, and they got us in some mismatches.”

Five-star freshman [autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag] came off the bench and made six 3-pointers in the first half on Wednesday thanks to some well-designed misdirection, and the Blue Devils held Auburn star Johni Broome to five points in the opening half after he’d averaged 21.7 over his previous three appearances.

The story of the season will always center around freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], however, and he delivered again on Wednesday. The 17-year-old forward scored 22 points and added 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks, becoming the first freshman this century to lead his team in all five categories during a top-five win.

“They find ways to get Cooper in against your guards,” Pearl said, another testament to Scheyer’s play designs.

Before Wednesday’s loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Tigers had taken down the Houston Cougars, Iowa State Cyclones, and North Carolina Tar Heels during their 7-0 start.

Auburn ranked as top team in nation by a pair of college basketball analysts

College basketball experts Jon Rothstein and Andy Katz were impressed with Auburn’s run in last week’s Maui Invitational.

The Auburn Tigers are off to one of the most dominant starts in college basketball history in 2024. [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s squad is off to a 7-0 start, including wins against No. 5 Iowa State, No. 7 Houston, No. 13 North Carolina, and a 6-1 Memphis team that has a victory over two-time defending national champion UConn on its resume.

The wins over Houston and Iowa State, who were both ranked in the top five of the AP Poll at the time, made Auburn the first program since Kanas in 1990 to defeat a pair of AP top five programs within its first five games. That stat, along with a recent victory over Memphis in the Maui Invitational Championship, have caused many experts around the sport to place the Tigers as among the top teams in the country.

A pair of those experts, CBS Sport’s Jon Rothstein and NCAA.com’s Andy Katz, officially placed [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and company at the No. 1 ranking in their respective polls on Monday. Rothstein, who releases his “Rothstein 45” ranking every week, has Auburn ranked at the top spot ahead of No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Marquette. Katz, who releases a weekly “Power 37” equally placed the Tigers in his top spot, again ahead of No. 2 Kansas. No. 3 Tennessee, and No. 4 Marquette.

Both experts have at least three SEC teams in their top ten rankings. Rothstein has Tennessee (No. 4), and Kentucky (No. 5), just behind the Tigers while Katz has the Volunteers ranked No. 3, the Wildcats ranked No. 5, and Florida at No. 9.

Auburn checks in at No. 2 in this week’s Coaches Poll from USA TODAY Sports, trailing Kansas for the top spot. No. 1 Kansas did manage to earn a fantastic road victory over Duke last week, however, giving Bill Self’s squad every right to hold onto the top ranking in both polls.

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Johni Broome is ‘leading’ the Player of the Year conversation says one ESPN analyst

The Auburn forward has proved early on that he is one of college basketball’s best players.

Through seven games, the No. 3 Auburn Tigers have proven to be one of the best teams in college basketball.

Auburn is 7-0 overall, 2-0 over top-five teams, and 3-0 over top-25 squads. The Tigers were also crowned the champions of the Maui Invitational after going 3-0 against NCAA Tournament competition. [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s squad has played well as a team, but one player is up for national Player of the Year discussion, says ESPN’s Jay Williams.

Although still November, Williams says it is not too early to throw Auburn forward Johni Broome’s name into Player of the Year talks after his stellar performances against top talent.

“I know talking about the National Player of the Year Award before Thanksgiving is similar to talking about the Heisman in August, but I don’t care. (Broome), against three Top-15 opponents – North Carolina, Houston, Iowa State – is averaging 21 points per game, 13 rebounds on 57% shooting. So far, in the first half [against Memphis], 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.”

Broome’s stats against three top-15 teams is amazing, but the most spectacular aspect of his season so far is his ability to out-do his previous performances. In seven games, Broome has reached the 20-point scoring mark five times and has recorded five double-doubles.

Broome also accomplished his goal of reaching a double-double before halftime of Auburn’s final two games of the Maui Invitational on his way to a 23-point, 19-rebound effort vs. North Carolina and a 21-point, 16-rebound game vs. Memphis. The senior won Maui Invitational MVP honors after averaging 21.6 points, 15 rebounds, and 4.3 assists over Auburn’s three games at the tournament.

Broome will look to further inject himself into Player of the Year discussions on Wednesday, Dec. 4, when the Auburn Tigers travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina to face the No. 10 Duke in the ACC-SEC Challenge.

College Sports Wire predicts the winner of the Maui Invitational

Andy Patton of College Sports Wire breaks down Auburn’s chances of winning the prestigious tournament this week in Hawaii.

College hoops fans rejoice as this week brings plenty of college basketball action to television screens during the week of Thanksgiving.

Several in-season tournaments, such as the Battle 4 Atlantis and the Sunshine Slam, will occur this week. However, Auburn fans will keep their attention on Maui, Hawaii, where the Tigers will compete in the Maui Invitational alongside several of college basketball’s top brands including North Carolina, UConn, and Michigan State.

The task at hand will be tough for Auburn. How well do they stack up against the field in Maui? Andy Patton of College Sports Wire broke down this week’s tournament and provided a positive report for Auburn fans.

When predicting the tournament outcome, Patton forecasted the Tigers to be the final team standing on Wednesday, taking down the two-time defending champion UConn Huskies in the final game.

“I project Auburn will be the big winner here, potentially pickup up victories over Iowa State, North Carolina, and UConn to win the championship,” Patton wrote.

Auburn begins their stay in Maui on Monday night at 8 p.m. CT by taking on the Iowa State Cyclones. Tuesday, Auburn will face either North Carolina or Dayton before moving on to the final day of competition on Wednesday. Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] says that the road to the Maui Invitational championship is similar to the road his team experienced during its Final Four run in 2019.

“It sort of reminds me a little bit about the road to the Final Four in 2019. Somebody had to beat Kansas, North Carolina, or Kentucky along the way. Somebody has to beat Iowa State, North Carolina, Dayton, or UConn,” Pearl said ahead of his team’s trip to Maui. “That’s how we approach it. I’m looking at it as one game at a time. What would constitute a successful trip? We’d love to play great basketball against the best teams in the country and see if you can get a couple.”

Click here for a full preview of the Maui Invitational including key players to watch.

Auburn moves up in AP Poll following undefeated week

The Tigers continued moving up the AP Poll after another dominant week.

The Auburn Tigers continued a phenomenal start to the basketball season last week. After jumping from No. 11 in the AP Poll to No. 5 following a sizzling start behind wins over Vermont and Houston, the Tigers moved up again, to No. 4, entering the third week of the young campaign.

With most of the top-ranked squads in the nation hosting games against inferior competition, [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s Tigers did not have much room for improvement, although they did take advantage of rival Alabama‘s near loss to McNeese followed by a road loss to Purdue. The uneven play by the Crimson Tide sent them all the way down to No. 8 in the AP Poll, while Purdue moved ahead of Alabama, to No. 6.

While the Tigers are still ranked outside of the top 3, Bruce Pearl’s squad did receive more first-place votes (3) than No. 3 ranked Gonzaga (2). The Tigers continued dominance to start the season also leaves plenty of opportunity for Johni Broome, Denver Jones, and company to garner enough attention to earn the No. 1 ranking with a tournament championship at the Maui Invitational.

The Tigers start the tournament against No. 5 Iowa State on Monday and have a chance to match up against No. 2 UConn and No. 10 ranked North Carolina as well. Victories over at least two of those top-ranked teams should hypothetically be enough for the voters to vault Auburn into the at least the No. 2 spot heading into December.

Auburn is now the highest-ranked SEC team in the AP Poll for the first time this season. Alabama (8), Kentucky (9), Tennessee (11), Arkansas (20), Florida (21), and Texas A&M (23), make up the remaining six teams nationally ranked in the conference.