Denver Jones – Syndication Server

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.

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Tigers lose Broome, calmly brush off Panthers 100-59

Auburn was able to rout the Panthers despite losing Broome early in the first half

The Auburn Tigers may be in trouble. While Bruce Pearl’s squad enjoyed a calm, mostly stress-free victory over the Georgia State Panthers on Tuesday night, the real story started developing early in the first half, when star forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] fell to the floor and immediately grabbed at his right shoulder.

The remaining 15+ minutes of a turnover-heavy, alley-oop filled first half felt somewhat meaningless with Auburn’s best player dressed in street clothes on the bench, bracing a football-sized pack of ice closely to his upper body. To Auburn’s credit, [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag], [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag], and [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] were able to pick up the slack on the offensive end with their top scorer sidelined. The trio combined for 26 of the Tigers 43 points in the opening frame. 41 of those points were scored after Broome sprinted from the Neville Arena floor to the locker room.

Georgia State was able to hang around for much of the first half with Broome sidelined, mainly due to the sharpshooting of center Cesare Edwards (15 points). The former Xavier Musketeer and Missouri State Bear effort seemed good enough to help his team cover a 39.5-point pre-game spread, which was the highest an Auburn opponent had been handicapped this season, until a late 11-0 surge in the final two minutes by the Tigers helped them win the game by 41 points. The 41-point loss was actually not the worst margin of defeat suffered by an opponent in front of ‘The Jungle’ this season. That accolade, or stain, is held by Vermont, who suffered a 51-point defeat in the season opener.

On the Auburn side, the aforementioned Chaney Johnson was the star of the show filling in for his injured front-court mate. The junior finished with a season-high 26 points, while chipping in 8 rebounds and a season-high 4 assists as well. Chad Baker-Mazara also forced himself into a new role during Broome’s absence, hoisting up a season-high 11 field goal attempts on his way to a team second-best 19. Denver Jones also enjoyed a great night from the field, scoring 17 points on 5 makes from beyond the arc.

While Bruce Pearl’s Tigers were able to comfortably control tonight’s contest against an inferior team, the waters will become much more treacherous, especially if Broome misses significant time, as soon as Saturday against No. 17 ranked Purdue. Baker-Mazara and Johnson, along with Jahki Howard and Dylan Cardwell, are all likely to see an increased offensive role as soon as Saturday.

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In photos: Auburn basketball crushes Ohio State in Atlanta

Check out the best photos from Auburn’s 91-53 win over Ohio State at Holiday Hoopsgiving.

The No. 2 Auburn Tigers earned its fifth quad-1 win on Saturday by crushing Ohio State, 91-53.

The Tigers built the 38-point win by outshooting 46% to 35% and connecting on 86% of its free-throw attempts compared to Ohio State’s 58%. Auburn’s defense also turned eight Buckeye turnovers into 11 points.

[autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] put on a clinic by scoring 21 points and hauling in 20 rebounds in Saturday’s win, while [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] logged 10 points with eight rebounds. [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] trailed Broome in points with 14 and [autotag]Jahki Howard[/autotag] scored 11 points off the bench.

Saturday’s win was stunning for the Auburn Tigers. Relive the key moments by checking out the photo gallery of Auburn’s win over Ohio State at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Tiger kings: Auburn crushes Memphis to win Maui Invitational

Auburn wins the Maui Invitational behind a 21-point, 16-rebound performance by Johni Broome.

Auburn basketball accomplished its goal of flying to Hawaii and winning the Maui Invitational.

The No. 3 Tigers opened the Maui Invitational championship with Memphis by jumping to a 9-0 lead. They rode that momentum to the final buzzer in its 90-76 win over the Memphis Tigers on Wednesday at Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Auburn took control of the game early thanks to a three-pointer from forward Johni Broome at the 19:38 mark in the first half. Auburn then rattled off six-straight points over the first 2:10 of game time to race to a 9-0 lead to open the game. Auburn reached its first double-digit lead of the game at 10:21 with a 25-13 lead and led by as many as 20 points in the first half before taking a 47-31 lead into halftime.

Broome’s hot start stayed consistent as he reached double-double status in the first half for the second-straight game. Through the first 20 minutes of play, Broome scored 15 points and secured 11 rebounds.

As a team, Auburn shot 51% from the field with 22 rebounds and 13 assists. Defensively, Auburn forced 14 turnovers which resulted in 10 points. Memphis also shot 44% in the first half and connected on just 1-of-2 on three-point plays.

The second half provided more of the same as Auburn scored 43 points to secure the win. Auburn increased its field goal percentage to 64%, but the half would see a new star emerge. Senior center [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] scored 10 points in the half by going 4-4 from the field, which included a three-pointer.

Broome led scoring by delivering a 21-point performance with 16 rebounds. Cardwell followed suit by scoring 18 points with [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] and [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] scoring 14 and 11 points respectively.

Auburn will celebrate the Maui Invitational championship for a short time before getting back to work. Next on the docket for Auburn is a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face No. 10 Duke next Wednesday, Dec. 4, as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. CT.

Auburn takes down FAU in final tune up before season

The Tigers thrashed a 2022 Final Four team in its final preseason tune-up over the weekend.

The Auburn Tigers finished off an undefeated preseason exhibition run with a 102-70 thrashing of the Florida Atlantic Owls on Friday at Neville Arena in Auburn.

FAU, who reached the Final Four two seasons ago before receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last season, is not expected to contend for another postseason spot this year after head coach Dusty May departed for Michigan in the offseason.

Even with May, and stars such as Johnell Davis, who is now an Arkansas Razorback, no longer with the Owls, the lopsided victory was still an important and impressive result for a Tigers team hoping to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2019 this season. Superstar forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] led the way for [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s squad, chipping in 15 points and nine rebounds while stuffing the stat sheet with four blocks and a pair of steals as well.

The backcourt quartet of [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] (13 points), [autotag]JP Pegues[/autotag] (11 points), [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag] (12 points), and [autotag]Miles Kelly[/autotag] (15 points) supplied just over half of the Tigers points in the contest, further cementing the idea that [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] may possess the deepest and most talented composite of guards since he took over as the Tigers head coach.

With the offensive firepower supplied by the backcourt and Broome, forward [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] is expected to take a facilitator role in Bruce Pearl’s offense. The senior displayed that fully in the exhibition, finishing with a team-high six assists to go along with his 2 steals and block. Perhaps most impressively, the second-year Tiger turned the ball over just once.

Six of the ten Tigers that saw at least 10 minutes of action in Friday’s exhibition scored double-digit points, while [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] (seven points) and [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] (six points) added a combined 12 rebounds. Bruce Pearl has made it a point to display extremely deep and talented rotations during his last few seasons on the Plains, and this iteration of the Tigers may be the most talented group he’s compiled during his tenure.

The No. 11 ranked Tigers will look to prove that sentiment when the regular season tips off on November 6 against perennial American East powerhouse Vermont. Auburn will be put to the test right away following the home opener, as the Tigers have a date with No. 4 ranked Houston in Birmingham on November 9.

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In photos: Auburn takes the podium at SEC Media Day

Bruce Pearl, Denver Jones, and Johni Broome addressed the media Tuesday at SEC Media Day in Mountain Brook.

The college basketball season is just around the corner. Evidence of that could be seen during Tuesday’s SEC Media Day at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Mountain Brook, Alabama, just outside of Birmingham.

Head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag], forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], and guard [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] represented Auburn during the event, where they fielded questions from the media regarding the upcoming season. Jones, who is working toward becoming the team’s point guard, spoke about how Pearl is working to prepare him for his new role.

“He was teaching me a lot — deep in detail about my footwork, being able to shoot floaters, because I’m not gonna be able to get to the rim every single time in this league,” Jones said Tuesday. “Obviously, like, helping with my passing ability — there are a lot of attributes that come with playing point guard, and I feel like he prepared me for that.”

Photographers snapped great shots of Pearl, Broome, and Jones during their stay in Mountain Brook. Here are the best photos from Auburn’s time at SEC Media Day on Tuesday.

Broome and Baker-Mazara earn preseason All-SEC honors

Expect Broome and Baker-Mazara to have big seasons in 2024-25!

The 2024-2025 college basketball season is quickly approaching as media days get underway for many conferences and preseason polls make their debut. The nation is also getting a look at what players will be worth keeping an eye on this season, which Auburn has a couple of.

[autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] both earned preseason All-SEC honors this year, with Broome being named to the First Team and Baker-Mazara to the Third Team. Broome was also nearly tabbed as the preseason SEC Player of the Year, but was edged out by Mark Sears of Alabama.

Both players had tremendous seasons last year and look to do more of the same on the court in just a matter of weeks.

Broome was far and away the Tigers’ leading scorer last year with 576 points, averaging 24.8 points per game. He also was one of the team’s most reliable shooters, converting 54.8% of his shots from the field. He shot 35.4% from distance, but also had his struggles from the free throw line, where he posted a 61.5% success rate.

Broome was also electric on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game to go with his 31 steals and 78 blocks.

To compliment his SEC Tournament MVP trophy from last year, Broome was also named to the All-SEC First Team and SEC All-Defensive Team for his stellar performance.

Baker-Mazara also completed his first year on the Plains with some big production numbers. He was third on the team in scoring, posting 350 points on the year while shooting 45.2% from the field. He excelled behind the arc though, shooting 41.8% on the year, which tied as the team’s best percentage with [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag].

Baker-Mazara also made plays all over the floor, racking up 77 assists on the year, while forcing 36 steals and 17 blocks on defense to cause disruption.

His play in the SEC Tournament earned him a spot on the SEC-All Tournament Team, something he looks to improve on and earn again in his senior season.

Auburn takes the court for the very first time this season on Nov. 1 when it plays FAU in a charity exhibition game at Neville Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CST.

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Dick Vitale places Auburn at No. 10 in ‘Sweet 16’ Rankings ahead of next season

Five SEC programs join Auburn in Vitale’s preseason rankings.

Longtime ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale released his annual “Sweet 16” college basketball rankings on Thursday afternoon.

While the 85-year-old’s rankings are nothing more than his personal list, he certainly has been following the sport long enough that his preference carries some legitimacy.

Five SEC programs landed in Vitale’s “Sweet 16”, with the Alabama Crimson Tide leading the pack all the way up at number two, behind only Kansas and one spot ahead of back-to-back champion Uconn. The only other SEC team to land in the top 10 was Auburn, as the Tigers landed at the 10 spot, ahead of Arkansas (13), Texas A&M (14), and Kentucky (15).

Auburn’s spot in Vitale’s top 10 is certainly warranted after [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag]’s squad won the SEC Tournament after finishing near the top of the conference a year ago.

The Tigers bring back last season’s leading scorer in Johni Broome as well as key pieces like [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag], [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag], and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag]. The returning cast of players pairs with newly acquired transfers [autotag]JP Pegues[/autotag], [autotag]Ja’Heim Hudson[/autotag], and [autotag]Miles Kelly[/autotag] to create not only one of the more talented rosters in the SEC, but in the country as well.

Even with the abundance of offensive and defensive ammunition, the Tigers are no lock to have the same success they had a year ago. Vitale’s praise and a likely top 15 spot in the preseason polls is nice are nice accolades, but winning games in a grueling SEC is never an easy task.

We’ll see if the Tigers can live up to the preseason hype when they open the season in November.

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Could Auburn’s 2024-25 nonconference slate be its toughest yet?

After suffering an early NCAA Tournament exit, Auburn is set to enhance its nonconference schedule for next season.

Auburn basketball played the 10th toughest schedule in the SEC last season. As a partial result, the Tigers exited the NCAA Tournament earlier than expected with a first-round loss to Yale.

Head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] looks to put his team in a better position to win more meaningful games next season by piecing together what could be the Tigers’ toughest nonconference schedule in recent memory.

Before Monday’s Bruce Pearl Fore the Children Golf Classic at Willow Point Golf and Country Club in Alexander City, Pearl met with the media to discuss several topics including scheduling. Pearl says that Auburn fans can expect his team to play the toughest nonconference schedule of his 11-year Auburn tenure.

“We’re going to play a non-conference schedule, some of it has been released and some of it you guys have heard about, but that hasn’t been released yet…we’re going to have the toughest non-conference schedule we’ve ever had,” Pearl said Monday.

Auburn is scheduled to play in the Maui Invitational early next season which includes powers such as North Carolina, UConn, and Iowa State. Justin Hokanson of Auburn Live says that Auburn could also play Purdue, Houston, and NC State in neutral site action. Mixing those opponents in with an ACC foe as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge could provide Auburn with a solid resume heading into a revamped SEC schedule that includes newcomers Oklahoma and Texas.

Auburn finished the 2023-24 season with the No. 60 overall toughest schedule according to KenPom, which ranked No. 10 in the SEC. The Tigers played several power programs such as Notre Dame, Indiana, Virginia Tech, and USC in nonconference play last season. However, those four teams combined to build a 66-67 record with neither program finishing higher than No. 58 in the KenPom, nor providing Auburn with a quad 1 win.

The Tigers will look to build on its 2023-24 success by returning several notable players including [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag], and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] as well as newcomers [autotag]JP Pegues[/autotag], [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag], and [autotag]Ja’Heim Hudson[/autotag].