Johni Broome – Syndication Server

Auburn basketball has ‘firm grasp’ on college basketball after win over Tennessee

Auburn proved why it is the nation’s best team on Saturday by taking down Tennessee in a slug fest.

Auburn basketball proved last Saturday that any win is a good win.

The No. 1 Tigers defeated No. 7 Tennessee, 53-51, on Saturday at Neville Arena despite shooting 31% from the field. Two of its offensive weapons, [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag], were shut out from the field, and freshman [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag] shot 33% on the night.

Despite its struggles, Auburn made the right plays down the stretch. The Tigers went on a 6-0 run to close the game and forced Tennessee to miss six of its final seven shots to close the game.

Jordan Mendoza of USA TODAY Sports says that Auburn’s win over the Volunteers proved that the Tigers have a “firm grasp on top of the sport” as the calendar flips to February in the weekly winners and losers feature.

Does Saturday’s game determine who will win the SEC or become national champion? No, but what the contest did prove is Auburn is indeed the best team in the country. It’s been three weeks into the conference slate, and every team tasted defeat in the talent-heavy league − except Auburn. A perfect 6-0 start in the SEC likely couldn’t be done by any other team in the country, nor could a 11-1 record in Quad 1 games.

It helped matters that forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] returned to action on Saturday. Broome played 33 minutes off the bench in the win, where he scored 16 points and secured 13 rebounds. Broome and the Tigers will look to continue its run of dominance this week with road games at LSU on Wednesday and Ole Miss on Saturday.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Broome, Pearl earn midseason SEC superlatives

How many accolades will Johni Broome and Bruce Pearl by seasons end?

The SEC portion of the schedule is one-third of the way finished, and two members of Auburn’s basketball squad are in prime position to earn postseason accolades.

As the 2024-25 season reaches its halfway point, Jamie Shaw of On3 has taken a crack at predicting who will take home all-SEC honors at season’s end. Auburn forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] and head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] are at the center of discussions.

Shaw has honored Broome as “midseason player of the year” after deeming him the most impactful player on the country’s best team.

“His defensive presence has held the back line strong for Auburn and his ability to clean the boards has been big as well. Broome has played efficiently this season and had some of his biggest games on the biggest stages.”

Broome has also earned midseason All-SEC first-team honors and midseason defensive player of the year. The talented senior averages 17.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists despite missing two games due to an ankle injury. In his return to the floor last Saturday, Broome scored 16 points and hauled in 13 rebounds off the bench in the Tigers’ 53-51 win over No. 7 Tennessee at Neville Arena.

Pearl has been named SEC midseason coach of the year by Shaw. With 12 games remaining in the regular season, Auburn is 18-1 overall and 6-0 in SEC play. The Tigers also boast an 11-1 mark over Quad-1 competition in the NCAA net rankings; eight wins came against ranked competition.

Broome, Pearl, and the rest of the Auburn Tigers will look to continue their hot streak this week by facing LSU and Ole Miss on the road. Auburn’s next game, against the LSU Tigers, will begin at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

In photos: Auburn tops Tennessee in top-10 battle at Neville Arena

Check out the best images from Auburn’s 53-51 win over Tennessee on Saturday.

The No. 1 Auburn Tigers passed a major test Saturday by taking down No. 7 Tennessee in front of the home crowd at Neville Arena in Auburn, 53-51.

The game was tight throughout, but it was far from the classic game that most fans were expecting. Both teams shot 31% from the field while connecting on less than 20% of its three-point tries. Tennessee connected on just one of its final seven field goal attempts while Auburn finished the game on a 6-0 run.

Senior guard [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] returned from an ankle injury Saturday to score 16 points and secure 13 rebounds while blocking four shots. [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] was next in line, scoring 10 points and reeling in four boards.

Re-live the excitement of Auburn’s win over Tennessee by checking out the photo gallery of Saturday’s game.

Tigers volunteer chaos to ‘The Jungle’, win rock fight over Rocky Top, 53-51

The Tigers now have a program-best 8 ranked victories on the year to go along with a college basketball-best 11 ‘Quad 1’ wins.

If anyone was looking for the since trampled barricades that were supposedly meant to control a mob of ‘College GameDay’ ready fans on Saturday morning, they may had been placed above the Neville Arena rims.

In an era in which scoring has never been more prevalent in college basketball, or basketball in general, the first half of Auburn’s top ten showdown with No. 6 Tennessee featured just 42 total points. [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag], who came into the contest shooting 29% from 3-point range before a week-long absence, managed the only make from beyond the arc by either team in the first 20 minutes.

Along with the triple, Broome contributed a team-leading 9 points in the first frame. No other Tiger had more than 5 points, with [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag], and [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] providing the only other baskets of the half for Auburn. Tennessee’s production wasn’t any better, as the Volunteers shot an atrocious 23% from the field before hitting the half time locker room.

Auburn’s “rock fight” with ‘Rocky Top’ continued into the first few minutes of the second half, with both teams infrequently trading buckets until the score knotted up at 33 entering the under 12 media timeout. The seesaw nature of Saturday’s showdown continued through the remainder of the half, albeit with increased offensive efficiency, mainly due to the contributions of both backcourts.

Tennessee senior [autotag]Zakai Zeigler[/autotag] was the star down the stretch for Rick Barnes’s squad, finishing with a team-high 14 points, which may have been much more if the referees refilled their contact prescription. Chad Baker-Mazara, [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag], Chaney Johnson and [autotag]Miles Kelly[/autotag] all contributed important points down the stretch on the Auburn side, although most of the heavy lifting was done by Johni Broome, who finished with a game-high 16 points and 13 rebounds.

It was Broome, and Miles Kelly, who would outduel Zeigler in the end though. After Tennessee grabbed a late two-possesion lead with just over a minute remaining, Auburn was able to storm back thanks to a nifty floater by freshman Tahaad Pettiford followed by an incredibly timely go-ahead, corner 3-point shot by Kelly. The Georgia Tech transfer, who’s eventual game-winning shot was only his second field goal of the night, sent ‘The Jungle’ into an absolute frenzy with 30 seconds remaining.

Tennessee would go on to have an empty possession, leading to an Auburn rebound and a 1/2 trip at the free throw stripe from Pettiford. Zeigler would then be given a chance to win the game, missing a corner three long before Johni Broome heaved his thirteenth rebound of the night down the floor to milk the remaining seconds on the game clock.

Auburn’s victory was possibly it’s hardest fought, and most well-earned, of the season to this point. The Tigers now have a program-best 8 ranked victories on the year to go along with a college basketball-best 11 ‘Quad 1’ wins. Bruce Pearl’s team is all-but certain to hang onto its No. 1 AP and Coaches Poll ranking going into Wednesday’s road contest with LSU.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch

ESPN projects the winner of Saturday’s SEC showdown between Auburn and Tennessee

Will the Tigers prevail in its SEC clash with Tennessee on Saturday?

Auburn’s biggest SEC test to date awaits them Saturday on the floor of Neville Arena when the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers come to town.

The No. 1 Tigers could have their star forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] for the first time in two games. He is listed as “questionable” to play against the Volunteers. If he is unavailable to play, does Auburn still have a chance to win? According to ESPN analytics, the answer is yes.

According to ESPN’s matchup predictor, Auburn has a 74.1% chance to beat Tennessee on Saturday, which would add another SEC and quad-1 win to their tally.

This game will feature the nation’s best offense and defense according to KenPom. Auburn enters the game as the nation’s most efficient offense, while the Volunteers boast the best defense in the country. Both teams rank in the top 25 in the opposite categories as well.

Auburn’s offense scores 85.7 points per game and has reached the 80-point mark in three of its first five SEC games. The Volunteers allow 58.6 points per game, and is 1-2 in SEC play when allowing opponents to score more than 56 points. In Tennessee’s SEC losses, opponents scored 73 and 75 points respectively.

Auburn battles Tennessee in prime time on Saturday. The No. 1 Tigers and the No. 7 Volunteers square off at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Is Johni Broome playing today? Final injury update for Auburn forward ahead of Tennessee game

Auburn forward Johni Broome is dealing with an ankle injury. Here are the latest updates before Auburn faces Tennessee on Saturday.

The No. 1 Auburn Tigers have been without star forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] for two games after sustaining an ankle injury during the Tigers’ 66-63 win over South Carolina on Jan. 11.

Since then, the Tigers have gone 2-0 with wins over top-25 competition in Mississippi State and Georgia. Auburn will face its toughest opponent of the SEC slate to date on Saturday when it battles No. 7 Tennessee at Neville Arena in prime time at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. Will Broome be available to play?

According to a report by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Broome returned to practice Thursday but did not practice at full strength. Should he not be able to go, the Tigers have enough depth and pieces to fill the void until Broome is healthy enough to return.

This week, Auburn guard [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazara[/autotag] praised the talent that Auburn has by saying that he is not surprised that the Tigers are playing well, even in Broome’s absence.

“Throughout the summer, I’ve seen the guys put in the work and we have been going at war throughout the summer. So I had a big belief that we was good actually. I didn’t know that we was this good. But, at the same time, I had a feeling about it. Johni going down, I’ve seen how everyone’s changed and is like ‘ok, we don’t have our best player, now we gotta like, actually focus because we don’t have that extra thing that he brings to the court,’ which is a big part of the play. I feel like everybody took that to heart and locked down even more with the film and the coaches.”

Here is the latest injury update for Broome ahead of Saturday’s game.

Johni Broome injury update

Broome is listed as “questionable” for Auburn’s game against Tennessee on Saturday. The star forward practiced Thursday but was not at full strength.

How long will Broome be out?

Friday, Bruce Pearl told Jeff Goodman of “Field of 68” that Broome “wants to play” and that his injury will be evaluated again before the Tigers take the floor on Saturday.

Auburn depth chart

Should Broome not be able to go, or be limited, Chaney Johnson and Ja’Heim Hudson will take on Broome’s role at the “4.” In Auburn’s last game, the duo combined to score seven points and secure nine rebounds in the Tigers’ 70-68 win over Georgia.

Bruce Pearl provides Johni Broome injury update ahead of showdown with No. 7 Tennessee

Will Auburn be without its star forward for the third-straight game?

Auburn forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] has missed the last two games after sustaining an ankle injury in the Tigers’ 66-63 win over South Carolina on Jan. 11 in Columbia.

Will the No. 1 Tigers be without their star for the third straight game? While his status for Auburn’s SEC showdown with No. 7 Tennessee on Saturday is unknown, Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] provided a positive update regarding Broome’s recovery.

Per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Pearl shared that Broome “moved around a little in Thursday’s practice, but didn’t go full-go” during Thursday’s practice.

Before his injury, Broome averaged 17.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for Auburn. He reached double-figures in points in 14 of the 16 games he played in and has notched 10 double-doubles.

In his absence, [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] has averaged 9.5 points over the last two games, with 14 total rebounds and a 42% field goal percentage. In his first game as a starter in Broome’s place, Johnson scored 17 points, pulled down eight rebounds, and blocked four shots in Auburn’s 88-66 win over Mississippi State on Jan. 14. Johnson has scored 10.0 points and secured 5.5 rebounds per game for the Tigers this season.

The final call for Broome’s availability for Auburn’s game with Tennessee on Saturday will be revealed Friday in the SEC Student-Athlete Availability Report. No. 1 Auburn will meet No. 7 Tennessee at Neville Arena at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Auburn stays put in latest power rankings from The Athletic

Auburn basketball earned two wins over ranked SEC teams last week, which keeps them at No. 1 in the latest power rankings from The Athletic.

Auburn basketball earned two key SEC wins last week despite the absence of star forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag].

The No. 1 Tigers smashed No. 18 Mississippi State, 88-66 in front of the home crowd at Neville Arena in Auburn last Tuesday before escaping an upset last Saturday at No. 23 Georgia, 70-68. Auburn avoided the “upset bug” that bit several teams last week, including Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. Because of their great fortune, Auburn remains No. 1 in this week’s power rankings from The Athletic.

CJ Moore of The Athletic praised Auburn freshman [autotag]Tahaad Pettford[/autotag]’s performances against Mississippi State and Georgia in Broome’s absence, which led him to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

Pettiford has stepped up in the absence of forward Johni Broome, who suffered an ankle injury on Jan. 11. The Tigers went 2-0 this week without their Wooden Award candidate, and Pettiford was the leading scorer, averaging 18 points in the Broome-less games and leading the Tigers with 24 in Saturday’s win.

Duke and Iowa State switched places this week at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots while Alabama and Florida remain at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Missouri made the biggest jump in this week’s rankings among SEC teams, moving to No. 17 after being unranked last week.

Auburn will step away from midweek action this week, and will return to the floor on Saturday against No. 7 Tennessee at Neville Arena in Auburn. The Volunteers are No. 6 in this week’s power rankings by The Athletic.

Tahaad Pettiford, Ja’heim Hudson play key bench roles in Auburn’s win at Georgia

Head coach Bruce Pearl discusses the importance of Pettiford and Hudson in Auburn’s narrow win at Georgia on Saturday.

The No. 1 Auburn Tigers pulled off another quad-1 win on the road Saturday by narrowly escaping No. 23 Georgia in Stegeman Coliseum, 70-68.

Auburn was without star forward [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag] for the second straight game, which caused the need for several bench players to step up and take the pressure of added production head-on. Auburn got just that in [autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag] and [autotag]Ja’heim Hudson[/autotag].

Pettiford led all scorers with 24 points in Auburn’s win. He achieved the feat primarily through his success beyond-the-arc, where he connected on 5-of-7 three-point opportunities.

Auburn head coach [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] made sure to give Pettiford praise following the game.

“We didn’t play our best. We had two or three guys that had subpar nights. But I’ll give Georgia credit for that,” Pearl said. “And Tahaad Pettiford is pretty special.”

Hudson followed Pettiford by scoring five points and securing three offensive rebounds and two steals. Although Hudson played just 18 minutes, Pearl says that the affect he had on the floor could be felt all-around.

“We don’t win the game without Turtle (Hudson),” Pearl said. “We don’t.”

The duo of Pettiford and Howard combined to score 29 of Auburn’s 32 bench points in the win, which added value to the team’s performance considering starters [autotag]Chaney Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] combined to score four points while shooting 2-of-11 from the field Johnson and Cardwell played a great game defensively by combining to secure 13 rebounds and blocking five shots.

The timetable for Broome’s return is unknown, but Auburn will continue to find success in his absence due to the efforts of Pettiford and Hudson.

Tigers withstand Bulldog’s bite, earn fifth SEC victory 70-68

The Tigers escaped Athens with a narrow victory on Saturday

[autotag]Tahaad Pettiford[/autotag] is making a very strong case for SEC Newcomer of the Year. The freshman contributed a career-high 24 points in Auburn’s fifth-straight conference victory. The Tigers, who only escaped Athens with a two-point win, needed every single one of them.

Despite never trailing since the game was 2-0 in favor the Georgia, Auburn was never comfortable in front of a hostile Georgia crowed on Saturday afternoon. Other than Pettiford and some timely buckets from fellow guards [autotag]Chad Baker-Mazar[/autotag]a (13 points) and [autotag]Miles Kelly[/autotag] (13 points), Auburn’s top ranked KenPom offense was not itself against a Bulldogs team that plays with one of the slowest paces in the entire country.

Even after jumping out to an early 24-8 lead in the first half, Bruce Pearl’s team needed a missed tip in by Georgia forward Asa Newell as the clock expired to put another tally in the win column. Auburn was outscored 60-46 after climbing out to the early 16-point lead mid-way through the first frame.

While Bruce Pearl’s team barely escaped a court storm in Athens, the Tigers again showed resiliency on the road without the contributions of National Player of the Year co-favorite [autotag]Johni Broome[/autotag]. Broome’s absense was especially felt on Saturday with [autotag]Dylan Cardwell[/autotag] dealing with cramps against the strong front court of UGA featuring the aforementioned star freshman Asa Newell (16 points, 10 rebounds).

With a week to rest before their biggest home game of the season against No. 6 ranked Tennessee on Saturday, Broome, Cardwell, and the rest of a tired Auburn roster will look to hang onto their No. 1 ranking a week from today.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch