Auburn moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, but the host Tigers will be without their best player in their Southeastern Conference game Tuesday night against No. 15 Mississippi State.
Forward/center and standout Johni Broome was helped off the floor in Saturday’s 66-63 win at South Carolina with what coach Bruce Pearl called a sprained ankle.
An MRI on Sunday confirmed the diagnosis after the game. Surgery is not required, but a timeline for Broome’s return is not yet available.
Pearl prepares for the Tigers (15-1, 3-0) to be without its 6-foot-10 anchor, who leads the team in scoring (17.9 points per game), rebounding (10.7), assists (3.2) and blocked shots. (2.7).
“Without our player of the year, it’s going to be hard to get an upset,” Pearl said. “Johni doesn’t get caught out there. It’s going to be like it was for us in the second half — he’s going to have to be the next man up.”
5-year-old Dylan Cardwell, who is averaging 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, may get the first shot to replace Broome. Cardwell was a key contributor to Saturday’s win with a late dunk that put Auburn ahead 64-63 with 1:32 left.
Without Broome’s offense, the Tigers — who have won eight straight — will get plenty of shots from five other scorers in double figures, led by Chad Baker-Mazara (12.7 ppg). Tahaad Pettiford (11.3), who sank a bad shot at South Carolina, could see an increased role in the middle of Auburn’s offense.
It will be interesting to see if the Tigers can maintain their high level of performance on offense if Broome is out. The Bulldogs (14-2, 2-1) are known for their defensive toughness as they force 14.6 turnovers per game and enter Monday tied for 11th in the nation with 10.1 steals per game.
Mississippi State missed a chance to make an early statement in the SEC on Saturday night when its mediocre defense gave up 16 3-pointers in a 95-90 home loss to No. 6 Kentucky. It was the Bulldogs’ 18th straight losing streak to the Wildcats that began in 2009. The loss also snapped the Bulldogs’ eight-game winning streak this season.
But coach Chris Jans said the biggest problem is on the offensive end, even though the 90 points mark is the team’s most against an SEC player in his three seasons at Mississippi State.
“I was surprised by some of our shots,” he said. “They just kind of surprised that they were open so I had to shoot it. I thought we had a lot of guys taking shots like, ‘We don’t need that.’
The Bulldogs fell in love with 3-pointers, taking 40, but the hoop never really returned the love. Mississippi State made just 12 triples, and the team’s leading scorer this season, Josh Hubbard, made 3 of 11 attempts.
“I have tremendous confidence in Josh,” Jans said. “He’s proven over the course of a year and a half that he’s a goal scorer and he shoots shots that sometimes wouldn’t be a good shot for someone else because of his size and his strength and his game.”
Hubbard is averaging 17 points per game and is shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range, although he is shooting just 30.8 percent from long range over the past 12 games.
The Tigers lead the all-time series 83-71 and have won nine of their last 11 games.
–Field Level Media