Following Johni Broome’s left ankle injury causing the national player of the year candidate to exit the game at the 13:45 mark in the second half, No. 2 Auburn survived a back-and-forth second half to pull off a 66-63 win at South Carolina – the Tigers’ ninth straight over the Gamecocks which is their longest active win streak against any SEC opponent.
“We won on the road twice,” head coach Bruce Pearl said on the Auburn radio postgame show. “It was a one possession game in Texas. It was a one possession game here. You know, that's all you gotta do is to put yourself in position.”
Broome left the game after his left foot came down on teammate Chaney Johnson as he was defending Collin Murray-Boyles. The 6-foot-10 graduate-senior was met by Auburn’s medical staff and several assistants under the basket and was helped off the floor putting no pressure on his left foot.
“We know that he's got a pretty serious sprain. We will MRI and X-ray it when he gets back and hopefully, that's what it is. Don't know much more than that,” Pearl said.
Prior to Broome’s injury it was a rough first half for all three of Auburn’s big men despite just a 6-point midway deficit. South Carolina led rebounds by a +7 margin, 21-14, and recorded six more offensive boards, 11-5, than the Tigers.
The Tigers trio of big men, Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson, combined for 12 points but also recorded two-plus fouls a-piece – Johnson with three first half personal fouls.
National player of the year candidate Johni Broome shot 2-for-8 from the field totaling four first half points compared to South Carolina big man Collin Murray-Boyles who recorded 18 first half points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field.
“I thought, South Carolina's size really bothered us. And even with Johni, we did not do a good job defensively in the first half, but in the second half they only scored 23 points,” Pearl said. “They were on pace to score 80. And so that was the difference in the game.”
But it proved to be a tale of two halves defensively for Auburn as the Tigers held South Carolina scoreless in the final 5:18 of play in a three point victory — the Gamecocks missing their last six shots.
Murray-Boyles only added seven second half points to his dominating first half performance to total 25 total points on the day – marking the second straight game an opposing player has scored 25-or-more points on Auburn.
“Miles Kelly played really, really well, stepped up in a big, big way,” Pearl said. “With the game on the line Tahaad Pettiford is going to be up there making plays for himself and others and not afraid of the moment. “
The Tigers pair of guards, Miles Kelly and Tahaad Pettiford, both had eight points a-piece in the second half – which led all scorers in the final 20 minutes of play.
Pettiford and Kelly finished with 15 and 14 points respectively, shooting a combined 6-for-13 from deep. In Auburn’s two SEC road games, at Texas on Wednesday and against South Carolina today, Kelly is shooting 57.1% from deep, 8-for-14, and has averaged 16.0 points in the pair of contests.
“Without our leader, without our best player, the guys stepped up and found a way,” Pearl said.
Cardwell and Johnson, who both had three fouls a piece at the time of Broome’s departure, finished with a combined 15 points – Johnson with nine and Cardwell with 6. Johnson didn’t record another foul the rest of the way and Cardwell only fouled out with nine seconds to go.
“Dylan Cardwell, just incredible,” Pearl said. “His defense, his physicality, his rebounding, his poise. Three huge blocks. Tremendous.”
With Broome’s status looming over the Tigers’ end-of-season aspirations, Auburn found a way to win on the road and will likely find themselves ranked at the top spot in the AP poll come Monday afternoon.
“That matters to me, because it's history,” Pearl said of the potential No. 1 ranking. “I'd rather be number one at the end of the year. But we'll take it when we can get it.”
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @patrickabingham
