2024-25 has been a special season for No. 1-ranked Auburn basketball, as the Tigers have already clinched the outright regular season SEC title. Now, Bruce Pearl and company are wrapping up their final two games of the regular season before setting their sights on the SEC Tournament and winning a national championship in the Big Dance.
Those hopes were briefly in jeopardy after a scary moment during Tuesday night's game against No. 22 Texas A&M. Early in the first half, star big man Johni Broome appeared to injure his left shoulder while defending a post-up. He immediately clutched the shoulder and ran to the Auburn bench.
Broome sat for about five minutes, briefly talking with trainers, before returning to the game with just over 10 minutes to go in the first half. Broome is reportedly “fine” according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.
Losing Broome would be a crushing blow for Auburn. The Morehead State transfer is one of the two favorites to win the National Player of the Year in college basketball along with Duke's Cooper Flagg. His ability to dominate on both ends is a big reason why Auburn finds itself as a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which starts in just over two weeks.
Related Auburn Basketball NewsArticle continues below
Entering Tuesday, Broome was averaging 18.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. The Auburn star is a certainty for First Team All-American and will be one of the players to watch heading into the Big Dance.
Auburn has its hands full with a very talented Texas A&M team on Tuesday night in College Station. The Aggies were a top 10 team earlier in the season, but a four-game losing streak has dropped them outside of the top 20. With the top-ranked team in the nation coming into their building, Buzz Williams and company will be doing everything they can to get back in the win column and start building momentum for the postseason.
Auburn has no time to rest after beating Kentucky on Saturday and battling with Texas A&M on Tuesday. Pearl's group will take on No. 7 Alabama on Saturday in a marquee matchup that will close out a brutal regular season schedule in the SEC. In order to get the win in that one, this Auburn basketball team needs to have Broome healthy and ready to go.
