The Auburn Tigers pulled off a big win on the road against South Carolina this weekend, made even bigger by the fact that they did it mostly without big man Johni Broome.
Six minutes into the second half, Broome went up for a rebound and landed on teammate Chaney Johnson's foot, resulting in an ankle injury that sent Broome to the locker room. Auburn basketball battled against the Gamecocks and ultimately won 66-63, and Broome was able to rejoin the team on the bench with ice wrapped to his ankle.
"He's got a significant sprain," head coach Bruce Pearl said after the game, per Auburn Undercover. "When we get back to Auburn tonight, we'll get him an MRI and see if there's anything else going on there."
Today the program announced that Broome will not need surgery but will be out for an indefinite amount of time. Broome posted a picture of a boot on his ankle to his personal social media. In Broome's absence, forward Chaney Johnson is expected to rotate into the starting lineup.
"Chaney Johnson is our best athlete," said Pearl after the Tigers' win over South Carolina, per Auburn Undercover. "He's our best athlete. He is incredibly capable of physically stepping up. So, without our player of the year, we had to make up for it. It's going to be hard to find the good offense that we've been having, because Johni is unstoppable down there, and he's such a good passer and playmaker. Defensively, our guys, without him, really stepped up. Now, we're gonna be much smaller. We're gonna have to rebound the ball."
The Tigers will return home this week to host Mississippi State in Neville Arena on Tuesday before hitting the road again to face Georgia in Athens next weekend. Auburn and Mississippi State will tip off at 6:00 p.m.