Tomorrow, the Auburn basketball team will begin its SEC Tournament run in the quarterfinals of the competition. The Tigers will take on the winner of the matchup between Ole Miss and Arkansas, who beat South Carolina in the first round.
Last time the Tigers traveled to Nashville, it was to take on Vanderbilt in the regular season, and Auburn senior Chaney Johnson was a key player in the victory over the Commodores. Johnson dropped 20 points, his season-high in a conference game, and was a driving force in his team's bounceback from the loss against Florida.
However, the senior forward has not been playing his best basketball over the last two weeks. The Tigers have lost two of their last three matchups, and Johnson has averaged just 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds.
“We need him to. We do,” said head coach Bruce Pearl about Johnson, per Auburn Rivals. “He's gotten in some foul trouble. When he is not flying around and being one of the best athletes on the floor and using his athleticism, his speed, his power, his physicality — which, sometimes, you don't do when you get in foul trouble — it lessens his effect on the game. I'm anxious to find ways to get that back.”
Johnson has been praised by Pearl and his teammates all season for being the hardest worker on the team and putting in the most time in the gym. Despite his struggles, his team is sticking by him and hoping he will return to his best form in the postseason.
"We instill confidence in Chaney all day long, especially me," Johni Broome added, per Auburn Undercover. "... When he does have a couple rough games, everybody knows how good he is. So we just try to keep picking his head up so he can get back to where he was. … He's very valuable to this team."
Auburn basketball plays at noon on Friday in their first game of the SEC Tournament.