Auburn on Top
The Auburn Tigers have been on an absolute tear the past few weeks, seizing the top spot of the SEC as part of a 10 game winning streak following their sole loss of the season on the road to a Duke Blue Devil team that is currently ranked #2 in the nation. The start of the season included winning the Maui Invitational with wins over three teams that have been ranked this season in #3 Iowa State, then #12 North Carolina, and #23 Memphis, showing that along with a mountain of talent, they have a great deal of camaraderie which might be surprising given their emergency landing fiasco en route to play #4 Houston in early November.
It showed that the Tigers are indeed loaded at every position but also have a deep bench of dangerous hoopers that can be quickly activated to get a win. It also showed that the on court leader of this team was Johni Broome who is averaging 17.6 pts, 10.6 reb, 3.3 assists, and 2.7 blocks per game for the Tigers. Along with Dylan Cardwell, who I would argue is the engine of this top ranked Auburn team, Broome has proven to be a nightmare for opposing coaches to game-plan for. However in such a long season, adversity rears its head and forces teams to adapt.
Down Goes Broome
In a game on the road against the bottom of the SEC bucket, South Carolina, Johni Broome would go down with a sprained left ankle with about 13 minutes left in the second half. This game was peculiar not just for the fact that the Gamecocks were going blow for blow with Auburn even leading by six points at half, but that Auburn half South Carolina scoreless for the last 5:18 seconds of the game and left Columbia with a win. Auburn has since played two games against #15 Mississippi State and at #23 Georgia which have highlighted how this team and coaching staff have adapted since Broome went down.
Adjustments from Pearl
These last two games have shifted the guards into the drivers seat of this offense with Chad Baker-Mazara leading the Tigers with 20 points on 72% shooting as Auburn punished the Bulldogs of Mississippi State who have been a very competitive team in the SEC this year. This game was much more fast paced than the Auburn team with Broome as the fulcrum, with Senior Forward Chaney Johnson having his best game of the season with 17 points 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in Auburns 88-66 win over the number 15 team in the land. This game showed that the Tigers can be a dangerous team without their best player; can they be more dangerous though?
The simple answer is no. This was made apparent in their win against a Georgia team that I have watched put ranked teams in positions that required late game heroics much as was the case for Auburn when they took the trip to Athens. This game turned out to be a contest between Tahaad Pettiford and Asa Newell; two freshman who should be well known to basketball fans thought they loom under the shadow cast by Duke’s Cooper Flagg. Pettiford has shown explosive scoring ability this season but was clutch in his deliverance in this performance as the Bulldogs would be propelled by Newell’s double double in a push to secure a win. Auburn would escape 70-68 on 24 points from Pettiford off the bench.
The difference in performance can be chalked up to a few variables. One, the absence of Broome inside to anchor the offense means that the ball stays on the perimeter and allows the defense to cover defensive assignments with simple rotations almost like a shell drill. When you have a big that can reliably score and has the gift to make the right pass out when he cannot puts all the pressure on the guards to dig and move then puts them at a disadvantage on the closeout to highly skilled guards. This difference is lessened when Auburn faces a guard led team like Mississippi State who struggled to contest on balance when recovering off of dribble drives.
When Auburn faces a front court heavy team like Georgia, they were forced to deal with their own strategy as Georgia played inside out and had much better opportunities to get easy buckets. The talent gap between Georgia and Auburn is large enough that the game should not have been that close, but the constant movement of the defense reacting to the threat of Newell down low seemed to exhaust the Tigers as they shot just 39% from the field.
The last factor is the home versus away disparity which may factor in for any team as much as it does for Auburn. They are really difficult to beat at Neville Arena. It seems as though every player, including the walk ons and the injured players, feed off of the crowds energy in The Jungle which leads to huge momentum swings following big plays. This is an experienced team with a coach that is well known for his connection to the student body; and those students will show up to give their team the support they need.
Going Forward.
Auburn faces a grand task tomorrow night, Saturday, January 25th, as they take on the #6, Tennessee Volunteers in Auburn at 7:30 p.m. The Volunteers have started showing signs of attrition in the brutal grind of the SEC receiving their second loss of the season to in-state rival Vanderbilt 76-75. Broome is listed as a game-time-decision by head coach Bruce Pearl who I am sure would like to have a security blanket against a well coached Volunteers team. Rick Barnes will likely have given his team a game-plan to get out of The Plains with a win.
Auburn is capable of putting on another Mississippi State-like performance at home if they are to go without Broome. They are capable of winning the SEC without Broome if they needed to. It might even be feasible to say that they have a great shot to win the national championship with Broome on the Bench. But it’d be a lot easier if they did.
Catch Auburn-Tennessee on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. CST
To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in College Basketball analysis click here.
