Auburn star Johni Broome, the front-runner for National Player of the Year, left Saturday’s 66-63 win at South Carolina after suffering a left ankle injury.
Broome went to the locker room with just under 14 minutes left in the game and didn’t return. He stepped on a teammate’s foot after contesting a shot on the defensive end, and he immediately looked to be in serious pain on the floor. He couldn’t put any weight on his left foot while being helped to the locker room.
Coach Bruce Pearl said after the game on SEC Network that Broome has a “significant sprain” and he’ll undergo an MRI when they return to Auburn tonight to assess any additional damage.
It’s the second injury for Broome this season after he left a December game against Georgia State after just two minutes with a shoulder injury. Pearl said after the game that Broome’s shoulder “came out and came right back in,” and the star big man ended up not missing any games.
Broome has been the most dominant player in college basketball and entered the weekend as the favorite to win National Player of the Year. He was averaging 18.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 blocks and has tallied huge performances in big games — including 21 points and 20 rebounds against Ohio State, 23 points and 19 rebounds against North Carolina, and 21 points and 16 rebounds against Memphis. He has 10 double-doubles this season.
No. 2 Auburn (15-1, 3-0 SEC) has won eight straight games after escaping against South Carolina on Saturday. The Tigers trailed by as many as nine points late in the first half, but they came back to get the win after South Carolina big man Nick Pringle missed two free throws with nine seconds left.
After top-ranked Tennessee’s 30-point loss at Florida earlier in the week, the Tigers are likely to move to No. 1 in the AP poll on Monday.
