The Stretch 4: It's all hands on deck for Auburn vs. State
The Tigers won't have Johni Broome for their first Quad 1 home game. But they've still got more than enough to take on the Bulldogs.
(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — The Associated Press poll now ranks Auburn as the No. 1 men’s college basketball team in the entire country.
But that might mean more to the fans than the Tigers themselves.
“No. 1 is cool, but we can't hang a banner for No. 1,” fifth-year center Dylan Cardwell said Monday. “That's what I preach to these guys: I've been No. 1 before. It doesn't really mean much, just a little number by our name.”
Still, Bruce Pearl says his Tigers deserve that title. They’re tied with Oregon for the best record in Quad 1 games at 7-1, and they’ve already beaten the current No. 2, No. 10, No. 17 and No. 18 teams in the poll. And, unlike Oregon, Auburn doesn’t have a sub-Quad 1 loss, having just rallied to escape South Carolina with a 3-point win.
But Pearl doesn’t believe Auburn is the best team in the country right now. That’s partially because the Tigers don’t have All-American center Johni Broome, who suffered a left ankle sprain in the second half Saturday and is out indefinitely.
“He is a Player of the Year candidate, because he's a stat-sheet stuffer,” Pearl said Monday. “And so much of the way we've built our team, particularly on the offensive end, has been around him. But… I remember when we went to Georgia last year. We went without Jaylin Williams. And other guys stepped up.”
That’s going to have to be the case again Tuesday night for Auburn, which hosts Mississippi State inside Neville Arena. For the Tigers, it will be their first Quad 1 opportunity at home, as the Bulldogs currently sit at No. 18 in the NET rankings.
(And the timing of a big home game couldn’t have been any better for Auburn: The university started its new semester Monday, which means that the student section will be back to full strength for the first time in more than a month.)
Replacing the production of Broome — the team’s leader in minutes, points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game — will be a monumental task. Auburn is a decidedly different team without the fifth-year superstar center. But Pearl has faith in his roster.
“I have confidence that all our guys can step up their scoring: Dylan and Chaney and Chad and Denver and Miles and Tahaad and Jahki and Chris,” Pearl said, rattling off almost the entire rotation. “I just think everybody has an opportunity. We have enough talent to be able to have everybody do a little bit more.
“I think that’s the best way to approach his loss.”
Mississippi State is currently a top-15 team according to the human polls and a top-20 team by most predictive metrics. (It entered the week with a Fetty Wap ranking in KenPom: 17 on offense, 38 on defense.) The Bulldogs had won eight straight games before losing a wild shootout at home to Kentucky on Saturday night. Mississippi State fell short, but it still scored a whopping 90 points with its revamped offense.
That means Auburn will face a team that’s plenty confident in its ability to put points on the scoreboard at a time when it’ll be missing its best offensive weapon.
“They play fast,” said power forward Chaney Johnson, who will likely replace Broome in the starting lineup until his return. “They're real talented in the guard position. I mean, I think in that loss to Kentucky, they shot 40-something threes, so they can shoot the ball really well.
“They're one of the more physical teams in the SEC. … It’s just keying in on their key players and just trying to be the more physical team, a tougher team and the most excited team to play.”
To get you fully ready for this massive SEC matchup between Auburn and Mississippi State, here is the latest edition of The Stretch 4.
(David Gray/Auburn Tigers)