Auburn basketball earned two key SEC wins last week despite the absence of star forward Johni Broome.
The No. 1 Tigers smashed No. 18 Mississippi State, 88-66 in front of the home crowd at Neville Arena in Auburn last Tuesday before escaping an upset last Saturday at No. 23 Georgia, 70-68. Auburn avoided the “upset bug” that bit several teams last week, including Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. Because of their great fortune, Auburn remains No. 1 in this week’s power rankings from The Athletic.
CJ Moore of The Athletic praised Auburn freshman Tahaad Pettford’s performances against Mississippi State and Georgia in Broome’s absence, which led him to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
Pettiford has stepped up in the absence of forward Johni Broome, who suffered an ankle injury on Jan. 11. The Tigers went 2-0 this week without their Wooden Award candidate, and Pettiford was the leading scorer, averaging 18 points in the Broome-less games and leading the Tigers with 24 in Saturday’s win.
Duke and Iowa State switched places this week at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots while Alabama and Florida remain at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Missouri made the biggest jump in this week’s rankings among SEC teams, moving to No. 17 after being unranked last week.
Auburn will step away from midweek action this week, and will return to the floor on Saturday against No. 7 Tennessee at Neville Arena in Auburn. The Volunteers are No. 6 in this week’s power rankings by The Athletic.
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