Auburn star Johni Broome, the front-runner for National Player of the Year, won’t require surgical procedure on the left ankle sprain he suffered in Saturday’s victory over South Carolina, sources advised ESPN.
Broome underwent an MRI on Sunday morning. The 6-foot-10 senior is out indefinitely, sources stated, but it surely’s not anticipated to be a long-term absence.
Broome went to the locker room with slightly below 14 minutes left in Saturday’s recreation and did not return. He stepped on a teammate’s foot after contesting a shot on the defensive finish, appeared to be in critical ache on the ground, and could not put any weight on his left foot whereas being helped to the locker room.
It marks the second damage this season for Broome, who additionally left a December recreation in opposition to Georgia State after simply two minutes with a shoulder damage. Tigers coach Bruce Pearl stated after that Dec. 17 contest that Broome’s shoulder “got here out and got here proper again in,” and the star massive man ended up not lacking any video games.
Broome has been essentially the most dominant participant in school basketball and entered the weekend as the favourite to win National Player of the Year. He is averaging 17.9 factors, 10.7 rebounds and a pair of.7 blocks per recreation and has tallied large performances in massive video games — together with 21 factors and 20 rebounds in opposition to Ohio State, 23 factors and 19 rebounds in opposition to North Carolina, and 21 factors and 16 rebounds in opposition to Memphis. He has 10 double-doubles this season.
Without Broome, Pearl will lean extra closely on seniors Dylan Cardwell (5.5 PPG) and Chaney Johnson (10.1 PPG).
No. 2 Auburn (15-1, 3-0 SEC) has received eight straight video games after escaping in opposition to South Carolina on Saturday. The Tigers trailed by as many as 9 factors late within the first half, however they got here again to get the win after South Carolina massive man Nick Pringle missed two free throws with 9 seconds remaining.
After top-ranked Tennessee‘s 30-point loss at Florida final week, the Tigers are prone to transfer to No. 1 within the AP ballot on Monday. Auburn’s subsequent recreation is at house Tuesday in opposition to Mississippi State.
