‘He’s the National player of the Year’: Auburn basketball on following behind Johni Broome

Johni Broome left Baton Rouge on Wednesday with another reason to be considered the best player in college basketball.

His 26 points and 16 rebounds in Auburn basketball’s 87-74 victory over LSU were a testament to how dominant the Tigers leading scorer has been, reaching his 12th double-double on the season.

No other SEC player has more than six double-doubles this year. After missing two weeks with an ankle injury suffered against South Carolina, Broome has finished his last two games with double-doubles.

Averaging 18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds, it’s clear Broome has the green light for any shot as the leader of this team.

“I mean, Johni’s National Player of the Year, in my opinion. One of the best big men in the country, one of the best players in the country,” Chaney Johnson said. “To have a guy like that back and probably not even 100%, and is still doing as well as he’s doing, it’s great.”

“It’s a great thing for the future of this team and the future of March. We trust him. He trusts in us. He works hard. He plays hard. It’s great to have a guy like him back.”

Broome is the first Division I player to post five games with at least 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots in a single season. Ironically, the feat hasn’t been done since Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried (6) in 2010-11.

Bruce Pearl talked about the game plan entering most contests and how it’s affected by the opponents’ defensive strategy. If Broome knows a double team is not on the scouting report, he takes full advantage of his matchup.

“When you go into a scout and Johni hears these words, they’re going to play you one on one in the post… You know you got to be careful when you say that to him, because he will take you at your word and you know, nobody’s going to play him one on one in the post,” Pearl said. “When you play against a team that he knows is going to double team in the post, then he’ll go into a game sort of understanding and looking for it.”

During the Maui Invitational, Broome passed Charles Barkley for 28th on Auburn’s career scoring list after averaging 21.7 points.

Wednesday night at LSU, 20 of Broome’s 26 points were scored in the second half. He finished 7-of-9 from the floor after starting the game shooting 3-of-14.

Despite the slow start, Miles Kelly believes with Broome on the floor the game plan plays off of him.

“If nobody can stop him, why would you stop going to him. I think that’s just what will happen. Nobody can really stop him,” Kelly said. “He missed a couple of bunnies around the basket but ended up getting the offensive rebound and putting it back. Just playing off of him — they double, he kicks it out. We have all 40% 3-point shooters around the perimeter. So that’s how we finish the game.”

No matter what the Tigers do in preparation, the product on the court has led to a record-setting 12 Quad-1 victories.

With Broome at the center of it all, Auburn looks to extend its undefeated conference record heading into the final month before March Madness.

The Tigers will travel to Ole Miss Saturday to wrap up its two-game road stretch this week. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.