Duke had already won at Wake Forest to extend its winning streak to 13 games, and now Auburn was down four points to Tennessee in the final two minutes at home, at which point Saturday looked like it might deliver a development that would create change at the top of the Top 25 And 1.
But then Tahaad Pettiford made a jumper. And then Miles Kelly sank a 3 pointer. And then Pettiford added a free throw. And in a matter of just 97 seconds, Auburn went on a 6-0 run to close the game that flipped a 51-47 deficit into a 53-51 victory that extended the Tigers’ winning streak to 11 games and allowed them to remain No. 1 in Sunday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Auburn is No. 1 for the 19th straight morning.
Oh, and Johni Broome played!
Auburn’s National Player of the Year candidate took the court for the first time since suffering an ankle injury at South Carolina on Jan. 11 when he entered Saturday’s game early in the first half. The 6-foot-10 senior finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in 33 minutes while reestablishing himself as the favorite to take SEC Player of the Year honors and the biggest threat to Cooper Flagg’s pursuit at Duke to become the youngest Wooden Award winner in history.
“I just want to thank my trainers and my doctors and Johni Broome for living in the training room for two weeks,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “I didn’t think he was gonna come back tonight, in the middle of the week. And, even here the day before, I knew he wanted to go. I didn’t think he was gonna be effective. And he had a triple-double tonight: 16 points, 13 rebounds, and he missed 12 shots. But I think the team really respected their leader for putting it on the line. And I don’t know if we win if he doesn’t come back.”
