Denver Jones injury update: Auburn announces status ahead of Texas A&M matchup

Auburn guard Denver Jones is a game-time decision for Tuesday evening’s contest against Texas A&M, according to the SEC availability report. Jones is dealing with an ankle injury that he suffered over the weekend against Kentucky, playing eight minutes in that game.

He is averaging 10.7 points per game on the season and is one of the team’s best 3-point shooters with a 43.7% clip from beyond the arc. Tahaad Pettiford saw increased minutes off the bench and may step into a starting role if Jones is ruled out, though Auburn could also turn to Chaney Johnson.

Tigers coach Bruce Pearl offered an update on Denver Jones following the game against Kentucky over the weekend, which seemed like positive news at the time.

“Good news, it was X-rayed, bone bruise, so he’s going to recover from it,” Pearl said postgame. “But he’s a tough kid. I was worried he had a bone break or something.”

Auburn (27-2, 15-1 SEC) is ranked No. 1 in the country and seems to have a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament locked up, so it may opt to rest Jones with the SEC Tournament coming up next week.

We’ll have to wait and see as tip-off between the Tigers and Aggies is set for 8 p.m. CT.

Mark Pope labels Auburn as the best team in the country

On Saturday, No. 1 Auburn invaded Rupp Arena and walked away with a convincing 94-78 victory. After the game, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope gave credit to the Tigers for their dominant performance against his team.

“Right now, they are the best team in the country,” Pope said. “They punished us tonight, for sure. It’s a real credit to their guys, to their players, and a real credit to coach [Bruce] Pearl and his staff because they do a lot of switching on the fly. There is a lot of communication on the fly.

“There were only small moments in the game where we were able to take advantage of that and they communicate so well together, and they have so much makeup ability that it makes it really difficult. And they also play with tremendous energy. They have length. They are playing elite level basketball. So, just a ton of credit to those guys.”

With the win, Auburn improved to 27-2 on the season and 15-1 in conference play. The Tigers are 16-2 in Quad 1 matchups this season. Alabama and Tennessee have the second-most Quad 1 wins this season, with 10 each.

On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.