Johni Broome available for Auburn vs. Vanderbilt

Auburn‘s starting center Johni Broome has been cleared to play against Vanderbilt Saturday night, Jon Rothstein reports. Broome, who averaged 13.7 points and nine rebounds per game, has been dealing with an ankle injury he suffered earlier this week against Missouri.

Broome was injured following a dunk attempt early against the Tigers. Landing wrong on his ankle, Broome stayed on the floor until trainers came to his aid. He would try to check back into the game a few minutes later, but almost immediately subbed himself out and would not return.

After the game, Broome said he would be fine and that it was just a tough fall. No official injury diagnosis has been released, but it seems he’s well enough to take the court against the Commodores.

Tip-off between Auburn and Vanderbilt is set for 8:30 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network. The Tigers are 3.5-point favorites entering the matchup.

Bruce Pearl happy to pick up ‘must-win’ game against Missouri

Auburn snapped a three-game losing skid on Tuesday when it picked up a much-needed win against Missouri. Not just a much-needed win, but a must-win game, according to coach Bruce Pearl.

Pearl cited his players’ exhaustion despite a bunch of hard work as a reason his team needed a positive payout.

“I don’t like having to talk about this is a ‘must-win,’ but I always told you guys we’re going to be honest with you and I want to be honest with my team,” Pearl explained.

Basically, looking at the league standings there is a glut of teams between 9-4 and 6-7 in the conference standings, Auburn among them.

“We’ve got a chance to finish tied for third or fourth tonight or we could finish eighth or ninth after the outcome tonight,” Pearl said, breaking things down. “That’s just the reality of it. So I wanted my guys to understand that. They did.”