Johni Broome injury: Auburn star helped off court vs. South Carolina with apparent ankle issue

Auburn star Johni Broome left Saturday’s game against South Carolina with an apparent ankle injury in the second half. He appeared to roll his left ankle with 13:45 to go and didn’t put any weight on it as he headed toward the locker room.

Broome went up for a rebound and landed on Chaney Johnson’s foot, rolling his ankle in the process. He immediately yelled in pain as he grabbed for his left leg, and he needed help from the training staff to get to the locker room.

At the time of his injury, Broome had six points and three rebounds in 24 minutes of action. He was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game, an Auburn spokesperson told The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman.

Auburn trailed South Carolina 40-34 at halftime, but the Tigers mounted a rally in the second half. They held a 64-63 lead with 29.5 seconds to play, which led to a Gamecocks timeout. Nick Pringle then drew a foul on Dylan Cardwell out of the huddle, but he missed both free throw attempts.

Auburn then got the ball back on the jump ball with 7.4 seconds left, and that’s when South Carolina had to foul. The Tigers ended up holding on for the 66-63 victory to stay undefeated in league play.

Through the first part of the year, Broome generated some buzz for National Player of the Year. He entered Saturday’s game averaging 18.7 points and 11.2 rebounds, ranking fifth in the nation in the latter category. He’s also averaging 2.7 blocks through the first 15 games, including two in SEC play.

Saturday’s injury is the second for Broome this year. He previously hurt his shoulder late in non-conference play, but didn’t miss any significant time as a result, quickly returning for the next game against Purdue.

After a victory over Missouri to open SEC play, Bruce Pearl summed up the impact Johni Broome and the other big men have on the Auburn attack. He stressed the need for the big men to play well if the Tigers want to stay competitive, and they did just that against Mizzou.

“Size matters. Size matters in jewelry and it matters in basketball,” Pearl said. “Our guys, Chaney, Dylan, Johni and look, Chad Baker. His length, the length of our guards. So they did a great job on Mitchell. I think the other guy to point out is (Anthony) Robinson. Robinson’s been tearing it up and he didn’t get a bucket tonight. He’s one of their better players.”