Two new Tennessee players on injury report, Auburn updates status of Johni Broome
Auburn center Johni Broome on Friday night was listed as questionable on the SEC injury report for Saturday night’s game against No. 6 Tennessee. The Vols had two news names on the report, with Igor Milicic listed as probable and Jordan Gainey listed as questionable.
Milicic is dealing with a lower-body injury and Gainey has flu-like symptoms.
Gainey is Tennessee’s third-leading scorer at 11.2 points per game, just ahead of Milicic at 10.3 per game. Milicic is Tennessee’s leading rebounder at 8.4 per game.
Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC) and Tennessee (17-2, 4-2) Saturday night are set for an 8:30 Eastern Time start on ESPN at Neville Arena. ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast live from Auburn Saturday morning.
The SEC injury report will be updated pregame Saturday evening, with players listed as available, game-time decision or out.
Broome has missed the last two games since being injured in the second half at South Carolina on January 11. He leads Auburn in points (17.9 per game), rebounds (10.7), assists (3.2) and minutes (27.4) while shooting 54.7% from the field.
Bruce Pearl on Johni Broome: ‘We’ll just have to see how he does’
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl addressed Broome’s injury during his press conference on Thursday.
“I’ll know more (Friday) and Saturday,” Pearl said, according to Auburn Live. “I don’t know whether he’s questionable or probable, but I do know he’s going to try and move around a little bit today and we’ll just have to see how he does.”
Broome has missed Auburn’s last two games, an 88-66 home win over Mississippi State and a 70-68 road win at Georgia.
Auburn has won 10 straight games and has been ranked No. 1 the last two weeks, since Tennessee’s loss at Florida, which ended the Vols’ five-week run at No. 1.
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“I think it speaks to who they are as a team,” Barnes said of Auburn’s play without Broome. “And the fact that when you’re the No. 1-ranked team, and they’ve been there all year long, and you look at their only loss is at Duke early in the year.
“You’re not going to get to be a No. 1, No. 2, No. 5, any of those teams ranked by one guy alone. You can certainly have a guy that can anchor you down, but you’ve got to be able to withstand some of these type situations through injuries.”
Johni Broome had 23 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists at Tennessee last season
Broome had 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes in Auburn’s 92-84 loss at Tennessee last season.
Broome had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in 32 minutes in a 79-70 win over Tennessee in March 2023, the last time the Vols went to Auburn. He had 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a 46-43 loss at Food City Center in February 2023.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice Friday in Knoxville that the preparation for the Tigers doesn’t change with or without Broome available.
“We’ll prepare (the same),” Barnes said, “because it’s no different going into a game when you might prepare for somebody to get in foul trouble. They’re gone, you got to be ready for who comes in behind them. And so you go about it the same way.”
