Ad Disclosure
The SEC basketball season continues barreling toward an epic conclusion, but first place in the league standings still belongs to Auburn. The Tigers entered the weekend with a 2-game lead, and they will come out with the same after an 82-70 win over Georgia.
In spite of playing at home, this one would not be easy for the Tigers. They faced a pesky Bulldog team that was hungry enough to hang with the No. 1 team in all of college basketball for much of the game.
Ultimately, Bruce Pearl’s team would make their free throws down the stretch to secure the win and improve to 25-2 on the season and 13-1 in the SEC. Now, the Tigers can turn their attention to a brutal 4-game stretch to try and preserve their SEC title.
Here are the key takeaways from Saturday:
Johni Broome dominates
In a recurring story this season, Broome was masterful at working against the Bulldogs. He led all players in scoring and rebounding with 31 points and 14 rebounds for another double-double. He chipped in 4 assists and 2 blocks and shot 11-for-18 from the floor.
Broome now has 17 double-double games on the year, just 1 shy of the single-season record for Auburn. He also became the 12th player in program history to reach 1,500 career points during the win.
The star big man was 1 of 4 Auburn players in double figures, but with a bench that had just 8 points on the game, Broome’s output was particularly significant in this one.
Auburn’s 3-point shooting worrisome
If you’re looking for a reason why Georgia was able to hang around, it simply boils down to Auburn’s performance from deep. The Tigers are shooting 36.5% from 3-point range (3rd in the SEC) this season, but they were just 6-for-22 (27.3%) at home.
That is ultimately one of the keys for anyone trying to limit Auburn in the postseason. While things flow through Broome, the 3-point shooting of Auburn helps open up space for the big man to operate.
Georgia dedicated its defense to limiting the 3-point shooting, but that allowed Broome to maximize his opportunities in the game. It’s part of what makes the Tigers so tough to defend, but they will need to be more efficient from deep entering the postseason.
The final stretch
After Auburn’s win and similar victories by Alabama and Kentucky, the Tigers maintain a 2-game lead in the league standings heading to the final 4-game stretch of the regular season. Auburn is also in search of its first regular season SEC title since 2021-22, but the final portion of the schedule will not be easy.
The final 4 games for the Tigers are all against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Those matchups go vs. Ole Miss, at Kentucky, at Texas A&M and then home vs. Alabama in the season finale.
Auburn has been able to weather the storm all season long with just the lone league defeat at the hands of Florida, but it will take another magnificent stretch to secure the outright league title.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
