Big Night Confirms Johni Broome's Role in Auburn Tigers' Success

Johni Broome continues to lead the way on the Auburn Tigers basketball team.

Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome only confirmed how pivotal he is to the team's success / Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 4 Auburn Tigers did not pull away until the second half, but ended up with a convincing 102-69 win over North Alabama on Monday night.

Auburn was led by All-American forward/center Johni Broome who led all scorers with 30 points, nearly doubling the amount scored by anyone else and 17 rebounds. No one else recorded more than eight rebounds. This was the 62nd double-double of Broome’s college career.

It is the third time in his career that he has had a 30-point game. 

“I walk into every game wanting to take over and put my stamp on the game,” Broome said. “Today, it was scoring the ball and rebounding the ball. I felt like my team kind of needed it in those moments, so I did it. At the end of the day, I just want to win.”

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl praised Broome as well as his team’s respect for North Alabama.

“Johni Broome proved why he is an All-American – the most talented person on the floor,” Pearl said. “Our bigs shot an incredible percentage and we shared the ball with 25 assists. Our guys respected the opponent. I’m glad we played ‘til the end.”

Broome has led Auburn in scoring for the past two seasons and had an opportunity to begin his professional career over the summer. Broome ultimately decided to return to Auburn for his final season to improve his shooting, particularly from 3-point range.

Broome shot 13-of-17 from the floor against North Alabama and was successful on one of his two 3-point attempts. After struggling from deep range early this season, Broome was relieved to have some success in the newly sharpened area of his game.

“I kinda haven’t been shooting the best so far this season, so it was good to see one go in,” Broome said. “I worked on it all the time in the offseason, trying to develop that part of my game. But seeing one go in for sure was definitely exciting. A relief to see one go in, it’s been a while.”

While Broome surely left his footprint on Auburn’s win on Monday night, one of his favorite parts of the game was seeing Auburn’s walk-ons have success.

“It’s fun watching those guys come in and get buckets in a real game because they do it in practice all the time,” Broome said. “It was good watching those guys just score and make an impact on the game.”

Broome has had a hot start to the season and his level of play will likely play a sizable role in how successful Auburn can be this season.