The battle between Auburn ahead Johni Broome and Duke ahead Cooper Flagg for males’s basketball Nationwide Participant of the 12 months honors is coming all the way down to the wire.
Throughout a Saturday afternoon showcase towards Related Press No. 23 Ole Miss (16-6, 5-4 in SEC), Broome added to his compelling case with one other excellent particular person effort in No. 1 Auburn’s 92-82 win.
Broome, a fifth-year senior in his third season at Auburn after starting his profession at Morehead State, scored 20 factors on 7-of-14 taking pictures, together with 2-of-2 from past the arc, and added 12 rebounds, 4 assists and two blocks. It was his tenth 20-point double-double, tying him with Stanford senior ahead Maxime Raynaud for probably the most this season. (h/t Stathead)
Broome is averaging 18.3 factors per recreation on 52.2 p.c taking pictures, and he leads the SEC in rebounds (11.2) and blocks (2.7) per recreation as Auburn (20-1, 8-0 in SEC) has cruised to an undefeated begin within the traditionally nice convention.
In line with ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s most recent update on Jan. 31, the SEC is in line to obtain 13 NCAA Event bids, probably the most in match historical past, two greater than the Huge East’s previous record (11) set in 2011.
Per FanDuel, Broome (+300) trails Flagg (-400) in 2024-25 Picket Award odds.
The superb Blue Devils freshman entered Saturday averaging 19.9 factors, eight rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per recreation on 48.7 p.c taking pictures.
No. 2 Duke (18-2, 10-0 in ACC) has gotten off to a equally scorching begin in ACC play and has gained 14 video games in a row forward of its house Saturday night time recreation towards rival North Carolina (13-9, 6-4 in ACC), which misplaced to Auburn earlier this season, 85-72. Broome had 23 factors, 19 rebounds, 5 assists and three blocks within the wire-to-wire win.
As exceptional as Flagg has been, Broome’s sturdy begin to February suggests the Participant of the 12 months race is way from over.
The Tigers have two video games remaining towards No. 4 Alabama (18-3, 7-1 in SEC), plus house video games towards No. 5 Florida (18-3, 5-3 in SEC) and Ole Miss and street video games towards No. 24 Vanderbilt (16-4, 4-3 in SEC), No. 12 Kentucky (15-5, 4-3 in SEC) and No. 13 Texas A&M (16-5, 5-3 in SEC). Broome has a number of possibilities so as to add to his resume, which might go unmatched by the point the season ends.
