Top-ranked Auburn faces perhaps its toughest test of the season Saturday night as No. 6 Tennessee comes to Alabama for a primetime Southeastern Conference showdown.
The Tigers (17-1, 5-0 SEC) are riding a 10-game winning streak, the last two coming without injured forward Johni Broome. The team leader in scoring (17.9), rebounding (10.7) and assists (3.3) is out indefinitely with a left ankle sprain.
Auburn routed then-No. 15 Mississippi State last week in its first game without Broome but had to survive a furious Georgia comeback and escaped with a 70-68 win over the then-No. 23 Bulldogs on Sunday.
Chad Baker-Mazara and sixth man Tahaad Pettiford have risen to the occasion in Broome’s absence. Pettiford was instrumental in the win at Georgia, making 5 of 7 attempts from 3-point range in a 24-point effort. Baker-Mazara added 13 points with three 3-pointers and six rebounds.
Baker-Mazara (13.1) and Pettiford (12.0) are second and third on the Tigers in scoring. The balanced offense also gets double-digit scoring from Miles Kelly (10.6), Denver Jones (10.5) and Chaney Johnson (10.0).
Despite their initial success without Broome, the Tigers are very much looking forward to his return.
“We’re not anticipating (he’ll) practice much, certainly at the beginning of the week,” coach Bruce Pearl said. “We’ll probably evaluate him later on this week, but he’s working really hard to get back. It’s hard in this league without your best player.”
Tennessee (17-2, 4-2) has been navigating its own challenges since holding the top spot in the poll just a few short weeks ago.
The Volunteers were knocked off that perch with a disastrous 30-point loss Jan. 7 at Florida, which also began a concerning three-game scoring drought for star Chaz Lanier.
Lanier was held to 10 points or fewer in three consecutive games including that loss. He heated up with 17 points at Vanderbilt last Saturday but it wasn’t enough to avoid a 76-75 setback.
“I just keep telling (Lanier), you know, he’s at a different level,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “This is all new for him. He’s never been guarded physically, never been bumped like he has been. It’s just a whole different level.
“I do think it helps when he’s locked in defensively, because I think it takes pressure off thinking that you’ve got to make shots. I think any time you can get lost in the game defensively, it helps.”
Lanier led the way again in Tennessee’s bounce-back effort on Tuesday, scoring 23 points in a 68-56 win over No. 14 Mississippi State.
The senior guard leads Tennessee with 18.4 points per game — 6.2 points more than the team’s next leading scorer. Zakai Zeigler averages 12.2 points and 7.6 assists, while Jordan Gainey contributes 11.2 points and Igor Milicic Jr. adds 10.3 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds.
–Field Level Media
