The battle between Auburn ahead Johni Broome and Duke ahead Cooper Flagg for males’s basketball Nationwide Participant of the Yr honors is coming all the way down to the wire.
Throughout a Saturday afternoon showcase in opposition to 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 sport on 52.2 p.c taking pictures, and he leads the SEC in rebounds (11.2) and blocks (2.7) per sport as Auburn (20-1, 8-0 in SEC) has cruised to an undefeated begin within the traditionally nice convention.
Based on 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 event 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 Wood 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 sport 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 received 14 video games in a row forward of its residence Saturday night time sport in opposition to 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 Yr race is way from over.
The Tigers have two video games remaining in opposition to No. 4 Alabama (18-3, 7-1 in SEC), plus residence video games in opposition to No. 5 Florida (18-3, 5-3 in SEC) and Ole Miss and street video games in opposition to 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 may go unequalled by the point the season ends.
