Stars such as Auburn’s Johni Broome and Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier will be on display in the first semifinal game of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday afternoon in Nashville.
No. 3 Auburn (28-4) and No. 8 Tennessee (26-6) had double byes to start the tournament, and the top players were ready to roll in their first games in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Broome was selected the SEC Player of the Year after averaging 18.6 points and 10.6 rebounds during the regular season. He surpassed those numbers with 23 points and 15 rebounds in the top-seeded Tigers’ 62-57 victory over eighth-seeded Ole Miss to start the postseason.
“Johni just carries us,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “He puts us on his shoulders and he’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever seen. He hates to lose, and his teammates know that.”
One of those teammates is SEC All-Defense guard Denver Jones, who helped lead an effort that held the Rebels to their lowest point total of the season.
“Defense and rebounding win championships,” Pearl said, “and that’s obviously what carried the day.”
The day almost got away from the Tigers because they committed 15 turnovers and were outscored 18-6 on points off giveaways. Pearl was concerned about those numbers as his team prepares to face the Volunteers and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Zeigler and All-Defense guard Jahmai Mashack.
“We don’t win many games when we turn the ball over 15 times,” Pearl said. “We’ve got to do a better job of handling pressure and taking care of the basketball. It was almost a factor in us getting beat.”
The Tigers almost dropped their regular-season meeting with Tennessee before prevailing 53-51 at home Jan. 25 behind a late 3-pointer from Miles Kelly.
On Friday, the fourth-seeded Volunteers never trailed in an 83-72 victory against 13th-seeded Texas, which had beaten Vanderbilt and Texas A&M during the first two days of the tournament.
Lanier, the SEC Newcomer of the Year, scored 17 of his team’s first 21 points and finished with 23.
“I know what my team needs from me,” Lanier said. “I have to be aggressive for the whole 40 minutes.”
Zeigler, who scored all 19 of his points in the second half after being limited to nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, became his school’s season-season leader in assists (230 and counting). He leads the SEC with an average of 7.4 per game, and he surpassed 700 career assists.
Tennessee’s performance featured significantly more offense than Auburn’s did, as the Volunteers reached 80 points in an SEC tournament game for the first time since 2019. The Saturday matchup features two teams that both spent multiple weeks atop the AP Top 25 before slipping slightly due to the SEC grind.
“I feel like we’ve been in the spotlight the whole year,” Zeigler said. “I feel like we’ve always done a really good job dealing with it. We won a tough game (Friday). We’ve got 30 minutes to celebrate it, then move on to the next one.”
