Auburn has endured a few close calls lately.
But the unanimous No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll has won 11 consecutive games heading into its Southeastern Conference contest against LSU on Wednesday night in Baton Rouge, La.
Auburn (18-1, 6-0) had one of its most difficult and satisfying wins when it scored the final six points of the game to rally past then-No. 6 and visiting Tennessee 53-51 on Saturday.
“We can play better, and we were still able to beat a great team,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “We’ve won four of the last six games in the last possession. It’s going to be a battle every night.”
In Auburn’s past three road games, it defeated Georgia by two points, South Carolina by three and Texas by five. Tigers star forward Johni Broome missed the win against Georgia and an 88-66 home victory against Mississippi State because of an ankle injury but returned against Tennessee.
“It was a rough one, but we got it done,” said Broome, who led his team with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots in 33 minutes vs. the Volunteers.
Broome got one of his two assists on a 3-pointer by Miles Kelly that gave Auburn the lead for good with 30 seconds remaining.
In addition to all that Broome did to help his team on the court Saturday night, Pearl praised “what Johni did with his rehab all week to be able to come out and affect winning so much.”
“All he cared about was winning,” Pearl said. “As a leader, it’s another statement.”
Even though Broome has returned, Pearl knows Auburn has to improve in order to stay on top.
“The big key is you can’t get too high or too low,” Pearl said. “We’ve got to get better. I’ve got to do a better job. The book is out on everybody. What’s Plan B? What’s Plan C? We’ve got to come up with it.”
LSU (12-7, 1-5) is near the bottom of the SEC but had an encouraging performance against then-No. 4 Alabama for 40 minutes before falling 80-73 on Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
“Disappointed with the result, but I definitely think we got better as a team,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “I really liked our preparation and the mindset. I thought our guys came to compete and came to get into the fight. I loved the physicality that we played with in the first half.”
The score was tied after a first half, in which LSU forward Corey Chest grabbed 15 of his 18 rebounds.
“That’s as good a rebounding performance I’ve seen in a half of basketball,” McMahon said.
LSU couldn’t keep up with Alabama in the second half, getting outscored 50-43 while going 1-for-11 on 3-pointers to finish 3-for-23.
But McMahon was pleased with his team’s improvement in ball security, which has been a major problem in SEC play.
LSU averages 4.2 more turnovers per game than its SEC opponents, but it matched Alabama’s 14 turnovers and finished with a 17-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
