After trailing by six at halftime, No. 2 Auburn made a second-half comeback and escaped with a 66-63 road win over South Carolina.
Auburn outscored South Carolina 32-23 in the second half without star Johni Broome for most of it. Broome went down with a nasty ankle injury early in the second half and could not return to the game.
Tahaad Pettiford was huge for the Tigers in the second half, scoring eight of his 15 points. Miles Kelly scored 14 points and was the only other Auburn player in double figures.
For the Gamecocks, sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles was outstanding, finishing with 25 points and seven rebounds. Eighteen of his 25 points came in the first half, so credit Auburn’s defense for slowing him down in the second half.
Nick Pringle scored 12 points and collected 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the year. Arden Conyers also scored a season-high 13 points off the bench.
However, the story of the game was Broome’s injury. He averages 18.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, among the best in the SEC.
Auburn showed fight without Broome, but it will be interesting to see how they manage to get by if he is out for an extended period.
The first test for the Tigers will be Tuesday when they host No. 14 Mississippi State.
The Gamecocks will travel to Nashville to face Vanderbilt on Wednesday and look to get their first conference win.
