Auburn star Johni Broome, the favorite for National Player of the Year, will not require surgery for the sprained left ankle she suffered in Saturday's win over South Carolina, the school announced.
Auburn said Broome underwent an MRI Sunday morning that revealed a non-surgical ankle sprain.
The 6-foot-10 senior is out indefinitely, sources told ESPN, but it is not expected to be a long-term absence.
Broome went to the locker room with just under 14 minutes left in Saturday's game and did not return. He stepped on a teammate's foot after contesting a shot on the defensive end, appeared to be in severe pain on the ground, and was unable to put any weight on his left foot as he was helped to the locker room.
It marks the second injury this season for Broome, who also left a December game against Georgia State after two minutes with a shoulder injury. Tigers coach Bruce Pearl said after the Dec. 17 game that Broome's shoulder “came out and came back in,” and the star big man ended up not missing a game.
Broome has been the most dominant player in college basketball and entered the weekend as the favorite to win the National Player of the Year award. He is averaging 17.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game and has put together big performances in big games, including 21 points and 20 rebounds against Ohio State, 23 points and 19 rebounds against North Carolina and 21 points and 16 rebounds against Memphis. . He has 10 double-doubles this season.
Without Broome, Pearl will rely more on seniors Dylan Cardwell (5.5 points per game) and Chaney Johnson (10.1 points per game).
No. 2 Auburn (16-1, 4-0 SEC) has won nine straight games after easily beating No. 15 Mississippi State 88-66 without Broome on Tuesday. Chaney Johnson, who replaced Broome in the starting lineup, had 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Auburn.
After No. 1-ranked Tennessee's 30-point loss at Florida last week, the Tigers moved to No. 1 in the AP Poll on Monday. Auburn's next game is Saturday against No. 23 Georgia.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
