AUBURN, Ala. – For only the second time ever, Auburn and Indiana will square off on the hardwood Saturday in Atlanta as part of this year's Holiday Hoopsgiving event.
Next Game:
vs. Indiana
Dec. 9, 2023
1 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
The Tigers are 2-1 in the event all-time, beating Nebraska in 2021 and splitting with Memphis in 2020 (W) and 2022 (L), but this year they get the opportunity to face one of the more historic programs in college basketball in Indiana.
"Indiana is a blue blood," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "It's a historic program out of the Big Ten. What an opportunity for us to be able to play one of the blue bloods in college basketball."
History aside, Saturday's matchup features two of the best front courts in college basketball. Auburn is led by Johni Broome who is averaging 18.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while Indiana's Kel'el Ware is putting up 17.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
The Hoosiers also feature another impressive big this year with Malik Reneau, a 6-foot-9 forward who is second on the team with 14.8 points per game.
"It's probably going to be the best front court we're going to play all year," Auburn senior Jaylin Williams said. "Very talented guys. We go by our scout. We know what they're good at. We know what they struggle at. We know how to defend them, and we just have to play the right way and win the game."
"This is going to be a very physical game on Saturday," added Pearl. "Indiana has got the best front line in the Big Ten. We'd like to think that we've got one of the front lines in the SEC. It's going to be a great matchup from that standpoint."
For Williams, this will be his fourth time playing in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in his home state of Georgia. It will be the third time for Auburn guard K.D. Johnson who grew up in Atlanta not far from State Farm Arena – home of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. Johnson scored in double figures in each of his first two Holiday Hoopsgiving games.
"There's nothing better than playing in an NBA arena, especially where the Hawks play," Johnson said. "That's back home for me, so this will be special."
Auburn and Indiana will tip off at 1 p.m. CT from State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will have the radio call on 94.3 FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the Auburn app. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
PLAYER TO WATCH: JOHNI BROOME
With back-to-back double-double performances against Virginia Tech and Appalachian State, Johni Broome now has four double-doubles on the season and 50 for his career. It marked the second time in his career Broome has posted consecutive games of 20 points and 10 rebounds and the first since the 2021-22 season at Morehead State when he scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds at ETSU and followed that up with 20 points and 12 rebounds at Xavier.
Broome is currently fourth in the SEC in scoring (18.3 ppg). He is also tied for second in the league in rebounding (9.1) and fifth in field-goal percentage (.570). He is the only league player ranked in the top five in both scoring and rebounding.
INSIDE THE SERIES: INDIANA
This is only the second meeting all-time between the Tigers and Hoosiers. In the first game, top-seeded IU defeated 8-seeded Auburn 107-90 in Indianapolis in the Second Round of the 1987 NCAA Tournament on its way to winning the national championship.
This will be Bruce Pearl's first-ever meeting versus an Indiana squad in his head coaching career. His prior meetings with the Hoosiers came as an assistant coach under Dr. Tom Davis at Iowa from 1986-1992. Pearl also coached alongside Tim Knight, the oldest son of the late IU legend Bobby Knight, while on Davis' staff at Stanford from 1982-86.
TIGERS VS. BIG TEN
In the Bruce Pearl Era (2014-Present), Auburn is 3-1 all-time against the Big Ten Conference, but 8-1 all-time versus the current configuration of the league.
The Tigers have beaten three Big Ten over the last two seasons.
Dec. 11, 2021: No. 18 Auburn 99, Nebraska 68 (Holiday Hoopsgiving)
Nov. 23, 2022: No. 13 Auburn 43, Northwesthern 42 (Cancun Challenge)
March 16, 2023: Auburn 83, Iowa 75 (NCAA Tournament First Round)