SPOKANE, Wash. – A consensus All-American, Auburn junior Johni Broome is soaking up every March Madness moment.
"It's every kid's dream to play in this game, in this atmosphere," Broome said Thursday from the Spokane Arena press conference podium. "We're excited to play Yale and ready to get to it."
Forty-eight hours after cutting down nets after winning the SEC Tournament in Nashville, the Tigers left the Plains Tuesday afternoon for the cross-country trek to the Pacific Northwest, where they've spent the past two days preparing for Friday's Round of 64 matchup with Yale.
"Leading into the tournament after the SEC tournament, winning that, and coming into here with confidence was the big key to being here," said second-leading scorer Jaylin Williams.
While Williams is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, junior Denver Jones makes his March Madness debut after transferring from Florida International.
"I'm just excited to be in this position," said Jones, who averages 8.9 points per game while shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. "I've always dreamed of being here, March Madness. I'm just really excited to play and get to the first round."
(L/r): Denver Jones, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome
When the trio of Tiger upperclassmen represented their teammates during Auburn's press conference, the rest of Auburn's student-athletes visited with reporters in their locker room.
"Super excited to most importantly hopefully get some wins," said SEC All-Freshman Team member Aden Holloway. "Excited to show what I can do: guard, show playmaking, shooting and finishing abilities. I'm grateful for this opportunity to play and have fun."
The No. 4 seed in the East Regional, Auburn (27-7) takes on Ivy League tournament champion Yale (22-9) Friday at 3:15 p.m. CT on TNT and the Auburn Sports Network.
"If we played Yale a lot of times over a period of time, we would have the advantage, because we're deeper and we're a little bigger, and folks would say we're better," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "We have a better seed than they do. But they can beat us in a game. Absolutely. They led Kansas for 30 minutes this year. Y'all saw them in Spokane play with Gonzaga and they had a double-digit lead early in that game."
Like the other seven teams competing in Spokane, Auburn held an open practice for 40 minutes Thursday before bussing to a nearby junior college for one final workout.
Yale, the No. 13 seed in the East Regional, has Pearl and the Tigers' undivided attention.
"Four teams in this pod, us and Yale and San Diego State and UAB," Pearl said "One of those teams is going to the Sweet 16, so that's how we're compartmentalizing it.
"We have great respect for them, we have great respect for their league, great respect for this team, and their players and their coaching staff. They do a terrific job. They're really hard to cover. With their five-out offense, it's something that we see some but don't see a ton.
"Probably the area that Yale would be the most underrated is their defense and their rebounding. They're a real solid defensive team. We know that we'll have to play well to win."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
