Auburn freshman got benched due to a bad closeout. After a butt chewing from Bruce Pearl, the player decided to go into the locker room on his own for the remainder of the game.

Bruce Pearl and top-ranked Auburn are 2-0 without star forward Johni Broome, who hopes to make his return on Saturday night.

Bruce Pearl has done it: win number 214 ... Hooper Jr. is a former Alabama state representative and the founder of Let the People Speak.

Ole Miss, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Texas also made USA TODAY Sports’ first projected field of 68, giving the SEC a total of 11 NCAA Tournament teams. Texas is the lowest-ranked seed and would be play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, in these projections.

The Auburn Tigers needed a Johni Broome sized spark to get by the 6th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night

Bruce Pearl is hopeful that Auburn forward Johni Broome will make his return for Saturday night's top-10 showdown against No. 6 Tennessee.

Texas Tech made its Top 25 season debut at No. 22 after beating Cincinnati and Oklahoma State to run its Big 12 winning streak to four games. Vanderbilt entered the poll at No. 24 for the first time since Dec. 7, 2015, as the women's team also cracked the poll this week for the first time since 2014.

Auburn continues to reside in the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after surviving a scare Saturday against Tennessee. Kentucky wasn't

Predictions, picks and odds as No. 7 Tennessee basketball faces Auburn. Plus, injury updates and the latest news

Auburn has bolted out to a 17-1 start that includes a 5-0 Southeastern Conference record in Bruce Pearl's 11th season on the Plains. The two most recent Auburn victories transpired without Johni Broome, the 6-foot-10, 240-pound center/forward who is averaging 17.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.7 blocked shots per game.

The No. 7 Vols (17-2, 4-2) play against No. 1 Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC) at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama ... Tigers coach Bruce Pearl indicated Broome might practice Thursday, but he wasn't ...

Current Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl is one of the very few former Tennessee Vols head coaches who is still a popular figure in Knoxville. That's because no one on Rocky Top actually wanted to see Pearl fired in 2011.