NASHVILLE, Tn. — Auburn’s Johni Broome was giving Tennessee fits. The Vols’ were playing strong defense and cutting off the tap for every Tiger besides the SEC Player of the Year.
That’s when Tennessee made a significant coaching move, sending a double team at Johni Broome while getting critical stops late in a 70-65 win.
“It worked out,” Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey said. “It ended up working out for us and forced them to shoot some jumpers. It was an adjustment that we made that worked.”
With just under four minutes left in the game, Broome had scored 23 points on nine-of-11 shooting from the field. Tennessee was playing good defense but Broome was delivering big buckets when Auburn was pulling away from the Vols.
After a few mistakes early in the game, Felix Okpara was doing a good job defending Broome but the SEC Player of the Year was still scoring.
“He had a lot of points at that time,” senior guard Jordan Gainey said. “We were making sure someone else scored and not him
“We wanted to be there on the catch that he couldn’t just pick you apart with the pass as you’re coming,” Justin Gainey said. “I thought we did a good job of that but it is tough. He had it going. He was in a flow. It felt like the other guys hadn’t really had touches and weren’t in rhythm so they’re going to be taking shots out of rhythm.”
Double teaming Broome is a risky proposition with how good of a passer the big man is. But with Auburn’s guards struggling, Tennessee was going to force anyone other than Broome beat them.
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Tennessee first doubled Broome with 3:12 left and Auburn ended up getting to the free throw line and making one of two attempts. Doubling Broome on the catch was a focal point for Tennessee because of his ability to “pick you apart” if he watches the double team coming.
The next possession, the Vols were a bit late and had just showed a double team when Broome whipped a pass to the corner and Miles Kelly missed a three-pointer.
On the next possession, Cade Phillips was there to double team Broome on the catch and the 6-foot-10 big mean threw a high pass to Kelly in the corner. That high pass slowed things down just enough. When Kelly swung the ball to Denver Jones, Phillips was there to contest and Jones’ shot missed.
“He’s a really good passer but we kind of kept his vision away,” senior guard Jahmai Mashack said. “Made it tough for him so I think being able to get to shooters when he passed it out, I think it was great executing on our part.”
“Getting into those scramble drills and getting out and running around is nothing new to us,” Phillips said. “We love that. We love the chaos of it. So getting the ball out of his hands where they’re swinging the ball around trying to find an advantage, we’ve got guys everywhere that can move and love to defend.”
On three possessions where Tennessee double teamed or showed a double team on Broome, the Tigers scored just one-point. Broome did not score in the final four minutes after Tennessee adjusted its defensive strategy.
With key stops down the stretch and a couple of big buckets, Tennessee held on to defeat Auburn and advance to the SEC Tournament Championship.
