Auburn vs. Purdue: Not your average preview

Johni Broome went down with a shoulder injury against Georgia State, potentially sidelining college basketball’s best player against Purdue.

Chaney Johnson stepped up big after the injury, but the absence of a fully healthy Broome creates more than unfulfilled stats in Auburn’s front court — it creates a chance for Auburn’s guards to take a step forward.

Sure, you can find the replacement points through Johnson and Dylan Cardwell, but everything is going to slide back to normal in the front court when Broome returns to full strength soon.

So why not spend this time urging the backcourt to improve? It’s something that would continue to pay off when Broome is back to his normal self, and it’s the only group with a contributor young enough where one game can make a huge difference.

The Purdue game without Broome could be the best (and hopefully last) chance Auburn has to try something like this out.

We already saw a hint of this against Georgia State, with Tahaad Pettiford hitting his season-high in minutes against the Panthers and Bruce Pearl letting his guards and freshmen play through a lot more mistakes than we’ve seen in big games this season.

This could end up being crucial experience for the guards, giving them the know-how to get things done without playing through Broome, and it could also result in the blossoming of a guy like Pettiford. Which, to me, is more important than game planing to simply win this game.

Why Pettiford?

Whether or not Broome plays against Purdue, we’re on the verge of seeing Pettiford turn the corner — and a game where Auburn lets Pettiford loose could speed up the process.

Pettiford won’t completely take over the team by any means, but Auburn is at its best when Pettiford demands minutes. He gives Auburn—a team with a so-far historic offense (analytically), even without fully relying on its five-star guard yet—another elite scoring option.

• Auburn’s offensive efficiency (per KenPom) is currently 130.6. The highest offensive efficiency rating a team has ever ended the season with in the KenPom era was 129.0 (2015 Wisconsin).

• 2021 Gonzaga was 126.4, 2018 Villanova was 127.8, 2021 Baylor was 125.0, 2024 UConn was 127.5.

• Pettiford is the first freshman to score 20+ points in less than 30 minutes against Houston since 2013.

• Since 2018, the only freshman to score 20+ points against Houston are: Bol Bol, Isaiah Stewart, Precious Achiuwa, Ja'Kobe Walter, and Tahaad Pettiford.

• Pettiford is the only freshman in the country shooting 40 percent from three and 100 percent on free throws (with 10+ attempts in each category).

• Pettiford and Tre Johnson (Texas) are the only SEC freshman shooting better than 40-percent from three on more than two attempts per game.

• Pettiford has a 5.02 offensive rating (OBPR) on Evan Miya, outpacing other top rated freshmen such as Cooper Flagg (3.94), Dylan Harper (4.28), Jeremiah Fears (3.68), Liam McNeely (3.72), and others.

Pettiford is also the most talented facilitator Auburn has at guard — which is apparent with his backcourt-leading 21.2 percent assist rate.

There’s no doubt that Pettiford has what it takes; his best games have been against Auburn’s best competition.

Sure, Auburn hasn’t needed him to permanently take over the backcourt and has still been a great team as is — but Auburn has needed Pettiford to step up in almost every big game.

Being able to rely and game plan around that sort of output will make Auburn more dangerous and will take pressure off everyone else, versus just playing to the hot hand.

A lot of his improvements need to come on defense — where Pettiford isn’t bad, but he hasn’t defended at the same level as Jones and others. With Auburn relying on defense so often, a weak link is hard to keep on the court at times.

Pettiford has foul issues, gambles on steals, and doesn’t have the same size advantage that others have. Still, Auburn has had good defenses with small guards in the past and Pettiford has the agility and IQ to get steals and disrupt ball handlers. If he can dial in on those strengths, Auburn won’t be able to keep him off the court.

• Auburn was No. 9 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency with Wendell Green, Zep Jasper, and KD Johnson in the backcourt.

At his best, Pettiford’s strengths makeup for any defensive weaknesses. We just need those strengths to be reliable every game and those weaknesses to improve a little.

Whether or not Broome plays, I think this game is the perfect chance to give Pettiford and the guards some extra green light moments. Let them play through the highs and lows of a game without an automatic option down low. At the worst, it takes some pressure off Broome. At the best, it juices up an already elite offense.