Even when No. 2 Auburn led 20-11 with 12:55 left in the first half, Saturday’s game at South Carolina had a strange feel.
The Gamecocks were dominating in the paint. Auburn got the ball inside, but shots wouldn’t fall for All-American Johni Broome or much anybody else. And the Gamecocks took command. They outscored the Tigers 29-14 to take a 40-34 halftime lead.
No doubt inspired by going head-to-head with Broome, the favorite for national Player of the Year, South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boles was a monster inside, scoring 18 points in the first half and 25 in the game. Broome, meanwhile, struggled on both ends. Auburn, a 16 ½-point favorite, looked to be in trouble.
When Broome went down with a sprained ankle early in the first half, things looked really bad. When Dylan Cardwell was hit with his fourth foul, things looked even worse…