Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, Florida’s Todd Golden and Duke’s Jon Scheyer are basketball rivals at the Final Four with a unique thread of connection.

Auburn’s season began with some real turbulence on its first trip.

Johni Broome scored a season-high 31 points and added 14 rebounds as No. 1 Auburn defeated Georgia 82-70 on Saturday.

Auburn and Alabama had never played as top-10 teams.

Auburn and Duke remain 1-2 atop The Associated Press Topo 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third straight week.

Miles Kelly hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining and Johni Broome had 16 points and 13 rebounds in his return to the lineup as No. 1 Auburn extended its winning streak to 11 games with a 53-51 win over No. 6 Tennessee.

Auburn standout Johni Broome will not require surgery on his sprained left ankle.

Johni Broome suffered a “significant sprain” of his left ankle in No. 2 Auburn’s win over South Carolina.

Tahaad Pettiford assisted on Dylan Cardwell’s go-ahead dunk and converted two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining as No. 2 Auburn overcame an injury to leading scorer Johni Broom and rallied to beat South Carolina 66-63.

Kansas continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.

Aden Holloway scored 15 points with six assists and Jaylin Williams had 14 points to help Auburn beat USC 91-75 as the Trojans’ Bronny James continued to work his way back to the court after suffering cardiac arrest.

Jahvon Quinerly scored 24 points, Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left and No. 2 Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit before beating archrival Auburn 90-85 in overtime.