"That's embarrassing officiating","Johni Broome is such a child": Fans have opposing takes after controversial decision enraged Auburn star

Johni Broome and the Auburn Tigers held off a furious comeback from the Texas Longhorns to secure an 87-82 victory at Moody Center on Tuesday. Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford each scored a pair of free throws in the last 17 seconds to seal the win for the Tigers, who saw their 21-point lead in the second half whittled down to three in the final minute of the contest.

The Tigers looked like they were on their way to a comfortable victory after Broome buried a buzzer-beating jumper with 1:28 remaining in the second half to give Auburn an 81-71 lead. Broome got hit in the face before draining that basket but the referees didn't blow their whistles and let the game go on.

That drew the ire of Broome, who complained to the officials as he went back on defense. He was issued a technical foul for arguing the no-call, resulting in two free throws for Texas' Jordan Pope. That started a 9-2 run for the Longhorns, who trimmed Auburn's lead to 83-80 with 33 seconds left. The Tigers kept their composure down the stretch, however, to claim their seventh straight win.

College hoops fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to the late-game drama involving Broome.

"Johni Broome is the best player in college basketball lol. Got hit in the face, complained to the ref then hit a shot over the defender as the shot clock expired," one fan said.

"Talk about a gamer mentality! Johni Broome gets fouled, complains, then nails a shot like nothing happened. Pure magic," another fan said.

"Ref misses a blatant Texas foul on Johni Broome then T's up Broome for (correctly) letting the ref know he got hit in the face. That's embarrassing officiating," one fan said.

Other hoops fans blasted Broome for not keeping his cool in the closing stages of the contest.

"Johni Broome is such a child, man. Oh my God," one fan said.

"I’d get back and stop talking if I didn’t want that call, Johni Broome. You see the official telling him to stop twice, doesn’t matter if he got hit in the forehead or not, jawing after you’re told stop doesn’t help anything. Gives Texas a chance to get back in it," another fan said.

"Because Johni Broome started acting like a baby," one fan said.

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Johni Broome remains a double-double machine in a win over Texas

Johni Broome continued his stellar start to the season, scoring 20 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out five assists in the win over the Texas Longhorns. He has now recorded double-doubles in 10 of the last 13 games he has played for the No. 2 Auburn Tigers.

Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome (#4) drives to the basket against Texas Longhorns forward Ze'Rik Onyema (#21) during the second half at Moody Center. Photo: Imagn

Broome also displayed his defensive prowess against the Longhorns, recording three blocks and two steals in 36 minutes of action. With the victory, Auburn improved its overall record to 14-1.