AUBURN | No. 1 Auburn will be without its best player and perhaps the nation’s top player when it hosts No. 15 Mississippi State Tuesday night.

All-American Johni Broome will miss the game with an ankle injury. The senior turned his ankle in the second half of Saturday’s 66-63 win at South Carolina. An MRI Sunday revealed he will not require surgery.

“Johni won't play tomorrow against Mississippi State, but we're still a really good team. So, we'll prepare without him,” said AU coach Bruce Pearl.

Pearl said he doesn’t know a timeline on Broome’s return but the injury comes with the Tigers about to embark on a stretch of games against MSU and at No. 23 Georgia, before getting a week off to prepare to host No. 6 Tennessee.

"We'll still go inside. That's still a strength for us, whether it be Dylan, or Chaney, Turtle,” said Pearl. “Our guards, obviously, are going to have to make up for a lot of areas, like scoring and the efficiency; the passing of Johni. His rebounding.

“He is a Player of the Year candidate because he's a stat-sheet stuffer. And so much of the way we've built our team, particularly on the offensive end, has been around him.”

Tip-off against MSU at Neville Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.