AP men’s player of the week: Johni Broome of No. 2 Auburn rides dominant play to Maui championship

The Associated Press national player of the week in men’s college basketball for Week 4 of the season:

Johni Broome, Auburn

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound fifth-year senior and preseason Associated Press All-American has been dominant early for the No. 2 Tigers, including in powering them to the Maui Invitational title. He averaged 21.7 points, 15.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.0 blocks in wins against Iowa State, North Carolina and Memphis en route to Maui MVP honors. First came a double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds) with the last-second winner against the then-No. 5 Cyclones. Then came his top performance against the then-No. 12 Tar Heels with 23 points and 19 rebounds — the most of any Division I player for the week — to go with five assists and three blocks. He closed his Maui run with 21 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and four blocks against the now-ranked Tigers.

Runner-up

Dylan Harper, Rutgers. The 6-6, 215-pound guard put up numbers last week befitting his status as one of the nation’s top freshmen. He opened the Players Era Festival with 36 points, six rebounds and six assists in an overtime win against Notre Dame, then had 37 points in a loss to then-No. 9 Alabama. Those were the top two single-game scoring outputs in Division I last week, with no other player having more than 34 in any game. According to Rutgers, Harper is the first freshman with 35+ points in consecutive games in the past 20 seasons in Division I. Harper closed the tournament with 18 points in a loss to then-No. 20 Texas A&M.

Honorable mention

Chucky Hepburn, Louisville; Tyrese Hunter, Memphis; Javon Small, West Virginia.

Keep an eye on

Jevon Porter, Loyola Marymount. The 6-foot-11 junior transfer from Pepperdine was the West Coast Conference’s player of the week after leading the Lions to the Cancun Challenge’s Riviera Division title. Porter closed his MVP performance by posting 29 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in a win against Wyoming. Porter was a WCC all-freshman pick in 2022-23 at Pepperdine and averaged 16.2 points with the Waves last season.

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