Many viewed Auburn men’s basketball’s Saturday afternoon clash with South Carolina as a rare weak spot on the Tigers’ Southeastern Conference schedule.

The game was anything but, as Auburn survived a 66-63 thriller in Columbia

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:

South Carolina won inside

It’s no secret for any of South Carolina’s opponents who the danger man is in the Gamecock offense.

Collin Murray-Boyles leads the team in scoring, and with point guard Jamarii Thomas out with a knee injury, the sophomore forward would be leaned on even more than usual.

Murray-Boyles started SEC play with just 11 points in his first two games, but scored 18 in the first half against Auburn. Nick Pringle — Murray-Boyles’ frontcourt partner and Alabama transfer — added eight of his own, helping the Gamecocks take a 40-34 lead into halftime.

It was a first half where South Carolina grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, scored 26 points in the paint and outscored the Tigers despite shooting 42.9% from the field and 22.2% from 3.

While South Carolina found success inside offensively, it also limited Johni Broome, Auburn’s All-American center. Broome finished with just six points on 3-for-11 shooting, leaving the game early due to an ankle injury.

South Carolina’s bigs continued to find success in the paint with Broome out, a tough loss for Auburn that was compounded by foul trouble from Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson.

Murray-Boyles finished with 25 points and the Gamecocks scored 42 points in the paint, never ceasing to cause problems for Auburn’s interior defense.

Johni Broome exits with ankle injury

Right as Auburn was starting to ease back into the game, the Tigers suffered arguably their biggest setback of the afternoon.

As Broome jumped to contest a layup by Murray-Boyles, he landed awkwardly on Chaney Johnson’s left foot, rolling his left ankle. Broome had to be helped off the floor, not putting any weight on his left foot.

He immediately went to the locker room, and did not return to the game. It’s unclear immediately after the game how serious the injury is, but Broome’s eyes immediately widened as he looked to be in serious pain right after the injury occurred.

Auburn has two days of rest before facing Mississippi State on Tuesday, a game the Tigers would like to have their All-American center for.

“He’s got a significant sprain,” Bruce Pearl told the SEC Network broadcast after the game. “When we get back to Auburn tonight, we’ll get him an MRI and see if there’s anything else going on there.”

Won ugly

Auburn learned against Texas that winning on the road in the SEC isn’t always going to be pretty.

The win over the Longhorns came by just five points — after leading by an many as 21 — but hardly anyone in the program had any complaints. Against South Carolina, few expected a close game.

The Gamecocks were coming off losses of 35 and 20 points to start SEC play, but gave Auburn its toughest test since the Dec. 4 loss to Duke. Not only that, Auburn found a way to win an SEC game on the road without Broome, its best and most valuable player.

Auburn got big stops late, Tahaad Pettiford hit a pair of clutch free throws and the Tigers got just a little bit of luck with two late misses at the line from Pringle. Sometimes, even the best teams need that little bit of fortune.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m