Johni Broome got a little too enthusiastic with his trash-talk in the waning minutes of Auburn’s big-time win against Arkansas on Saturday night.

Broome was called for a technical foul with 2:04 to play and Auburn ahead by 12 after he blocked a shot attempt at the rim by Jordan Walsh and proceeded to let Arkansas’ five-star freshman forward hear about it. In Broome’s defense, he had ample reason to boast during the Tigers’ 72-59 win at Neville Arena.

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The Auburn big man turned in his third straight double-double — the 39th of his career — and played impeccable defense while anchoring the Tigers’ 2-3 zone, which gave the Razorbacks fits all night. Broome finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks while becoming the first Auburn player to post three consecutive double-doubles since Austin Wiley accomplished that feat against LSU, Alabama and Missouri during the 2019-20 season.

“Johni Broome gets another double-double, so we can continue to play through him,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.

The Morehead State transfer has been on a tear of late, scoring in double figures in each of Auburn’s last nine games. In fact, he has scored at least 10 points in all but two games since arriving on the Plains, seamlessly transitioning from the OVC to the SEC and proving to be a valuable transfer addition to the Tigers’ revamped frontline.

While Broome may not be Walker Kessler, who was the National Defensive Player of the Year for Auburn last season, he has been remarkably effective in the middle for Auburn on both ends of the court. Broome is averaging 12.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, all of which lead the team.

“It’s huge just seeing him come in and just dominate night-in and night-out,” senior wing Allen Flanigan said. “It’s definitely huge just knowing we’ve got him down low at the 5-spot.”

Since the start of SEC play, Broome has played particularly well, even as Auburn’s play has been somewhat uneven. In three conference games, Broom has averaged 15.3 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field.

And that’s after what was his most inefficient shooting performance since late-November. Broome shot just 5-of-12 against Arkansas, as he put together a somewhat quiet double-double that took a backseat to Wendell Green Jr.’s bounceback performance and what was Flanigan’s best all-around game since his return from an Achilles injury last season.

Saturday was Broome’s fifth game this season with at least four blocks and his second with six or more. He was a force in the middle for Auburn, which slowed Arkansas with a switch from Pearl’s typical aggressive man-to-man defense to a flat 2-3 zone. The zone defense dared the Razorbacks — who are one of the most talented teams in the nation but also one of the worst outside shooting teams in the country—to knock down jump-shots. Arkansas finished the game just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) on jumpers, and when its offense managed to get inside, Broome was often there to affect shot attempts.

It led to his six blocks and more altered shots down low, as the Razorbacks shot just 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) on layups.

“He just did his job,” Green said. “Everybody went out there and did they job. I’m proud of all my teammates. We just went out there, we played our roles, and everybody did their job. Everybody has a responsibility in the zone, and we took care of it, and they didn’t score that much. It worked for us good tonight.”

And, as Pearl said, it again showed that Auburn can continue to play through its veteran big man—even against one of the best teams in the country.

“Johni stood tall, and he’s confident, and that gives us confidence,” Pearl said. “We feed off of Wendell Green and Johni Broome’s confidence. So, he played big.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.