Johni Broome leads way in Elite Eight win vs. Michigan State, sends Auburn to Final Four

ATLANTA — Auburn sealed the deal vs. Michigan State on Sunday night, winning 70-64 to advance into the Final Four. The Tigers were led by All-American Johni Broome, who put up 25 points and 14 rebounds to lead the way.

After jumping out to an early double-digit lead, Michigan State settled in and brought the deficit down. The Tigers entered the half up 33-24 behind a big performance by Broome, who briefly left during the second half with a right arm injury, but returned.

Tahaad Pettiford had 10 points for Auburn, helping them pull away by knocking down two 3-pointers. Miles Kelly and Denver Jones added 8 for the Tigers.

Chad Baker-Mazara and Dylan Cardwell served as the heartbeat of the team throughout the contest, as they have all season. The duo made sure to keep the Auburn-heavy crowd engaged at every opportunity throughout the night.

Bruce Pearl leads Auburn to its second Final Four appearance in the past XX seasons, continuing the strongest run in program history. While Tom Izzo showed no shyness when it came to Final Four talk entering the game, it will not be the Spartans’ year, as they bow out before the final weekend of college basketball.

Despite the loss, Jase Richardson finished the game with 11 points. Jaxson Kohler added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans as they made a push for the late comeback but fell short.

After a chalky start to the NCAA Tournament, especially in the South Region, that storyline continued over the weekend in Atlanta. 1-seed Auburn knocked out 5-seed Michigan while 2-seed Michigan State took down 6-seed Ole Miss. That set up the 1-seed to defeat the 2-seed. As the final region to finish play, the result also guarantees the first Final Four with all top-ranked seeds since 2008 – and its just the second time all-time it has occurred in March Madness.

Now the winners of the South Region, the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed is back in full form. They continue to prove themselves one game at a time. And now face Florida in the Final Four with a trip to the national championship game on the line and a storyline involving the SEC’s regular season and conference tournament champions.

The other side of the bracket will feature Duke and Houston, both hoping for a chance to advance and take down the winner of the SEC clash. That game will also take place Saturday, setting up the championship matchup on April 7 in San Antonio.