The Auburn Tigers are on their way to the Final Four after a wild March in Atlanta!

Johni Broome’s 25 points and 14 rebounds led the Auburn Tigers past the Michigan State Spartans 70-64 in the South Regional Final at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. With the victory, the Tigers ensured all number one seeds will be participating in this year’s men’s Final Four. Joining the Tigers will be the Houston Cougars, the Duke Blue Devils and the Florida Gators. Auburn will participate in the Final Four for the second time, with their first trip being in 2019.

It was not all peaches and cream for the Tigers. During the second half, Broome fell on his right arm after attempting to block a shot. And the mostly orange and navy blue clad crowd inside State Farm Arena fell silent. Auburn’s center would receive treatment, come back out, and sink a three from the left corner.

“We have a great support staff,” said Broome. “I checked my arm out. The Doc said nothing’s wrong, you’re good. Nothing serious. So at that moment, I just wanted to help my teammates. If that’s coming back out and playing and hitting one shot and grabbing the rebound, I was going to do it.”

Broome would be named the Most Outstanding Player in the South Region.

“I give a lot of credit to Auburn,” said Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo. “I think they’re well coached. They did a good job. I think Broome is the real deal, does things kind of effortlessly.”

Sparty did not lay down

Jaxon Kohler led Michigan State with 17 points. Jaden Akins had 15 points while Jase Richardson had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. In the first half, Auburn went on a 17-0 run. During that time, Michigan State missed ten straight shots and did not score for 5:46.

“We’re never going to just lay down and give up,” said Jase Richardson. “That’s not the Spartan way. When we got to those last couple minutes, we knew that we had to fight because we weren’t trying to get embarrassed. That’s not what we came here to do. So just fight until the end, final buzzer. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way tonight.”

Michigan State finishes the season with 30 wins and seven defeats. Coach Izzo told everyone his team will travel back to East Lansing with their heads held high.

“If you’ve been in the locker room, there’s some locker rooms that people are bitching and complaining, and there’s some locker rooms where people are crying and hugging,” Izzo explained. “It was a crying and hugging locker room, and that means we had something special.”

S-E-C! S-E-C!

Notably, the Southeastern Conference has two teams in the Final Four for the first time since 2014. This is the fifth such occurrence in SEC history. Ironically, on the four previous occasions that the SEC has sent multiple teams to the men’s Final Four, a team from the conference has emerged as national champion three times.

It’s the first time all top seeds have reached the Final Four since 2008, which was the only previous year of all No. 1-seeded semifinalists since seeding began in 1979. And higher-seeded teams went 12-0 in regional semifinals and finals for the first time since the tournament expanded in 1985.

“Basketball wasn’t holding up its end,” said Auburn Head Coach Bruce Pearl. “It was Kentucky. It was a Billy Donovan coached Florida team, and then every now and then, maybe Arkansas would have a run or Tennessee would have a run, whatever, whatever. There are now 16 basketball programs in the SEC that are all committed to being competitive in men’s basketball.”

What’s Next?

The Auburn Tigers will face off against the Florida Gators in the National Semifinal game at the Final Four. Tip-off is set for 6:09 PM Eastern Time at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. With the league getting 14 tournament bids, Coach Pearl left everyone with one simple fact.

“The league has done a great job, and unfortunately, there will only be one SEC team playing for the National Championship on Monday,” Pearl said.

The Auburn Tigers are on their way to the Final Four after a wild March in Atlanta!

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