ATLANTA — Johni Broome collected 25 points and 14 rebounds in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament South Region final, helping No. 1 Auburn earn a 70-64 victory over No. 2 Michigan State.
Tahaad Pettiford added 10 points off the bench for the Tigers (32-5), who advanced to the program’s second Final Four (2019), where they’ll face conference foe Florida. Auburn made just 7 of its 25 3-point attempts (28 percent), but held Michigan State to 34.4 percent field goal shooting.
Auburn’s win completes a No. 1 seed sweep in the Final Four, the first time since 2008 that all four top seeds advanced to the national semifinals. Duke and Houston will join Auburn and Florida next week in San Antonio.
The Spartans (30-7) were led by Jaxon Kohler’s 17 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Jaden Akins’ 15 points and Jase Richardson’s 11.
After trailing by 15 points in the first half and nine at halftime, Michigan State cut its deficit to 35-30 on Jeremy Fears Jr.’s layup in the opening minutes of the second. The Tigers then pushed the margin back to double figures on Chad Baker-Mazara’s 3-pointer and Dylan Cardwell’s layup.
Frankie Fidler’s reverse layup later pulled the Spartans within nine, but Pettiford hit a triple to extend Auburn’s advantage to 50-38 with 12:03 left. After contesting Fidler at the rim, Broome’s awkward fall forced the All-American to head for the locker room.
In Broome’s absence, Michigan State sliced its deficit to eight, but Broome later returned and connected on a pivotal 3-pointer to give Auburn a 60-48 edge with 4:40 remaining.
Kohler knocked down a trey to pull the Spartans within seven with 1:40 left, but Denver Jones’ driving layup and subsequent free throws pushed the margin to 11.
Akins made two 3-pointers down the stretch for Michigan State, but it was only window dressing as Auburn earned its program-record 32nd win.
Broome asserted his low-post dominance early, scoring Auburn’s first six points, before Richardson’s three-point play knotted the score at six. Coen Carr’s dunk gave the Spartans their first and only lead of the game, but Miles Kelly’s back-to-back mid-range jumpers began a 17-0 run for the Tigers — which included Broome’s 3-pointer to extend Auburn’s lead to 23-8.
Fidler then scored five of Michigan State’s 7-0 spurt to pull the Spartans within eight at the 8:41 mark.
Kohler’s second 3-pointer of the first half later cut Auburn’s lead to five, but Pettiford and Broome followed with layups, helping the Tigers take a 33-24 halftime lead.
