Auburn into Final Four amid Broome injury scare

ATLANTA -- With 10:27 to play in the first half of Auburn's 70-64 win over Michigan State in the Elite Eight on Sunday, Johni Broome connected on a 3-pointer from the wing, extending an early rainstorm for the Tigers.

The crowd came undone after Broome's shot gave his team a 15-point lead and capped a 17-0 run. As the national player of the year hopeful celebrated near midcourt, he was surrounded by his teammates.

"I do this!" Broome yelled at the outset of his 25-point, 14-rebound effort. His teammates tapped his chest and agreed with him.

By then, it appeared as if the game might already be over, because it was clear that Auburn had the best player on the court.

But with 10:37 to play in the game, the SEC Player of the Year sat alone underneath the basket and grabbed his right elbow. On an attempt to block Frankie Fidler's shot, Broome appeared to simultaneously land on his left knee and right elbow as he tried to protect himself when he fell.

He then walked off the court and into the locker room with Auburn's training staff, appearing to look at a teammate and say, "I'm done."

Thousands of Auburn fans had descended upon State Farm Arena and made the building feel like a home game. But after Broome's injury, even as No. 1 seed Auburn maintained a lead, the atmosphere changed as they wondered whether Broome would return.

With 5:29 to go, however, he walked through the tunnel and checked back in. And with 4:38 to play, Broome hit a 3-pointer to give Auburn another double-digit lead.

Tigers fans screamed, and everything seemed OK again with Broome back on the court. X-rays on his elbow were negative, the school announced, and Auburn's chase for its first national title continued.

"It was a scary moment," Broome said. "I went down, but my team had my back."

Auburn's victory over second-seeded Michigan State also meant all of this year's No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, with the Tigers joining Florida, Duke and Houston. It's the first time all top seeds have reached the Final Four since 2008, which was the only other year of all No. 1-seeded semifinalists since seeding began in 1979. And higher-seeded teams went 12-0 in regional semifinals and regional finals for the first time since the tournament expanded in 1985.

With a 23-8 lead early in the game, Auburn had registered 176 points per 100 possessions, numbers more suitable for "Space Jam" than an Elite Eight game. But Michigan State threw counterpunches. Under coach Tom Izzo, the Spartans always do. Izzo had never lost to an SEC opponent in the NCAA tournament before Sunday's game. And the Spartans never relented. They had a chance to cut Auburn's lead to five points with one minute to play after forcing a turnover.

But the Spartans had ended up in a game with the version of the Auburn program that had lost just one game during a 90-day stretch this season. They faced the squad that had locked up the top overall seed and dominated the SEC, not the one that had sleepwalked for two weeks before the NCAA tournament.

That 1-3 stretch ahead of Selection Sunday drew doubts and bets against the Tigers, as Duke became the favorite to win the national championship. Even Auburn coach Bruce Pearl acknowledged that his team had taken a step back.

The synchronization Pearl craved and his team had momentarily lost returned in dominant stretches against Michigan and then Michigan State in Atlanta. Miles Kelly was a catalyst in key spurts. Denver Jones made big shots. Tahaad Pettiford emerged as one of the top freshmen in America.

But it was Broome who reminded the college basketball world on Sunday that the national player of the year conversation has been a two-man race all season as he led his team to its second Final Four appearance in school history.

Auburn will face Florida in an all-SEC semifinal on Saturday in San Antonio. Florida opened as a 2.5-point favorite over Auburn.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.