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Battling through injury, Johni Broome took center stage to lead Auburn to victory in the Elite Eight

After Sunday’s CBS doubleheader, the field for the 2025 Final Four is set, with Houston taking down Tennessee 69-50 and Auburn topping Michigan State 70-64. While an all-one seed Final Four may be a turn off for some fans, in my eyes this weekend’s festivities in San Antonio should be seen as a celebration of the sport, with four of the best teams EVER battling it out to be the national champion. Duke, Florida, Auburn, and Houston all rank inside the top 11 in adjusted efficiency all-time at KenPom (data going back to 1996-97), and when you see them play on the court, your eyes will or do agree.

On Sunday, Houston put the foot on the pedal early against Tennessee and held the Volunteers off through the rest of the game. The second game of the afternoon, between Auburn and Michigan State had a bit more drama to it, although the same result as the one seed got across the finish line.

After a tightly contested first four minutes that saw Michigan State up 8-6, the next five and a half minutes were all Auburn, as the number one overall seed in the tournament went on a 17-0 run, including seven points from Miles Kelly and five from Johni Broome. Michigan State then responded with a run of its own to cut the gap to 27-22, holding to Auburn to just four points in an eight-minute span. Frankie Fidler scored the first five points of the run before star freshman Jase Richardson started to heat up himself. After a response from Auburn late in the half, two Broome free throws put the Tigers up 33-24 going into halftime.

Most of the tight action came in the first half, as Auburn kept its lead somewhere between five and 12 for the entirety of the half. There was still drama for the viewers in the second half though, as with just over ten minutes to go, Johni Broome, the SEC Player of the Year, went down with what looked to be a brutal injury, as his right elbow contorted in an awkward motion as he tried to brace himself on a fall, having already been out earlier in the game to receive treatment on the elbow.

On his way out of the game, Broome looked to have said the words, “I’m done”, and met his mother on the way to the locker room to fill her in on what happened. Inside the locker room, Broome received a couple of X-rays, and to the viewers at home, it didn’t seem promising for Broome to return in the game, let alone at the Final Four next week if Auburn could hold on.

It was 50-40 Auburn when Broome exited, and when the fifth-year senior made a dramatic return out of the tunnel and was subbed into the game immediately, the lead was still ten, sitting at 57-47 after just over five minutes of Broome being out.

Dylan Cardwell, often an unsung hero for this Auburn team, brought the energy with Broome off the floor, hauling in a crucial offensive rebound during that stretch that led to a Chad Baker-Mazara three.

After Broome’s dramatic return, Auburn had its mojo back and the crowd came alive, as their senior leader hauled in a one-handed rebound on the defensive end of the floor before letting a three fly on the ensuing possession, burying the shot to make it 60-48 with under five minutes to go, and for all extensive purposes, sealing the game with the way the crowd reacted to the star’s dramatics.

The game would finish 70-64, after a Jaden Akins three-pointer with 11 seconds left made the game look a bit better for Sparty than it was for much of the second half.

Including that late three to finish things off, Broome shot 10-of-13 from the field on the afternoon, scoring 25 points and hauling in 14 rebounds to secure his 21st double-double of the season and third in the NCAA Tournament. After averaging 19.7 ppg in the NCAA Tournament coming into this game, Tahaad Pettiford was a bit quieter than usual off the bench, finishing with only 10 points, but was the only other Auburn player outside of Broome to finish in double figures on a day where Bruce Pearl’s team leaned heavily on its star.

Now, it’s off to San Antonio for the Tigers, who reach their second-ever Final Four in program history after reaching it for the first time in 2019 under Pearl.

Other Things to Note:

• The Final Four tips off on Saturday, April 5 at 6:09 ET on CBS as Florida takes on Auburn followed by the matchup between Houston and Duke