ATLANTA – The Auburn Tigers, the top seed in the NCAA Tournament, topped the fifth-seeded Michigan Wolverines 78-65 to advance to the Elite Eight. Auburn’s backcourt came alive in the second half to fuel the comeback win.
The first half was a sloppy showing by both sides with the teams combining for 18 turnovers and both shooting below 36 percent from the field. Auburn held a one-point lead at the half, mostly thanks to Johni Broome’s first-half double-double. Broome had 10 points and 11 rebounds, with six boards coming on the offensive end.
Auburn opened the second half with even more sloppy offensive play, leaning heavily on Johni Broome to fuel them. Broome delivered, but the turnovers from Auburn’s offense were too much to overcome, and Michigan jumped out to a nine-point lead with 12:26 to play. That’s when Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones came alive.
Pettiford hit a three on a broken play to cut the Wolverine lead to six before the defense came up with a stop leading into a media timeout. Following the under-12 timeout, Auburn outscored Michigan 36-17. Denver Jones hit a pair of threes and a layup to get the crowd back into it. Pettiofrd followed with an eight-point flurry of his own, and the Tigers were off and running. Their 13-point lead with 4:35 to play would ultimately be the difference in the final score.
Auburn Head Coach Bruce Pearl pointed to Jones and Pettiford as the engine that drove the Tigers’ comeback, saying, “They got really heated up. Denver got heated up. Tahaad got heated up. We went to them, and they delivered.” Deliver, they did. The duo combined for 40 points on 14-27 from the field and 6-14 from deep.
Johni Broome finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds, yet another double-double in an already historic season. Despite the gawdy offensive numbers, Broome pointed to Auburn’s defense as the difference in the game. “Everybody said let's get three stops. And three led into four and four led into five stops, and we went on a little run and the crowd got involved, and we started playing Auburn basketball,” Broome said.
Dylan Cardwell and Chaney Johnson had games that did not stand out on the stat sheet, but their defensive performances were pivotal. Johnson had three blocks and two steals, and Cardwell held Michigan’s leading scorer Vlad Goldin to just 10 points on 2-9 shooting.
“They just locked down defensively,” said Pearl. “I thought Dylan Cardwell did an incredible job on Goldin. I thought Johni, Dylan, Chaney were physical with those guys and didn't let them dominate the game with their size, which they [Michigan] do against most opponents.”
With the win, Auburn punches its first ticket to the Elite Eight since the 2019 season, one that Auburn fans will not soon forget. The Tigers will face the two seed in the South, Michigan State. Johni Broome spoke briefly about the Spartans, saying, “First off, Tom Izzo is a great coach. He's a Hall of Fame coach. And Michigan State is a very good team.” He went on to say the Tigers would focus on recovery and their upcoming opponent before finishing with, “Let's try to get to San Antonio to the Final Four.”
The Tigers and the Spartans will face off Sunday at 5:05 p.m. with a trip to San Antonio on the Line. Watch on CBS or listen on the Auburn Sports Network.
