No. 1 Auburn beats Michigan, advances to Elite Eight

ATLANTA – An elite second-half comeback propelled No. 1 overall seed Auburn to a 78-65 win over No. 5 Michigan Friday at State Farm Arena, advancing the Tigers to the Elite Eight while setting a program record with 31 victories.

“That was like Neville Arena!” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl shouted as he left the floor, thanking Auburn fans for giving the Tigers what amounted to a home-court advantage.

“We went on a 34-8 run in the second half, and it's just the kids' will to win,” Pearl said. “They locked down defensively. Great win for Auburn. Four teams from the SEC in the Elite Eight. That's pretty good.”

All-American Johni Broome scored 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Auburn to within three wins of a national championship. 

“Every day I step on the court, I want to give my all for my teammates,” Broome said. “I did what I had to do to help my team win, whether that’s offensively or defensively.”

Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones each scored 20 points to help the Tigers overcome a nine-point second half deficit.

“They got really heated up,” Pearl said. “Denver got heated up. Tahaad got heated up. We went to them, and they delivered.”

With Auburn leading by one after a first-half double-double, Broome continued to deliver in the second half, scoring the Tigers’ first nine points. 

Danny Wolf, who led Michigan with 20 points, matched Broome with nine points of his own in the first seven minutes, helping the Wolverines take a nine-point lead while Auburn continued to struggle with turnovers and missed 3-pointers.

Pettiford ended Michigan’s 6-0 run with Auburn’s first 3-pointer of the second half, pulling the Tigers within six. 

“I felt the momentum shift our way,” Pettiford said of his clutch shot with 12:11 to play.

After a Wolverine turnover, Pettiford drove baseline and found Jones in the corner for a 3-pointer that pulled the Tigers within three. 

Broome’s bank shot cut Michigan’s lead to one, then after the Tigers’ defense forced a stop, Pettiford gave Auburn a one-point lead with a baseline jumper on a possession that featured offensive rebounds from Broome and Dylan Cardwell.

“We knew what we had to do to win the game,” Jones said. “It was on the defensive end.”

The 10-0 run in 2 minutes and 18 seconds erased Michigan’s lead as shouts of “Let’s go Auburn!” cascaded through the arena.

“Amazing,” Pettiford said of the Auburn contingent. “Without them, we probably wouldn’t have had the energy we had. They brought a lot of energy, got loud for us. It was very helpful.”

“The fans gave us that extra juice,” Jones said. “We were already excited about us making a run. That made it feel like you had everyone behind you.”

Chad Baker-Mazara hit a pair of free throws to give the Tigers 12 consecutive points before the Wolverines ended the run with a layup.

Feeding off the crowd, Auburn continued to apply pressure, forcing turnovers and taking a 57-50 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jones, who capped his personal 8-0 run with a bucket off the glass that gave Auburn a nine-point lead after a 20-2 run.

“Being aggressive,” said Jones, who made 4 of 7 3-point attempts while adding four rebounds and two assists. “The coaches called my name so I was looking for my shots. I saw the opening and knocked my shots down. That’s what got me going in the second half.”

“We went on a 20-2 run off our defense by getting stops,” Broome said.

Pettiford beat the shot-clock with a step-back 3-pointer that gave Auburn a 10-point lead. 

The freshman continued to make clutch shots, drawing a foul on a fadeaway that put Auburn up by 13 with 4:35 to play.

“Trying to help the team however I could,” Pettiford said. “The coaches told me to go attack and do what I do best. That’s what I did.”

Cardwell grabbed nine rebounds to help the Tigers amass a commanding 48-33 rebounding advantage.

Broome needed only one half to log his 20th double-double of the season, extending his program record. 

Auburn outrebounded Michigan 29-17 in the opening half, allowing the Tigers to overcome 10 first-half turnovers and 32.4-percent shooting.

Jones sparked Auburn early, getting the Tigers on the scoreboard with a second-chance 3-pointer after Cardwell’s offensive rebound. 

After Broome hit a corner 3-pointer, Jones put the Tigers on top by three going behind his back in transition.

Chaney Johnson made a steal and found Miles Kelly in the corner for a 3-pointer that gave Auburn a 19-18 lead in a half that featured 10 lead changes.

Trailing by four with five minutes left in the half, the Tigers outscored the Wolverines 7-2 down the stretch, taking a 30-29 lead when Broome followed his missed shot with 34 seconds to play. 

The SEC player of the year led Auburn with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the opening half. 

Auburn (31-5) advances to play Michigan State Sunday at 4:05 p.m. CT in the South Regional final. The Spartans came from behind to defeat Ole Miss in Friday’s first semifinal at State Farm Arena.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

POSTGAME NOTES

• Auburn sets a new school record with its 31st win of the season, breaking the old mark of 30 victories during the 2018-19 NCAA Final Four season.
• With the win, Auburn improved to 22-13 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and 3-3 in the Sweet 16. Bruce Pearl is now 20-13 all-time in the NCAA Division I Tournament and 11-5 at Auburn. Pearl is making his third career NCAA D-I Elite Eight appearance after leading Tennessee to the Elite Eight in 2010 and Auburn in 2019 and this season.
• This was Auburn’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game against Michigan. Sunday’s game will be the second meeting between Pearl and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo in the Elite Eight after the Spartans defeated Tennessee, 70-69, in 2010.
• For the third time in program history, Auburn advanced to the Elite Eight (1986, 2019 and 2025) and the second time under Pearl. 
• Auburn used the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. The group is 22-4 as a starting unit on the year. Cardwell is the only player who has started all 36 games for the Tigers this season.
• The final attendance was 16,743 for the South Regional semifinal games at the State Farm Arena.
• Auburn has won its first three NCAA Tournament games by double digits for the first time in program history. The Tigers are the only Elite Eight team in this year’s NCAA Tournament to win its first three tournament games by double digits.
• Auburn is 3-0 against the Big Ten Conference this season. The Tigers defeated Ohio State, 91-53, as part of Holiday Hoopsgiving on Dec. 14 at State Farm Arena and beat No. 16 Purdue, 87-69, on Dec. 21 in Birmingham, Ala.
• Auburn is now 5-2 all-time inside of State Farm Arena. The Tigers have won three-straight games in the facility including two wins this season with a 91-53 victory over Ohio State on Dec. 14 and Friday’s 78-65 victory over Michigan in the Sweet 16.
• Auburn is now 2-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Atlanta. Prior to Friday’s win, the No. 8 seeded Tigers defeated No. 9 seeded Bradley, 90-86, and lost 107-87 to top-seeded Oklahoma in the Omni in the first two rounds of the Southeast Region in 1988.  
• With its 78 points against Michigan, Auburn has scored 3,010 points on the season, making it the second time in program history the Tigers have gone over the 3,000-point mark in a season after scoring a school-record 3,188 points during the 2018-19 season.
• Auburn’s eight 3-pointers gave the Tigers 329 3-point field goals on the season, passing the 2017-18 Tigers for second on the school’s single-season 3-point field goals list. Auburn made a program record 454 3-pointers during the 2018-19 season.
• The Tigers went 14-of-18 from the free throw line against the Wolverines. They have now made 551 free throws on the season, which is tied for fifth most in program history with the 2019-20 team. 
• With its five blocks against Michigan, Auburn has blocked 216 shots on the season, which is second most in school history. The Tigers blocked a school-record 272 shots during the 2021-22 season.
• Auburn recorded 15 assists against Michigan, giving them 586 assists on the season, which ranks second most in school history. The school record was set last season with 622 assists.
• Auburn held Michigan to 29 first-half points. Tonight was the 15th time the Tigers have held an opponent to under 30 points in the first half this season including all three games against Big Ten opponents.
• Auburn had three 20-point scorers in an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history led by Broome’s 80th career double-double of 22 points and 16 rebounds. It was Broome’s fourth double-double in an NCAA Tournament game in his Auburn career, which is one behind Jeff Moore’s school record of five double-doubles in the tournament.
• Broome, who had 24 points and 13 rebounds against Yale last season, joins Moore and Chuck Person as the only Auburn players with multiple 20-point, 10-rebound games all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Broome’s 16 rebounds was one off Charles Barkley’s program NCAA Tournament record 17 boards against Richmond in 1984. His 39 boards in the first three games of this year’s tournament are a new program record for a single tournament, breaking Person’s record of 38 rebounds in the 1986 tournament.
• Broome also moved past Gary Redding and Person for third on Auburn’s career rebounding list. He went for a double-double in the first half for the fourth time this season with 10 points and 11 rebounds before halftime against Michigan. Broome moved up to eighth on Auburn’s single-season scoring list with 629 points.
• Freshman Tahaad Pettiford scored in double figures for his third-straight NCAA Tournament game (in the first NCAA Tournament of his career) as he went for 20 points on 7-of-14 field goals against Michigan. Pettiford is averaging 19.7 points in the tournament. It was his sixth 20-point game of the season, which is tied with Mustapha Heron for seventh-most among freshmen in program history. He joined Chuck Person and Mike Jones to record at least two straight 20-point NCAA Tournament games. The contests was Pettiford’s 36th game of the season, which breaks a tie with Aden Holloway for the most games played by a freshman in program history.
• Denver Jones poured in 20 points, which was one off his season high of 21 points at Vanderbilt on Feb. 11. He went 4-of-7 from long range to mark his second 20-point game of the season.