The Athletic has live coverage of Florida vs. Texas Tech and Duke vs. Alabama in the Elite Eight of the Men’s NCAA Tournament
ATLANTA — Momentum can be a funny, fickle thing in March. For the first 28 minutes on Friday night, Auburn looked out of sorts against Michigan, turning the ball over, bricking open shots. The top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament was playing like a summer league team — plenty of effort and talent, but little in the way of poise and cohesion.
Then, without warning, it flipped. Down by nine with 12 minutes remaining, Tigers freshman Tahaad Pettiford drilled a 3-pointer on a stagnant possession. Denver Jones added another triple out of a timeout. Then a bucket by SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome. Then a step-back by Pettiford, pushing the Auburn-heavy crowd into full lather.
A 10-0 run in roughly two minutes of game clock erased the deficit and tilted the ledger back in Auburn’s favor. It was part of a larger 20-2 run by the Tigers, who rode that wave to a 78-65 victory over the No. 5 seed Wolverines and a trip to the Elite Eight of the South Region. Auburn’s win means four SEC teams will play in the Elite Eight.
“They call it Auburn East here (in Atlanta),” said senior Dylan Cardwell. “I can’t imagine having to go against that crowd.”
Pettiford pulls it from way downtown 😳#MarchMadness @AuburnMBB pic.twitter.com/fl489oLz7u
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2025
It’s Auburn’s second Elite Eight under head coach Bruce Pearl, who led the Tigers to the Final Four in 2019, and third trip all-time for the program, which also advanced this far in 1986.
The win provided vindication and validation in equal measure for Pearl and the Tigers, who were upset in the first round of last season’s tournament by a Yale team that featured Danny Wolf, who led Michigan with 20 points Friday night. Pearl, who also led Tennessee to the Elite Eight in 2010, has rebuilt Auburn over the past 11 seasons but struggled in March outside of that 2019 run. For a team that featured a national player of the year candidate in Broome, landed the bracket’s top seed and has been at or near the top of the sport from start to finish this season, Friday’s game felt like a must-win. The Tigers delivered, a little choppy to start, but convincingly in the end.
“We were playing bad. We were turning the ball over a lot,” Broome said. “But we were still in the game. We went on a little run and the crowd got involved.”
Entering the game, Auburn committed double-digit turnovers in just 10 games all season. The Tigers had 10 at halftime, somehow clinging to a one-point lead at the break. Pettiford, 0-of-3 from beyond the arc in the opening period, was the first one out of the locker room, getting up shots with eight minutes before play restarted. It fueled a 15-point second half from the McDonald’s All-American, leading a collective team effort of 48 points on 47 percent shooting from the field over the final 20 minutes.
“(Pettiford) does whatever it takes to win. We need a spark, he gives the spark,” Broome said. “There’s not too many freshmen who can take over a game like he can.”
The second-half swing illustrated how this Auburn roster was crafted specifically for these games and resilient moments, with multi-year leaders like Broome, Jones, Dylan Cardwell and Chad Baker-Mazara, plus a sharpshooting transfer in Miles Kelly and a dynamic freshman in Pettiford, who finished as one of three Tigers with at least 20 points. Broome had a game-high 22 points and 16 rebounds (nine offensive), and Jones added another 20 points, hitting 4 of 7 from 3-point range. The team cut the turnovers in half after the break, finishing with 15.
“We made some mistakes, and I let them kind of jaw at each other a little bit and then go, ‘Hey, man, we’re good,’” said Pearl. “We’re in a great spot. I love the energy. I love the pace. Just slow down a little bit with the ball. We’re just rushing.”
Johni Broome with a MONSTER Sweet 16 😤
🔥 22 PTS | 16 REB | 2 STL@AuburnMBB advances to the Elite 8 🐅 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/q1kIIDtd74
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2025
The refocused Tigers outlasted a Michigan program that made a swift turnaround under first-year coach Dusty May, hired a year ago this week. A Big Ten tournament championship and Sweet 16 run erased the two-year tumble under previous coach Juwan Howard, as May overhauled the roster with transfers, most notably a pair of 7-footers in Vlad Goldin from FAU and Wolf.
But Auburn’s athleticism and the versatility of Broome and Cardwell in the frontcourt took over, holding Wolf scoreless for the final 13 minutes while limiting the Wolverines to 36 percent shooting from the field and 5 of 17 from deep. Michigan matched Auburn with 15 turnovers, and the Tigers were plus-15 in rebounding, including a 19-10 advantage on the offensive glass and 21 to 9 advantage in second-chance points.
“Especially in the last 8 or 10 minutes of the game, they played with an incredible amount of energy, enthusiasm, physicality, and knocked us off our spots,” May said. “They were a load on the offensive glass. I think those extra possessions were the difference in the game.”
Despite Auburn’s sloppy, disjointed start, the finish was more than enough to set up a Sunday showdown with Tom Izzo and Michigan State, and a chance for the Tigers to advance to their second Final Four in program history. Though Pearl made it very clear Auburn has plenty to shore up between now and then.
“If Michigan can turn us over 15 times, Michigan State can turn us over 25 times. That’s one of the best defensive teams in the country. They’re going to be very, very physical with us,” Pearl said. “We have some talented players that made some big plays offensively. We have to execute better, work harder, be more physical offensively and take better care of the ball to be able to win the next game.”
(Photo of Denver Jones: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
