ATLANTA — In March, every coach sounds as if they’re reciting a line from a movie as they promote the “next man up” theory. But they all privately hope they never have to employ that philosophy.
Midway through the second half of Auburn’s 70-64 win over Michigan State in the Elite Eight on Sunday, however, Johni Broome — the SEC Player of the Year — sat on the court with his eyes closed after he’d landed awkwardly, first on his left leg and then on his right elbow, while trying to block a shot. At that moment, a State Farm Arena packed with Auburn fans — just over 100 miles from the school’s campus — went silent.
“I was really just trying to see how hurt [my elbow] was,” said Broome, who added that he trusted his faith in that moment. “There was no worry at all.”
With a trip to the Final Four on the line and their best player injured and on his way to the locker room, the Tigers needed help. And they got it.
While Broome’s race against Duke’s Cooper Flagg for national player of the year has garnered headlines, Auburn’s depth has been the best supporting actor in this team’s run to the Final Four, six years after the program’s first trip.
As he left the bench to see the team’s doctors, Broome told his teammates to remain relentless.
“[Broome] just said, ‘Finish the game for me,'” said Chaney Johnson, who had eight points. “In the moment, I was just kind of down a little bit because the best player on the team, honestly, is hurt. One of the most gifted players on the team. So we were kind of hurt, but [Dylan Cardwell] looked at me and was like, ‘Yo, you gotta finish it if he comes back or if he doesn’t come back.'”
That has been the theme this season: This is no one-man show. Tahaad Pettiford — a five-star recruit — has evolved into one of the top young players in college basketball. Miles Kelly made significant plays Sunday and throughout the season after transferring from Georgia Tech. Denver Jones, a member of the all-SEC defensive team, has helped this group become one of America’s top defensive squads. Chad Baker-Mazara is the mercurial, emotional spark. But when Broome left with his elbow injury, the Tigers turned to Johnson and Cardwell, who have been vital post players all year.
They helped Auburn maintain its poise.
When Broome left Sunday’s game, the Tigers led by 10. When he returned near the five-minute mark, the Tigers still led by 10.
“They’re my brothers,” Broome said. “They’ve got my back no matter what. I went to the locker room. There was no drop-off.”
Broome, who led a 17-0 run in the first half and hit a 3-pointer shortly after reentering the game in the second half, said doctors told him he had not suffered any “serious” elbow damage, and the school announced that X-rays were negative. That means the Tigers will travel to San Antonio for the Final Four mostly healthy as they attempt to avenge a February loss to Florida that ended their 14-game winning streak.
That version of Auburn lost just one game during a 90-day stretch and dominated the SEC. In the final two weeks prior to the NCAA tournament, however, the Tigers sleepwalked through a 1-3 stretch.
That slip drew doubters and bets against the Tigers, as Duke became the favorite to win the national championship. Even coach Bruce Pearl acknowledged that his team had taken a step back.
But the NCAA tournament gave Auburn a platform to showcase the dominant basketball — the Tigers had registered a scoring clip of 176 points per 100 possessions midway through the first half Sunday — that had helped the program earn the top overall seed in the tournament.
“Our guys played some really, really good basketball defensively,” Pearl said. “We did a good job of keeping those guards out, switching, putting bodies on bodies. Sometimes, it’s harder to do what you’re supposed to do.”
And now the team will march to San Antonio after winning another game that included real adversity with Broome’s injury and as Michigan State tried to preserve Tom Izzo’s undefeated record against SEC teams in the NCAA tournament by cutting Auburn’s lead to six points late. But the Tigers, in both scenarios, kept going. Because that’s all they know.
“We are a team full of dogs,” said Kelly, who finished with eight points in the win in Atlanta, his hometown. “I mean, that’s what dogs do. They get hot at the right time, and that’s what March is about, and that’s what we’re doing right now. This is next man up, so it doesn’t matter who’s down, who’s not playing; everybody who’s in the game is going to compete at a high level and give it their all.”
