ATLANTA — Any doubters that the Southeastern Conference put together a season for the ages were erased last night when Auburn defeated Michigan in the South Regional semifinals, 78-65.
That victory gives the SEC half of the Elite Eight field as the Tigers joined Tennessee — which earned its spot by beating league rival Kentucky on Friday night — and Alabama and Florida, which won their spots on Thursday.
Auburn coach Bruce Pearl made sure whoever was up watching past midnight Eastern time knew the damage the SEC had wrought. Interviewed by CBS’s sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson after the game, Pearl, surrounded by his players, yelled “How about the SEC?” and followed it with an “SEC!, SEC! SEC!” chant.
Sometimes the best move a coach can make is the one he doesn’t. At the under 12 media time out in the second half, Pearl let his players, who were trailing 48-42 at the time, have it out on the bench. Suffice it to say no one was concerned about hurting a teammates’ feelings.
Pearl didn’t have to do much coaching, except for drawing up a play that got 6-4 senior guard Denver Jones a wide-open look from the left corner. When he drained it for a three-pointer, the onslaught began.
“We went on a 34-8 run,” Pearl said. “It’s just the kids’ will to win. They locked down defensively. And then scored some points. We had a couple of guards get heated up. Denver got heated up. Tahaad (Pettiford) heated up. We went to them, and they delivered. Great win for Auburn, and four teams from the SEC in the Elite Eight. That’s pretty good.”
Deep into the second half, the Tigers’ All-American 6-foot-10 center, Johni Broome, who finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds, wasn’t getting much help from his teammates, none of whom were in double figures.
But after Jones’ three-pointer, he followed it up with two more threes and a layup for an 11-0 solo run. Then Pettiford got into the action; after scoring just five points in the first half, he delivered 15 in the second, including a personal 10-0 run.
“When we need a spark, he gives us a spark,” Broome said of Pettiford. “There aren’t a lot of freshmen who can take over the game like he can. He just took over the game.”
When the deluge was over, Auburn had itself a school single-game NCAA Tournament record. Never before had three players scored 20 or more points in a game. Jones and Pettiford both finished with 20.
Of that heated discussion between teammates, Broome dismissed it as close-knit teammates who try to lift one another up, regardless of how it has to be done.
“You know what?” Broome said. “We’re brothers at the end of the day. And brothers are gonna bump heads. Everyone wants to win. And sometimes winning comes through adversity. Coach has confidence in us to be able to speak out at times. A couple of guys said what they had to say, and we went out there and played.”
Auburn (31-5) now gets to continue its magical season. Sunday the opponent will be Michigan State, which defeated yet another SEC team, Ole Miss, 73-70 in the game prior to Auburn’s. Spartans coach Tom Izzo has coached in 10 Elite Eights. Since 2019, when Pearl lead Auburn on a run to the Final Four, the Tigers haven’t advanced past the first weekend.
If the Tigers get past Michigan State, they can thank a three-loss-in-four-game slide that included getting beaten by Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals. That loss seemed to shake the Tigers out of complacency that set up in after clinching the SEC regular-season title on March 1.
Michigan State, like Auburn, won their conference title outright. Sunday’s game to decide a trip to the Final Four could be one for the ages.
