ATLANTA | Defense has carried Auburn all season. It carried it to the Final Four Sunday.
The top-seeded Tigers held Michigan State to 34.4 percent shooting in a 70-64 win in the South Regional final at State Farm Arena.
Auburn advances to the Final Four for the second time in program history where it will play West No. 1 seed Florida Saturday. AU improves to 32-5.
Johni Broome was a force of nature for the Tigers. The senior All-American finished with 25 points on 10 of 13 shooting and 14 rebounds for the 81st double-double of his career.
Broome was injured with 10:24 left in the second half but returned five minutes later to hit a key 3-pointer with 4:40 left that gave AU a 60-48 lead.
MSU cut the lead to seven points with 1:40 remaining and then six with 11.2 seconds left. But AU made 4 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes to hang on for the win.
Tahaad Pettiford added 10 points, Denver Jones and Miles Kelly had eight apiece.
Auburn used a 17-0 run to build a 15-point lead midway through the first half, and led 33-24 at the break. Broome had 17 points and 11 rebounds at half.
Tip-off at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas is set for 5:09 p.m. CT on CBS.
