ATLANTA — The sound was deafening.
That was the case for much of Sunday evening, when Auburn basketball and 2-seed Michigan State played for a spot in the 2025 NCAA Tournament's Final Four. But with 5:29 remaining in the Elite Eight contest, a crowd of 16,000-plus at State Farm Arena made more noise than they had all night.
It was for a player checking into the game.
Johni Broome, Auburn's returning All-American and National Player of the Year candidate, jogged to the scorer's table. He did so from the tunnel leading to his team's locker room, a place where he'd walked to about eight minutes of game time prior.
With 12:54 remaining, Broome took an awkward fall going for a defensive rebound. It inspired a collective breath-hold from the thousands of Auburn fans in the stands, but his return gave a metaphorical sigh of relief, drowned out, of course, by the cheers.
What he did next was crucial, helping seal a 70-64 victory to take the Tigers back to the Final Four for the first time in six seasons.
"It won us the game," Auburn forward Chaney Johnson said of Broome's return.
Broome was already on a tear against Michigan State (30-7). After dropping 22 points and 16 rebounds Friday against 5-seed Michigan in the Sweet 16, he was already up to 22 and 12 against the Spartans.
Then came the misfortune. Injuries have been a challenge for Auburn's (32-5) big man all season. Johnson had the simplest thought when his teammate went down and, once again, didn't get back up.
"I'm just like, 'Not again,'" Johnson said.
It was unclear what exactly happened. Broome appeared to tell coach Bruce Pearl he couldn't return as he walked past the bench. He spoke to his parents, Julie and John Broome Sr., before marching to the locker.
And it's still unclear, at least from Johni Broome's account, what went down on the court and in the locker room.
"We have a great support staff," he said from the postgame podium. "They checked my arm out. The Doc said, 'Nothing's wrong, you're good. Nothing serious.' At that moment, I just wanted to help my teammates. If that's coming back out and playing and hitting one shot and grabbing the rebound, I was going to do it."
Broome's final sentence is quite literally what happened. Following his beeline to the scorer's table, he secured a stop on the defensive end. In grabbing a rebound, he extended his healthy arm. His other — wrapped and bandaged — remained at ...
