The status of Auburn star Johni Broome’s elbow was important to monitor coming into Saturday night’s Final Four matchup with the Florida Gators. Shortly after the game started in the first half, Matt Norlander of CBS Sports was sitting courtside.
And he noticed that Broome was favoring the right elbow. Broome spoke with official Roger Ayers and told him to look for any extra grabbing and contact on it.
With 11:33 remaining in the first half, Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara had 14 of Auburn’s 20 points. The rest of their team had six points. So, at least early, the injury doesn’t seem to be affecting the big man. It’s been an exciting game early in San Antonio with both Florida and Auburn trading heavy blows early. It’s been a well-played, fast paced game between two of the best teams in the country. And they’ve looked like it in the first half.
Auburn superstar Johni Broome suffered a scary fall on Sunday in their Elite Eight matchup against Michigan State. Broome went down with just under 11 minutes left in the second half, landing awkwardly as he came down to the court. He walked very gingerly back to the locker room with Auburn medical staff after sitting on the floor for a few minutes.
And Auburn led 52-42 with 8:35 remaining in the second half. Broome had been dominant for much of the game. Before exiting with his injury, he stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points and 12 rebounds. According to Tracy Wolfson, the biggest concern with Broome moving forward is the elbow injury he suffered as he landed. On3’s Justin Hokanson reported that the star wasn’t moving his right arm much as he left the floor.
Broome had already shattered the Auburn program record for double-doubles and his Elite Eight performance on Sunday only added to that total. He eventually came back to the Tigers’ bench with 5:29 left in the second half and re-entered the game, much to the delight of the Auburn faithful. According to Tracy Wolfson, Broome went in for X-Rays, those were negative. And he’s good to play on Sunday night.
Shortly after returning to the game, he buried a big-time three-pointer late in the second half. He was still seen grabbing his elbow a bit on the floor, but the Auburn star appeared to be ready to tough it out. Auburn was leading 33-24 at halftime, but Michigan State didn’t let them run away with it.
The Spartans managed to stay within a reasonable range, even though Auburn was clearly stressing bringing the ball up the floor on a number of occasions. MSU cut the Tigers’ lead to six points with 11.2 seconds left in the game. And Auburn pulled off the win, 70-64, advancing to the second Final Four in school history.
