ATLANTA -- A hush came over the otherwise raucous State Farm Arena midway through the second half of Sunday's NCAA Tournament South Region final.

The heavy Auburn fan contingent held its breath as superstar Johni Broome left for the locker room after falling on his elbow. In his absence, No. 1 Auburn held its lead over No. 2 Michigan State -- before Broome returned, knocked down a 3-pointer and eventually celebrated a 70-64 victory for the Tigers, who clinched a spot in next Saturday's Final Four.

The All-American Broome collected 25 points and 14 rebounds and freshman Tahaad Pettiford added 10 points off the bench for Auburn (32-5), which advanced to the program's second Final Four (2019), where the Tigers face conference foe Florida.

Broome, who was cleared after undergoing X-rays, was more than happy to return and push the Tigers over the finish line.

"I went to the locker room. I checked my arm out. The Doc said nothing's wrong, you're good. Nothing serious," Broome said. "So, 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."

Auburn's win completes a No. 1 seed sweep in the Final Four, the first time since 2008 that all four top seeds advanced to the national semifinals. Duke and Houston will join Auburn and Florida next week in San Antonio.

Not only does it prolong what's been a "chalk-filled" tournament, but it also assures the Southeastern Conference a team in the national championship for the first time since Kentucky in 2014. This is an area of importance for Auburn coach Bruce Pearl.

"How the SEC does really matters to me. It genuinely matters to me," Pearl said. "Basketball wasn't holding up its end for a while. It was Kentucky. It was a Billy Donovan-coached Florida team, and then every now and then, maybe Arkansas or Tennessee would have a run.

"There are now 16 basketball programs in the SEC that are all committed to being competitive in men's basketball. The league has done a great job, and unfortunately, there will only be one SEC team playing for the national championship on Monday."

The Tigers, who fell 90-81 at home to Florida on Feb. 8, are aware of the challenge awaiting them in San Antonio.

"Florida has a great team. They were good enough to beat us at home," Auburn forward Chaney Johnson said. "It's another team in the way of us getting to the national championship. So, we've just got to continue putting our head down, continue staying humble, continue staying hungry.

"Just go out there and play with great effort and great energy."

The Spartans (30-7) were led by Jaxon Kohler's 17 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Jaden Akins' 15 points and Jase Richardson's 11.

After trailing by 15 points in the first half and nine at halftime, Michigan State cut its deficit to 35-30 on Jeremy Fears Jr.'s layup in the opening minutes of the second. The Tigers then pushed the margin back to double figures on Chad Baker-Mazara's 3-pointer and Dylan Cardwell's layup.

Frankie Fidler's reverse layup later pulled the Spartans within nine, but Pettiford hit a triple to extend Auburn's advantage to 50-38 with 12:03 left. After contesting Fidler at the rim, Broome's awkward fall forced the All-American to head for the locker room.

In Broome's absence, Michigan State sliced its deficit to eight, but Broome later returned and connected on a pivotal 3-pointer to give Auburn a 60-48 edge with 4:41 remaining.

Kohler knocked down a trey to pull the Spartans within seven with 1:40 left, but Denver Jones' driving layup and subsequent free throws pushed the margin to 11.

Akins made two 3-pointers down the stretch for Michigan State, but it was only window dressing as Auburn earned its program-record 32nd win.

"For the 30th year, I'm not sure I've ever been prouder of a team," Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said. "There's so much coach speak and things that go on in programs all over, but these guys gave me everything they had. I drained them of everything. They should take a week off. There's nothing left in them."

Broome asserted his low-post dominance early, scoring Auburn's first six points, before Richardson's three-point play knotted the score at six. Coen Carr's dunk gave the Spartans their first and only lead of the game, but Miles Kelly's back-to-back midrange jumpers began a 17-0 run for the Tigers -- which included Broome's 3-pointer to extend Auburn's lead to 23-8.

Fidler then scored five of Michigan State's 7-0 spurt to pull the Spartans within eight at the 8:41 mark. Kohler's second 3-pointer of the first half later cut Auburn's lead to five, but Pettiford and Broome followed with layups, helping the Tigers take a 33-24 halftime lead.

"I felt going in that we were better," Pearl said. "I felt like I had better players. That's not a criticism at all. I told our guys right now, we haven't beaten a team yet that I thought was better than us. That's why we're the overall No. 1 seed. We're going to the Final Four with our four one-seeds.

"The four teams that advanced, I think they're the four best teams in the country. That doesn't obviously always happen."

--Jack Batten, Field Level Media