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.

"I guess the first thought is there are four teams in the country that are left, and Auburn is one of them. So we couldn't be happier.," said AU coach Bruce Pearl.

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.

"Johni Broome stepped up again," said Pearl. "Just keep doubting him, and keep thinking that he's not going to be able to get to another gear.

"You talk about delivering again at the biggest moments."

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.

"All glory to God. When I came back out, when I hit that 3 ball, I called on him again. You got to always call on him. He's always going to deliver," said Broome.

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.