The crowd inside State Farm Arena had been had a fever pitch all evening, but with 10:37 to play, the eerie silence felt loud.

After scoring 22 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and once again proving why he’s a candidate for National Player of the Year, Auburn’s All-American forward was on the ground in pain.

His arm was hurt, his leg was hurt, and his eyes told the story of a player worried that his run with Auburn in the NCAA tournament could be coming to an end.

Then, around five in-game minutes later, Broome emerged from the tunnel like Willis Reed in 1970. Not only that, he went straight from the locker room to the scorer’s table, returning to the game minutes after it looked like his season might have been over.

As if the scene didn’t already look like something out of a Disney movie, Broome grabbed a defensive rebound, jogged back down the court and knocked down a 3-pointer off of a Miles Kelly assist. All of that occurred within a minute of Broome checking back in.

“All glory to God,” Broome said after the game. “When I came back out, when I hit that three-ball, I called on him again. You got to always call on him. He’s always going to deliver.”

For many of his teammates, that moment felt like the dagger. Auburn was already up by nine with under five minutes left when the shot happened, but it felt like nothing could stop the Tigers from that moment forward.

Auburn forward Chaney Johnson said it sealed the game. Denver Jones called it a weight lifted off the team’s shoulders. Dylan Cardwell put his own twist on what the moment said about Broome.

“Big balls,” Cardwell said. “You couldn’t have scripted it better. I hope he gets a 30 For 30 from that shot alone.”

Despite Broome’s big shot having a storybook feel to it, few players on Auburn’s bench were surprised when the two-time All-American came out of the locker room to re-enter the game.

Associate head coach Steven Pearl said after the game that he didn’t even see Broome come out of the tunnel. The crowd started to get louder, and the next thing Pearl saw was Broome right next to him.

Pearl asked Broome if he was okay and Broome’s response was, “I can play if you need me.” Before Pearl could even respond, Cardwell motioned to be subbed out and Broome was already making his way to the scorer’s table.

“It was great to see him walk out. More so just because I’m glad he was okay,” Pearl said.

Each game in the second half of the season has felt like Broome re-making his case to be National Player of the Year. When factoring in that he finished Sunday’s game with 25 points and 14 rebounds, his comeback from injury against Michigan State felt like an exclamation point.

For the time being, though, individual awards aren’t what Broome or any of his teammates are thinking about. After cutting down the nets in Atlanta, he and the Tigers now get to play in the Final Four for the second time in school history and the first in Broome’s storied Auburn career.

“To stand on top of the ladder in front of all the Auburn fans still being there traveling and witnessing it as well and looking down and seeing my teammates, the whole Auburn family,” Broome said. “It just means the world to me.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m