Blue and orange confetti rained down in State Farm Arena on Sunday night as Auburn defeated Michigan State 70-64 to secure their second NCAA Final Four appearance in school history.

Both of Auburn’s Final Four appearances have come under Jewish head coach Bruce Pearl, whose unwavering support for Israel continues to inspire both on and off the court. After his Tigers defeated the Creighton Bluejays a week ago, Pearl bravely used his post-game press conference to advocate for the hostages in Gaza. Last month, social media exploded after Pearl made his way to the sideline to join 120 Jewish teens singing “Am Yisrael Chai.”

“Well, I feel like this year we kind of earned it,” Pearl said after the win. “We were the No. 1 overall seed. We paid our dues that year [2019] when we got to the Final Four, you know, that was sort of Cinderella. It was magic as a five seed working our way through. Sometimes it’s harder to do what you’re expected to do. And at this point, there are only No. 1’s; it’s all chalk. The committee did a great job selecting this field, and we stepped up.”

Taking control early with an explosive 17-0 run in the first half, Auburn built a lead Michigan State couldn’t overcome. But it was star forward Johni Broome who really stole the show. Despite a nagging injury, he finished with a dominant 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and 14 rebounds.

“Incredible,” Pearl said. “Just incredibly proud of Johni, incredibly proud of No. 4. You talk about delivering again at the biggest moments.”

Next up, Auburn will face SEC rival Florida in an all-conference semifinal next Saturday in San Antonio with a trip to the national championship on the line. Remarkably, all four No. 1 seeds (Auburn, Florida, Duke, and Houston) have advanced to the national semifinals.