Auburn's Broome says there's no pain in his elbow and he will be ready to face Florida in Final Four

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Auburn forward Johni Broome returned to practice for the Tigers on Thursday and said he has no pain in his right elbow and “no limitations” ahead of the Tigers' Final Four matchup with Florida.

Broome, a unanimous first-team AP All-American, is the Tigers' leading scorer and emotional leader. Auburn got a major scare when he injured his elbow in the Tigers' win over Michigan State to get to the Final Four.

He returned to that game but had been held out of practice until the team arrived in San Antonio.

“Ready to go. Taking it day by day, but set for Saturday,” Broome said. “No limitations.”

Broome wore two layers of sleeves on his right arm and said he made sure to test the elbow by pushing and shoving with teammates in game situations. The idea was to “make it mad a little bit” to see how it would respond.

It went well. Broome said it is having no pain.

“Coach sat me out for precaution, but Saturday, I'll be 100%, for sure,” when the Tigers (32-5) face the Gators (34-4).

“I'm glad he feels that way,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “Today was the first day he moved in practice.”

Broome's status and pain tolerance for the elbow have been the biggest injury questions of the tournament so far.

He had 25 points and 14 rebounds against Michigan State but briefly left the game in the second after a hard fall as the elbow bent at an awkward angle.

Broome stayed down on the court, grimacing and holding his arm. He left the court for a medical check, but returned from the locker room five minutes later to cheers from the Auburn crowd.

He swished a 3-pointer after he returned but also looked uncomfortable as he grabbed several rebounds with one arm after the injury.

Broome has fought back from injury before. He missed two games earlier this season with an ankle injury. Auburn won both games against Mississippi State and Georgia.

Florida is also on pain watch.

Gators forward Alex Condon, who will likely match up with Broome, said his sore right ankle is “80 to 90% right now” and should be ready to play Saturday.

Condon rolled his right ankle in the Gators’ Sweet 16 win over Maryland and played just 13 minutes in that game. Two days later, he played 28 minutes and seven points and seven rebounds in Florida's 84-79 win over Texas Tech to get to the Final Four.

“I'm just trying to get it right, and you know, not tweak it again,” Condon said.

At Duke, the Blue Devils (35-3) are hopeful that forward Maliq Brown is healthy enough to contribute when they meet Houston (34-4) in the other semifinal.

Brown was an important defender for the Blue Devils during much of the season but has been in and out of the lineup since mid-February after a dislocated left shoulder. He missed most of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and the first two games of the NCAA Tournament before returning for just a few minutes in wins over Arizona and Alabama.

Brown said Thursday his shoulder feels better than last week and he’s been able to do more rehab and practice reps. He was not sure if he's going to need surgery after the season.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) is helped on the court during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Michigan State, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Auburn forward Johni Broome (4) sits on the court against Michigan State during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Auburn forward Johni Broome rides to practice during media day at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson )

Auburn forward Johni Broome walks to practice during media day at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson )

Auburn forward Johni Broome is interviewed in the locker room during media day at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson )

Auburn forward Johni Broome rides to practice during media day at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson )

Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers.

Microsoft accused one of the workers in a termination letter Monday of misconduct "designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event.” Microsoft says the other worker had already announced her resignation, but on Monday it ordered her to leave five days early.

The protests began Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up toward a stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft's AI ambitions.

“You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military," Aboussad shouted at Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. "Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.”

The protest forced Suleyman to pause his talk while it was being livestreamed from Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington. Among the participants at the 50th anniversary of Microsoft's founding were co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft said Suleyman calmly tried to de-escalate the situation. “Thank you for your protest, I hear you,” he said. Aboussad continued, shouting that Suleyman and “all of Microsoft” had blood on their hands. She also threw onto the stage a keffiyeh scarf, which has become a symbol of support for Palestinian people, before being escorted out of the event.

A second protester, Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a later part of the event.

Aboussad, based at Microsoft's Canadian headquarters in Toronto, was invited on Monday to a call with a human resources representative at which she was told she was being fired immediately, according to the advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, which has protested the sale of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to Israel.

An investigation by The Associated Press revealed earlier this year that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The story also contained details of an errant Israeli airstrike in 2023 that struck a vehicle carrying members of a Lebanese family, killing three young girls and their grandmother.

In its termination letter, Microsoft told Aboussad she could have raised her concerns confidentially to a manager. Instead, it said she made “hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations” against Suleyman and the company and that her “conduct was so aggressive and disruptive that you had to be escorted out of the room by security.”

Agrawal had already given her two weeks notice and was preparing to leave the company on April 11, but on Monday a manager emailed that Microsoft "has decided to make your resignation immediately effective today.”

It was the most public but not the first protest over Microsoft's work with Israel. In February, five Microsoft employees were ejected from a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella for protesting the contracts.

“We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard,” said a statement from the company Friday. “Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”

Microsoft had declined to say Friday whether it was taking further action, but Aboussad and Agrawal expected it was coming after both lost access to their work accounts shortly after the protest.

Dozens of Google workers were fired last year after internal protests over a contract it also has with the Israeli government. Employee sit-ins at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California targeted a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus providing AI technology to the Israeli government.

The Google workers later filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to get their jobs back.

CORRECTS DATE - A pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Ibtihal Aboussad, is escorted away by security as they interrupt Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of a 50th Anniversary presentation at Microsoft headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)