LEXINGTON, Ky. – With No. 1 seed Auburn trailing 37-35 at the break, something had to give.
No. 9 Creighton – which entered with the fifth-best 3-point rate in the nation – was pouring in threes left and right as nine of its 14 makes from the field in the first 20 minutes came from beyond the arc. It was the second consecutive game in which the Bluejays had reached that mark in the first half.
Auburn did what it needed to hang in and continued to weather the storm, but had missed a few point-blank looks underneath the basket (23% on layups in the half) and connected on just three of its 11 attempts from deep.
That’s when Auburn’s guard play took over and vaulted the Tigers to, at one point, a 14-point advantage in the second half, ultimately pulling away for a 12-point win.
It was Chad Baker-Mazara who came out of the half ablaze, recording 12 points in the first 7:08 to ignite a 10-0 Auburn run and bring a large contingent of Auburn faithful to its feet at Rupp Arena.
“Chad was being guarded by a freshman, Jackson McAndrew, who had a great, great offensive game but Chad had the advantage,” said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. “We were able to get him in a ball screen action where he was able to turn corners and get downhill and score the basketball.”
Midway through the second half, after sinking three straight free throws following a foul on a layup attempt, Baker-Mazara fell at halfcourt, clutching his hip, before heading back to the locker room.
“Definitely losing a guy like Chad, he's playing so well, he's a big part of this team. Seeing him go down, everybody knew they had to step up and do what they had to do to get the win,” said Auburn guard Tahaad Pettiford.
And step up they did.
Seven days ago, Pettiford went 0-for-8 as the Tigers watched their hopes at an SEC Tournament title dwindle away at the hands of Tennessee. Against Creighton, Pettfiord splashed onto the scene for 16 second-half points to bring his total to a game-high 23 while going 7-for-8 at the charity stripe, including two down the stretch that solidified the Tigers’ win.
“He's a special freshman, you know? He understands the game. He's learned a lot from the older guys and he knows when the time is that we need him to step up. He steps up to the challenge a lot of the times for us. That's what you expect out of a guy like him,” said Auburn big man Johni Broome.
Pettiford wasn’t alone, though. Taking on the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s best player night in and night out, Jones poured in 11 second-half points while holding Steven Ashworth – the spark for the Bluejays’ potent 3-point offense – to just two after going for 11 in the first half.
“Denver Jones, I've been telling everybody he is one of the best defensive guards in all of college basketball and he proved it tonight with the effort and energy that he put forth and obviously making it really hard for their best player to get any kind of open looks,” Pearl said.
They say guard play wins in March, and Auburn’s are getting hot at just the right time as the Tigers make their first appearance in the Sweet 16 since their Final Four run in 2018-19.
“We knew Creighton was going to be as good as anybody we would see on the road to the Final Four,” Pearl said. “I feel that way. Hopefully this is something we could build on.”
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Logan Fowler is a Senior from Sumiton, Alabama and is majoring in journalism. He joined the Plainsman in Spring 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @loganffowler
