No. 21 Auburn defeated No. 14 St. John's tonight, 85-74, in another game of the Players Era Tournament out in Las Vegas. The victory was sealed by an impressive 55-point second half to overtake the Red Storm.
“We’re the sum of our parts,” said Auburn coach Steven Pearl. “When this team stays together, this team can do unbelievable things. We took a really tough situation yesterday, and we bounced back.”
The charge was led by returning star Tahaad Pettiford, who played a grueling 37 minutes, including the entire second half, and posted a career-high 27 points.
“I knew that if I got things rolling my team would follow,” Pettiford said. “Once I got going, they kept feeding me and it just kept going.”
Close on Pettiford's heels was Keyshawn Hall with 20 points. Hall, a transfer from University of Central Florida, is averaging 21 points per game, leading the team.
“We locked in on defense a little more,” said Hall. “They’re big as heck, so when we don’t let them get second-chance points, that would be a big emphasis for us. We tried to do that a little more, and things started clicking offensively.”
Going into halftime, the Tigers were down 39-30. But Pettiford and Hall took control throughout the second half, scoring a combined 36 points between the two of them in the second half alone. Hall also led the team with eight rebounds, helping Auburn outrebound the Red Storm 18-13 in the second half. The Tigers as a whole shot 64% from the field in the second half, and 54.7% throughout the game, including going 6-for-14 from behind the arc.
“Our guys stuck with it,” said Pearl. “I’m unbelievably proud of my guys for finding a way to hang in there and beat a really good team.”
This comeback win comes just 24 hours after Auburn lost by 30 points to the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines, a testament to the team's resilience.
“Losing by 30 gave us a little chip on our shoulder,” Pettiford said. “Coach reminded us we just need to win that second half and that’s what we did.”
Auburn absolutely stepped up its game tonight, especially defensively. The Red Storm had 14 turnovers tonight, and Auburn capitalized, scoring 20 points off of turnovers. The Tigers also had 23 defensive rebounds, and held St. Johns to 24 second chance points.
“Proud of our guys,” Pearl said. “Yesterday was not easy. To lose the way we lost was a little deflating. Our defense stepped up and carried us. Really proud of the effort and execution.”
The Tigers have wrapped up their time in Las Vegas and will be back in action against NC State next Wednesday, December 3, at 8:15 pm CST in Neville Arena. The game will be available to stream on ESPN.
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Jackie is a senior majoring in Psychology. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2024.
You can follow her on X (Twitter) at @jackie_domingun
