Following Steven Pearl’s first ranked win of his head coaching career last week, No. 20 Auburn hoped to continue its winning ways Wednesday night.
Despite a season-high 20 turnovers, the Tigers got their wish, taking down NC State 83-73 courtesy of stellar offensive performances from Keyshawn Hall and Kevin Overton.
“We’re all very disappointed in how we excused offensively,” Pearl said. “I really don’t know how the hell we won that game.”
The story of the night was uncharacteristic turnovers from the Tigers. Capitalizing off Auburn’s season-high turnover total, the Wolfpack were able to hang around all night. Following Auburn taking a 28-16 lead midway through the first half, NC State responded with a 13-0 run via five turnovers from the orange and blue during that stretch.
Overton and Hall were unstoppable all night, and there was nothing Will Wade and the Wolfpack could do about it. The duo bailed out Auburn, shooting 62.9% from the field and combining for 57 points, 33 of which came from behind the arc. They’re the first Tigers teammates to score at least 25 points in the same game since Bryce Brown (26) and Jared Harper (25) against Xavier in the 2018 Maui Invitational.
“If it weren't for just tough shot making by KO and Keyshawn Hall, we don’t win that game,” Pearl said. “Two of our best players bailed us out when we had very poor performances from other guys on our team.”
The tandem put Auburn on its back in the second half, scoring all 22 of the Tigers’ points from the 11:12 to 3:35 mark. Overton finished with a career-high 29 points, while Hall contributed 28 and completed his fourth double-double of the season.
Tahaad Pettiford, the lone returnee from last season’s Final Four run, shot 1-for-7 from the field tonight and 0-for-3 from downtown. The sophomore continues to slump at home, as he has shot 25.4% from the field inside Neville Arena and is shooting 45.9% away from the Plains.
Although he wasn’t able to produce to his standards on the offensive end, Pettiford still finished the game +10 with a career-high four blocks.
Auburn will now turn its attention to No. 2 Arizona, who it will battle out west on Saturday night. The game is scheduled to tip off at 9 p.m. CST and will be televised on ESPN.
“Arizona is a different animal,” Pearl said. “They have unbelievable size and they run great stuff so that’s going to challenge what we do defensively.”
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Rory is a sophomore majoring in journalism sports production. He started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @RorymGarvin
