After a rough eight-game stretch on the hardwood, Auburn found itself in the win column on Senior Night as it took down LSU 88-74 in a late-night battle at Neville Arena on Tuesday.
With the win, Auburn’s fifth straight against LSU, the orange and blue Tigers’ NCAA Tournament hopes remain intact.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Feisty defense gives Auburn an edge at the break
For the first time in nearly a month, Auburn held the advantage heading into halftime.
And it was thanks to its feisty defensive charge, led by Tahaad Pettiford’s four first-half steals.
The home Tigers forced a whopping 10 turnovers in the first half, which led to 10 points on the other end, highlighted by nine steals. Conversely, Auburn committed just two turnovers, and LSU was unable to capitalize on either of them on the other end.
Auburn ended the half on a 12-5 run, to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room, netting its final four shots from the field while LSU finished the half hitting just three of its last 10 after a blistering start.
Pettiford, Kevin Overton surge lead the charge in explosive second-half
In Auburn’s 15 wins entering the contest, it averaged 47.7 points in the second half on a 54.3% clip from the field.
On Tuesday, the orange and blue Tigers shot 59% from the field with 47 second-half points – 10 shy of their season high in the final 20 minutes – thanks to Pettiford's explosive start and Kevin Overton catching fire shortly after.
Scoring 10 points in the first half to lead all Auburn scorers, Pettiford opened the second stanza with eight points on a pair of treys and a breakaway slam before the under-16 media timeout.
While taking a breather, Overton picked up the slack and tallied 14 points in five minutes and did not miss a shot until the 4:43 mark.
Pettiford finished with 27 points on the night, 17 in the second half with a 10-of-16 mark from the field overall. It was his second consecutive 20-point outing and 11th of the season.
Overton poured in 21 points with a 4-of-6 mark from deep to lead Auburn’s 42% clip from beyond the arc (10-of-24).
Two other home Tigers finished in double figures, with Keyshawn Hall tallying 17 and Elyjah Freeman recording 10.
Auburn locks down LSU’s top-scoring threat
Auburn believed it would have its hands full with LSU’s Max Mackinnon, who paced the visitors with 15.5 points per game behind a 39.2% clip from deep.
And history has shown that Auburn struggles to contend with its opponents' top-scoring threats.
But Tuesday night, Auburn held Mackinnon to three points on one made field goal – a first-half trey.
Michael Nwoko led the charge for LSU with 19 points, and three other Bayou Bengals notched double figures, as the visitors still shot over 50% from the field.
But Auburn’s 15 turnovers forced proved to be the difference as Auburn put up 13 more shots than LSU.
What does the win mean for Auburn?
With one game remaining in the regular season, Auburn earned a much-needed win against LSU.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi slotted Auburn in the “First Four out” in his latest bracketology, meaning it still needs to pick up a win on the road Saturday against No. 16 Alabama.
A win at Coleman Coliseum would certainly boost the Tigers' NCAA Tournament resume, and Steven Pearl’s Tigers still control their own destiny.
But that destiny is dependent upon positive results on Saturday against Alabama, who will be hungry for a season-sweep in the series after coming off a loss to Georgia earlier in the night.
Tipoff for Saturday’s regular-season finale is set for 7:30 p.m on ESPN.
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