Auburn extended its winning streak to four on Wednesday night after a second-half surge led it to an 88-82 victory over Texas at Neville Arena.
With the win, Auburn improved to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in league play. The matchup marked Texas’ first trip to Auburn since 1911.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Texas starts hot, Auburn looks lethargic
It was quite the opposite start for Auburn from the last time out on Wednesday night in Neville Arena.
During the Tigers’ prior three-game win streak, they have played with the lead for a total of 107:04 minutes and trailed for only 4:14.
After racing out to an early double-digit lead against Florida on Saturday, Auburn started just 1-for-5 from the field en route to a 39% mark from the field in the first half on Wednesday. The Tigers’ leading scorer, Keyshawn Hall, converted just one basket from the field.
Meanwhile, Texas buried a first-half season-high eight triples on a 57% clip from deep. Three Longhorns connected on multiple threes with Daylin Swain and Camden Heide each notching three on as many attempts.
The Longhorns shot over 50% from the floor in the first half, scoring 32 of their 42 first-half points from 3-point land and the charity stripe.
Tigers fight back in the final stanza
After a rather porous first-half showing on the offensive end, Auburn shot a whopping 68%% from the floor in the second half and outscored Texas 54-to-40. Auburn scored on 24 of its 28 total possessions in the second half.
A first half that saw Texas hit eight triples led the way to just four in the second half. Meanwhile, Auburn buried six of its 11 total threes in the second half.
After a few back-and-forth conversions from each squad, Auburn broke loose with a 7-0 run – all scored by Hall – to cut a once 14-point deficit to three. A mini 5-0 Texas run halted the Tigers’ momentum, but another 12-3 run over the next minute-and-a-half led to Auburn’s first lead since the 18:05 mark in the first half.
Texas jumped out in front once more, but Auburn took the lead and never gave it up for the last 10 minutes of play.
Kevin Overton tallied 17 second-half points behind a barrage of threes, as he hit three of his five total triples in the second half. He finished with 25 points as Auburn closed the night out, hitting six of its final eight shots.
Hall versus Swain
An underrated matchup coming into this one was that of Auburn’s Hall going up against Texas’ Swain.
The last two outings for Swain have been nothing short of electric as the Longhorn’s leading scorer averaged 27.5 points while shooting 69% from the floor. Of course, Auburn fans are familiar with Hall’s heroics, considering he was tabbed as the SEC Co-Player of the Week after tallying 21.5 points in the Tigers’ two outings last week.
Swain got the best of Hall in the first stanza as he notched 17 points to lead all scorers, with Hall tallying six.
Hall came out of the break firing on all cylinders, recording eight points within the first three minutes en route to a 25-point second-half performance. He tallied 31 points on the night, marking the third time this season he has surpassed the 30-point threshold.
Swain finished his night with 30 points with four triples.
Tigers win the turnover margin
Turn em’ over, Tigers.
Swiping away eight steals, Auburn forced Texas into 11 turnovers on the night, which led to an 18-to-8 differential in points off turnovers – in Auburn’s favor, of course.
The Tigers turned it over just 3 times, which is the lowest mark of the season.
Auburn will hit the road on Saturday for a matchup against Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
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