AUBURN — After a tightly contested first half, the top-ranked Tigers came out strong after halftime, cruising to a 98-70 win over Oklahoma at Neville Arena on Tuesday night.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Auburn dominates the paint
Auburn relied heavily on its presence in the painted area in the first half, scoring 28 points down low on a 50% clip from the field. That trend mostly continued through the second half as the Tigers tacked on 18 more points down low, ending their night shooting 49% from 2-point land.
It wasn’t just offensively in which the Tigers showed their physicality around the rim. Auburn left the first half with seven blocks – the Tigers entered the game leading the nation with 6.8 per game – and finished with 11 on the night. Dylan Cardwell, who Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has raved over as a defensive star, recorded a game-high six blocks.
Additionally, the Tigers won the rebounding battle 38-28 against the worst rebounding team in the league.
Three ball starts to fall
After going 2-of-12 in the first half from deep, Auburn started to see the three-ball go down in the second half. The Tigers started 4 of 6 from the field in the half and finished with an 8 of 26 performance on the night. Denver Jones went a perfect 3 for 3 from deep while Tahaad Pettiford added three more on eight attempts.
Much of the reason it was a tightly-contested game throughout the first half was because Auburn wasn’t connecting from deep. Meanwhile, the Sooners’ offense came from beyond the arc with a 40% first half performance from deep. Seven of the Sooners’ 18 made field goals came from 3-point land.
Auburn holds dynamic duo in check
Entering the game, Oklahoma was the only team with two players who rank in the top 11 in the SEC in scoring. Jalon Moore ranked third with a team-high 18.2 ppg and freshman guard – and potential top 10 NBA draft pick – Jeremiah Fears ranked 11th with 16.1 ppg.
Moore left Neville Arena with just 11 points – he’s only been held under 15 points five times this season and is coming off a 19-point performance against Vanderbilt. Additionally, Fears, who Pearl raved about prior to the game, saying “he’s the focal point of any scout,” tallied just 10 after a 21-point performance in his last outing.
Tenacious defense, too many fouls
Auburn played a physical game on the defensive end of the floor, which resulted in some good things and bad.
The Tigers held Oklahoma – the only team nationally to rank in the top 30 in field goal percentage (18th; .490), 3-point field goal percentage (26th; .379) and free throw percentage (8th; .791) – to a 33% clip from the field on just 18 made FGs on 54 attempts. They also recorded nine steals and turned 15 turnovers into 22 points on the other end.
However, the Tigers committed 17 fouls, sending Oklahoma to the charity-stripe 29 times, where the Sooners made 27 shots. Seven of Fears' 10 points came at the free throw line.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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