LEXINGTON, Ky. – In a game that saw 16 lead changes, No. 1 seed Auburn did just enough to pull away in the end, holding off No. 9 seed Creighton 82-70 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Rupp Arena.
With the win, Auburn will make its first trip to the Sweet 16 since its final four run in 2018-2019.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Creighton makes it rain from deep
Auburn entered Saturday's game with the fifth-best 3-point defense in the country, holding teams to just 29% from deep. The three-ball is the name of Creighton’s game as it entered with the fifth highest 3-point rate.
It was a key factor for both teams to walk away with the win: Auburn must stop Creighton’s potent 3-point offense, and the Bluejays must connect from deep to have a chance, and that they certainly did.
After pouring in nine makes from deep against Louisville on Thursday, Creighton followed with another nine makes from deep against the Tigers in just the first 20 minutes – Auburn only allowed nine makes from deep in three full games this season. The Bluejays' first make from inside the arc didn’t come until the nine-minute mark in the first half, and they shot a whopping 64% from deep in the first half.
Auburn ultimately found a way to slow down the high-powered Creighton offense as the Tigers held it to just three makes from deep in the second half on a 23.1% clip.
CBM provides second-half spark
With Auburn trailing 37-35 at the break and desperately needing an answer to slow down the Bluejay shooter, Chad Baker-Mazara came out of the gates ablaze in the second half with a quick seven points, igniting a 10-0 Auburn run and giving it an 8-point lead at the 12:27 mark.
Baker-Mazara went down clutching his hip at midcourt halfway through the second half, but the Tigers didn’t let that affect them as Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford carried the load in his absence. Jones recorded 11 second-half points – and delivered the dagger with a contested and-1 layup in the final minute – as Pettiford added 16 in the second half for his second consecutive game in double digits, nailing two free throws down the stretch to solidify the win.
Auburn brings the energy
Auburn assistant coach Steven Pearl and senior leader Dylan Cardwell called out their team’s recent lethargic play, saying that the Tigers have been playing with a lack of intensity and that they must get back to playing their brand of basketball.
There was certainly no doubting the Tigers' energy in this one, as they brought it from the jump. Auburn weathered the early storm with Creighton's barrage of first-half threes and found a way around some early misses right at the basket with a high-level defensive effort.
Auburn forced Creighton into 10 turnovers – seven in the first half – and outrebounded the Bluejays 37-27, turning 11 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. Additionally, the Tigers made the adjustments to keep the Bluejays to just three makes from deep in the second half.
The Tigers never broke loose in this one, though their biggest lead was 14 in the second half, but for the first time since claiming a 94-78 win over Kentucky in this building – the same day it clinched the SEC regular-season title outright – it felt like the “old” Auburn, per se, was back.
Cardwell takes over the battle of the bigs
This one was marked as a battle of the bigs between All-American Johni Broome and All-American Ryan Kalkbrenner. And Kalkbrenner certainly played his part with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Broome made his presence felt on the boards with 12 and defensively with two blocks.
But Dylan Cardwell’s presence in this game may have vaulted the Tigers to their 12-point win. His stats won’t jump off the page at you, as he scored just six points and only hauled in four rebounds, but time and time again, he brought the energy on the defensive end and was contesting shots all over the place.
He said on Friday, prior to the Tigers’ game, that they would be ready to play after a pair of team meetings to discuss the effort in which they have been playing. They brought the effort, and he was the catalyst.
Auburn will take on No. 5 seed Michigan next Friday in the Sweet 16 in Atlanta, Ga.
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