In their first-ever trip to the semifinal of the National Invitation Tournament, the top-seeded Auburn Tigers cruised to an 88-66 rout of No. 4 seed Illinois State on Thursday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
With the win, Auburn improved to 21-16 overall and will ready for Tulsa on Sunday night in hopes of cutting the nets down in the NIT.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Stellar first half
Auburn could not have asked for a better start in its first NIT semifinal appearance.
Behind a pair of double-digit scorers in Keyshawn Hall (15) and Kevin Overton (12), the Tigers tallied 51 first-half points and shot 66% from the floor, marking their highest first-half shooting percentage of the season – 59% against NC State before conference play began was the highest.
Both squads were off to the races from the tip as Auburn jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before both Illinois State fired back with a barrage of threes. Illinois State connected on six triples in the half, but the Tigers buried seven on a 64% clip, led by a perfect 4-for-4 mark from Overton.
Eight Tigers saw action in the first 20 minutes, and every one of them found the net, scoring on 22 of 31 possessions in the half at 1.6 points per possession.
Tigers keep it going in strong second half
Typically, Auburn relies on its second-half scoring to carry it to the finish line, but considering the Tigers’ shot a blistering 66% from the floor in the first stanza, their 55% clip in the second half was overshadowed.
Nonetheless, Auburn outscored Illinois State 37-28 in the second half on a 13-of-24 mark from the floor.
Auburn buried an additional five treys, ending the night 12-of-21 from deep for a 57% clip. It was Auburn’s second-highest output from deep in the tournament after connecting on a season-high 16 in the first-round matchup against South Alabama.
Feisty defense sets the tone for offensive outburst
There’s no denying that Auburn’s defense has been its weak point throughout the season, and entering the contest, it was Illinois State’s that owned the stronger defensive metrics.
But Auburn’s relentless effort on that end of the floor proved to be the difference as it turned the Redbirds over a whopping 18 times, turning those into 26 points on the other end of the floor.
Much of the reason the Tigers held a double-digit lead at the break was their 22 points off 11 Illinois State turnovers. Auburn kept the tenacity up in the second half with seven turnovers.
Eight of the 10 Tigers that saw action on the night tallied at least one steal, led by three from Elyjah Freeman. Five of them tallied multiple steals, with Auburn swatting four Redbird shot attempts.
Auburn’s 18 turnovers forced tied the second-highest this season and were five shy of tying its season-high mark.
Auburn’s three-headed monster
With Auburn facing the No. 37 scoring defense nationally, it got what it needed from its scoring leaders.
Hall led the way with 24 points on a 10-of-16 mark from the floor with a pair of treys as Overton continued his late-season surge with a perfect 5-of-5 clip from deep and 16 points. Rounding out the prolific trio’s efforts was none other than Tahaad Pettiford, who poured in 12 points with a game-high five assists.
Pettiford reached a career milestone of 1,000 points, becoming the 41st player in Auburn program history to achieve that feat.
As a result, Auburn led for over 37 minutes of game time. The Tigers have played with the lead for 111:33 of 120 minutes over their last three games.
Auburn will face Tulsa in the NIT Championship game on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
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