In a rematch of last season's Sweet 16 matchup, No. 7 Michigan sought revenge and dominated from start to finish as No. 21 Auburn endured its worst loss since 2023 against Kentucky (-32) on Tuesday night in the second game of the Players Era Tournament at Michelob ULTRA Arena, 102-72.
With the loss, Auburn falls to 5-2 on the season
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Stats tell the story
Tuesday night will mark one to forget for Auburn, as it was dominated in nearly every statistical category on the stat sheet.
Michigan shot 51% from the field to Auburn’s 35%. It buried 14 triples to Auburn’s 10, while shooting 82% from the charity stripe compared to Auburn’s 55%.
The Wolverines finished with a whopping 29-3 advantage in fastbreak points, forcing Auburn into eight turnovers and cashing them in for 12 points on the other end.
Of Auburn’s 22 made shots, only three of them were assisted. Michigan tallied 19 assists on 35 made shots.
Michigan’s 102 points were the most Auburn has given up since UConn scored 115 in 2021 – a game that went to double overtime.
Size matters
Just one day removed from taking on the 13th-tallest team in the nation in Oregon, Auburn was met with a Michigan squad that carried a significant size advantage into Tuesday night’s matchup.
And it imposed its will on the inside all night long.
Michigan finished the night with a 51-35 advantage on the glass while recording 38 points in the paint. It recorded 24 second-chance points on 16 offensive rebounds, while Auburn only mustered 13 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.
Offense struggles
Auburn had no flow on the offensive side of the floor against the Wolverines' size.
Point guard Tahaad Pettiford led all Tigers in scoring with 16 points, one day after tying a career-high with 24 points against Oregon. He scored Auburn’s first seven points and went 4-of-6 from deep.
Keyshawn Hall, Filip Jovic and KeShawn Murphy chipped in double-digit scoring efforts with 15 and 13 and 12, respectively.
But outside of that, Auburn shot a woeful 33% from 2-point range. It shot 42% from beyond the arc.
The Tigers’ 72 total points matched the lowest mark of the season – 72 against Houston
After scoring 84 points last night against Oregon, which marked the fifth game of the season that Auburn has scored 80-plus points, the Tigers had scored 551 points on the year – the fourth-most points through six games in program history.
But Auburn simply could not ride that momentum into Tuesday night’s game against Michigan.
Flush it and move on
Suffering its worst loss since 2023, Auburn – under the guidance of first-year head coach Steven Pearl – will have to flush this loss and move on, as the Tigers are still guaranteed one more game in Las Vegas.
Simply put, Auburn got exposed on Tuesday night. Will its confidence be shaken moving forward? Can Pearl motivate his squad to rebound from the worst loss suffered in two seasons? The Tigers still have games against current-ranked No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Arizona coming up before conference play begins.
So, there’s no time to dwell on Tuesday night’s debacle.
Auburn will await the final games on Tuesday night to see its next opponent and game time.
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