After taking control of the lead at the 15-minute mark in the second half, No. 21 Auburn closed out an 84-73 win over Oregon with a 24-14 run to take its first game of the Players Era Tournament at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 5-1 on the season and improved to 2-0 in the all-time series against the Ducks, with their other victory coming in Las Vegas as well.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Tahaad’s best outing
Auburn’s star point guard, and one of the few returners from last year’s Final Four squad, Tahaad Pettiford, has struggled to get things going offensively in the Tigers’ first five games.
Scoring 13 points against then-No. 1 Houston for a season-high, Pettiford broke that mark as the Tigers’ leading scorer on Monday as he poured in 24 points to lead Auburn scorers before fouling out with 1:20 left in the game.
Keyshawn Hall, the second leading scorer in the SEC with 23.3 points per game, returned to the lineup after sitting out against Jackson State last week. In 36 minutes, he tallied 18 points but was just 5-of-14 from the floor, making Pettiford’s breakout game all the more critical.
Pettiford and Hall were the only two Tigers to surpass the double-digit threshold, which is uncommon for an Auburn squad that came into this one as the only team in the nation to boast seven players averaging in double figures.
Oregon controls the boards in the end
After controlling the offensive glass in the early goings, Oregon – the 13th-tallest team in the nation – began to impose its will and ended the night with a 46-34 advantage on the glass.
Auburn held a +1 advantage on the offensive boards at the break with 12 second-chance points, and Oregon went into the break with eight second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds. Five of those nine points came after Filip Jovic left the game with three early fouls.
Oregon continued to hold its height advantage over the Tigers for the remainder of the night. It ended with 22 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds, compared to Auburn’s 16 on 12 offensive rebounds.
Auburn forces a flurry of turnovers
Auburn has notched back-to-back games with at least 18 forced turnovers after Oregon coughed up that same amount on Monday night.
The Tigers displayed a ferocious defensive mentality against the Ducks, holding them to a 38% field-goal percentage. But of the 18 turnovers Auburn forced, they only turned into 14 points on the other end with just 11 fastbreak points.
It’s certainly something head coach Steven Pearl will point out, but in the end, a +12 margin in the turnover category is a positive to build on moving forward.
Auburn catches a break after porous showing from deep
One game removed from its season-high of 13 triples against Jackson State, Auburn struggled to get anything going from beyond the arc against the Ducks, finishing with its worst mark from deep this season, going 5-of-23.
Hall was the only Tiger to cash in on multiple triples, but was just 2-of-7 from deep with Pettiford, KeShawn Murphy and Elyjah Freeman nailing the other three.
Auburn will return to action on Tuesday against No. 7 Michigan at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on TNT.
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