Playing its third ranked opponent in the last 10 days, No. 21 Auburn used a pair of big performances from point guard Tahaad Pettiford and forward Keyshawn Hall to take down No. 14 St. John's on Wednesday night in its final game of the Players Era Tournament.
With the win, Auburn improved to 6-2 on the season.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
After hot start, Auburn falters
The Tigers shot out to an early 7-point lead out of the gate while shooting 50% from the floor. Meanwhile, St. John’s was shooting just 4-of-14 from the floor while coughing up five turnovers in under five minutes of play.
But Auburn big man KeShawn Murphy picked up his third foul at the 6:46 mark, and the Red Storm closed out the second half on a 19-5 run after Murphy’s departure, fueled by Zuby Ejiofor’s 17 first-half points.
Auburn turned the ball over 10 times in the first 20 minutes, and St. John’s turned those into 13 points on the other end. After recording three assists – matching last night's game total against Michigan – in the first five minutes, the Tigers recorded just six assists the remainder of the half.
The Tigers faced a 39-30 deficit heading into the break.
Hall reignites second-half offense
Auburn broke out of halftime on an 11-5 run and cut its nine-point deficit to three after starting 4-of-6 from the field with a pair of triples.
After scoring just two points and shooting 1-for-4 from the field in the first half, Auburn’s leading scorer, Hall, took over at the start of the second half and scored four buckets with six free throws before handing things off to Pettiford.
Hall finished the night with 20 points and was 9-of-12 from the charity stripe.
‘Big game Haad’ takes over
After Hall reignited the Tigers’ offense in the early goings of the second half, Pettiford took over, living up to his name of “Big game Haad.”
Pettiford, who tied a career-high with 24 points against Oregon in Game 1 of the Players Era Tournament on Monday, came into this game averaging 20 points across the Tigers’ two games in Las Vegas.
He followed with setting a new career-high of 27 points tonight, going 10-of-19 from the field with three triples.
At the 6:45 mark in the second half, Auburn was clinging to a two-point lead. Pettiford went on to score the Tigers’ following 12 points to give them a six-point edge, ultimately enough to seal the deal on the Tigers’ second win in three days as they closed things out with an 11-point victory.
Still work left to be done down low
Auburn had a rough showing in Las Vegas in the past three games in the paint.
Giving up a combined 62 points in the painted area against Oregon and Michigan, Auburn relinquished 30 points in the paint on Wednesday night. However, it responded tonight with 44 points down low on the other end, which tied its second-highest mark of the season.
The Tigers struggled yet again on the offensive glass against the Red Storm on Wednesday, giving up 19 offensive boards for the second-highest mark of the season – Oregon corralled 20 on Monday night.
Auburn will return to action on Wednesday, December 3, as it hosts North Carolina State in the ACC/SEC challenge. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Auburn will await the final games on Tuesday night to see its next opponent and game time.
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