No. 22 Auburn’s trip to the Magic City this season wasn’t as sweet as the one prior.
In front of a sold-out crowd of mostly orange and blue for The Battleground 2k25 event at Legacy Arena, the Tigers fell to No. 1 Houston 73-72 in a last-second thriller.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game:
Freshman duo leads the way for the Cougs
Auburn had its hands full trying to contain Houston’s dynamic freshman duo of Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac, Jr.
Coming off a 19-point outing against Oakland, Flemings poured in 18 points in the first half, and Auburn did a much better job containing him in the second half of play as he finished with just 22 points on the night.
Cenac gave Auburn fits on the boards with nine in addition to his 18 points. The Tigers went at him down low in the second half, and fouled him out of the game with just over three minutes remaining.
After being held to four points in the first half, Emanuel Sharpe joined the fight and splashed onto the scene with nine second-half points, finishing with 13. Rounding out the Cougars’ double-digit scoring efforts was Milos Uzan, who notched nine second-half points and finished with 11.
Keyshawn Hall shows up again, Tahaad Pettiford records his best outing
For Auburn to contend against teams of Houston’s caliber, its stars must show up on the biggest stage.
And on Sunday, they did.
Auburn’s leading scorer, Hall, showed up big for the Tigers once again and led the Tigers with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.
With under four minutes remaining, Hall fell awkwardly on his ankle after driving to the basket and was in visible pain. He came out of the official timeout and drained both free throws to cut the Cougars’ lead to two, but went straight to the locker room afterward and didn’t return.
After a rough showing in the first three games, where he shot 27.9% from the field, Pettiford recorded his best outing of the season.
There is still room to improve, however.
Pettiford shot 5-of-14 from the field, tallying 15 points for a season-high with a trio of 3-pointers. But, with a chance to go ahead in the final second, Pettiford couldn't come up with the big shot, and Auburn faltered in the end.
Too many missed free throws
Auburn came into the game with a 71% free-throw clip, which was 12th in the SEC.
And on Sunday, the Tigers left too many trips from the charity stripe empty-handed.
Multiple times down the stretch, Auburn had a chance to cut into Houston’s short lead or even tie, but the Tigers shot 21-of-33 from the free-throw line compared to Houston’s 10-of-12.
For a squad that is first in the SEC and 25th in the nation in free throws attempted per game, Auburn must start cashing in on free points, and it ultimately cost them a chance at an upset on Sunday.
First-half turnovers too much to overcome
Houston is ranked No. 1 for a reason.
The Cougars are known for their physicality and ferocious defense – they are No. 2 in scoring defense, nationally, and own the No. 1 defense, per Kenpom, with an 88.3 defensive efficiency.
They came out of the gate putting that on display, forcing the Tigers into six turnovers, which Houston converted into 11 points on the other end. It ended the night with just 13 points off turnovers, as Auburn only gave it away twice in the second half.
The Tigers will return to action on Wednesday against Jackson State at Neville Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. on SECN+.
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