Pettiford offers in Vegas, leads No. 21 Auburn previous No. 14 St. John’s – Auburn Tigers

LAS VEGAS –  Bouncing again impressively and taking part in its third recreation in three nights, No. 21 Auburn exploded for 55 second-half factors, overcoming a double-digit deficit to defeat No. 14 St. John’s 85-74 Wednesday within the Players Era Championship at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

“We’re the sum of our parts,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl informed the Tigers within the victorious locker room. “When this team stays together, this team can do unbelievable things. We took a really tough situation yesterday and we bounced back.”

Playing all the second half whereas logging 37 minutes, Tahaad Pettiford scored a career-high 27 factors to assist Auburn outscore the Red Storm by 20 factors after intermission.

“I knew that if I got things rolling my team would follow,” Pettiford stated. “Once I got going, they kept feeding me and it just kept going.”

Keyshawn Hall scored 20 factors and led the Tigers with eight rebounds, including 4 assists and a blocked shot in 35 minutes.

“We locked in on defense a little more,” stated Hall, who helped Auburn outrebound St. John’s 18-13 within the second half. “They’re big as heck so when we don’t let them get second-chance points, that would be a big emphasis for us. We tried to do that a little more and things started clicking offensively.”

Kevin Overton scored 12 factors and led the Tigers with 5 assists.

“Our guys stuck with it,” stated Pearl, whose group responded after dropping to No. 7 Michigan by 30 factors a day earlier. “I’m unbelievably proud of my guys for finding a way to hang in there and beat a really good team.”

Trailing 39-30 on the half, Pettiford and Hall every scored 18 factors within the second half to guide the Auburn comeback.

After falling behind by 11 early within the second half, the Tigers used a pair of 6-0 runs to tie the rating at 61-61 with 8:17 to play.

Auburn held St. John’s to 2 discipline objectives over the ultimate eight minutes whereas the Tigers made 9 of their final 11 photographs.

Pettiford took over down the stretch, scoring 12 straight Auburn factors on a pair of 3-pointers, two circus drives and a pair of free throws.

“Losing by 30 gave us a little chip on our shoulder,” Pettiford stated. “Coach reminded us we just need to win that second half and that’s what we did.”

With Auburn main by six, KeShawn Murphy hit a 3-pointer from the highest of the important thing with 2:15 remaining to negate any probability of a St. John’s rally. Murphy scored 9 factors and grabbed six rebounds.

“Proud of our guys,” Pearl stated. “Yesterday was not easy. To lose the way we lost was a little deflating. Our defense stepped up and carried us. Really proud of the effort and execution.”

Pettiford led the Tigers with 9 first-half factors, giving Auburn a seven-point lead with a layup with 8:30 remaining within the half.

St. John’s took management from there, sending Murphy to the bench with three fouls and outscoring the Tigers 25-9 the remainder of the half.

Auburn had no reply for Zuby Ejiofor, who scored 17 within the half whereas capturing 5 of 6 from the sphere and 6 of seven from the free-throw line. He completed with 24 factors.

After profitable two of three video games in Las Vegas, Auburn (6-2) returns to Neville Arena Wednesday to host NC State at 8:15 p.m. CT within the ACC/SEC Challenge on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer