Auburn came into the game on Wednesday looking to get back into the game against St. John’s and did just that with a quality win.
The Tigers defeated the Red Storm 85–74 to improve to 6–2 on the season and finish the Players Era Festival at 2–1. The win over St. John’s is also Auburn’s first ranked win of the season.
Next up for Auburn is a home game against NC State in the ACC/SEC Challenge as the Tigers look to pick up another quality non-conference win.
That said, here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s game.
overcome bad trouble
Auburn’s frontcourt was already weak heading into the game, as Filip Jovic was out with a wrist injury.
Steven Pearl opted not to give Emeka Oporum extensive minutes, meaning Keyshawn Hall, Keyshawn Murphy and Sebastian Williams-Adams were the only true frontcourt players who impacted the game.
This became an issue when Murphy picked up his third foul in the first half, leaving the rotation even thinner to start the game. St. John’s took advantage of this at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half and dominated Auburn on the offensive glass.
Auburn trailed by nine at halftime, but foul trouble did not affect the game in the second half. Murphy had only one more the rest of the game, as Auburn’s rebounding and interior defense improved on its floor.
The Tigers looked like the much better team in the final 20 minutes, showing an impressive ability to respond after St. John’s finished a strong first half.
Big Day by Tahadh Pettiford
After a slow start from the field in Auburn’s first few games, the trip to Las Vegas has been a positive one for Tahadh Pettiford.
He was Auburn’s top scorer with a career-high 27 points against St. John’s. His play in the second half helped Auburn take the lead/stay in the game. At one point he scored 12 straight points for the Tigers, giving them the lead.
With Wednesday’s performance, Pettiford finished the Players Era Festival averaging 22.3 points per game. He averaged only 10.8 points in Auburn’s first five games. That’s not a bad mark, but it’s not what many expected coming into Pettiford’s season.
Pearl was never worried about Pettiford finding his shot, and he found it in Las Vegas.
a good reaction
Wednesday’s game was a big test for Auburn. Not only was it facing a strong St. John’s team, the Tigers had less than 24 hours to recover from a 30-point loss to Michigan.
Auburn started the game fast, but a late St. John’s surge gave it a comfortable lead at halftime. However, the Tigers did not back down, reacting not only to last night’s loss, but also to the adverse circumstances in the game.
The way Auburn played against St. John’s doesn’t change Michigan’s outcome or make it look better. However, that does alleviate some of the concern that a 30-point loss would create at the start of the season.
It is never wise to get nervous after a defeat in November and Wednesday’s win proved that to be true. Auburn is far from having everything decided, but St. John’s win was the bounce back result it needed.
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