The Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team closed out their run in Las Vegas with an absolutely massive victory, taking down St. John’s, 85-74. This was the bounce-back effort the team—and the fan base—needed, showing a “night and day” difference in toughness compared to the previous game vs Michigan.
For the vast majority of the game, the Tigers were in control. Even after finishing the first half poorly and facing a nine-point deficit at the break, the team came out and absolutely dominated the second half. The defense locked in, forcing the Red Storm into tough shots, which led to their wheels coming off down the stretch.
This win is a huge résumé builder, likely qualifying as a Quad One victory—the kind of win that makes noise later in the season.
The Stars of the Show
You cannot say enough about the second-half performance from Keyshawn Hall and Tahaad Pettiford. These two led the charge, finding their rhythm and taking over the game when the team needed them most.
Pettiford led all scorers with 27 points on 10-19 shooting. He looked like the best player on the floor for stretches of that second half. There was not much that The Red Storm could do with the Haad Hurricane that came barreling down on them.
Hall was a man in the second half. He only had 2 points at half time but finished with 20. Key was 5-11 from the floor and added 9-12 from the FT line. The 3 misses were during the clutch moments of the game, which he was not happy about. However, he played huge minutes for the team to help close out the game.
Team Grit and Next Steps
While the Tigers were undersized but only got outrebounded by 3 (35-32). Coach Steven Pearl spoke post-game about how the team is the sum of its parts, and when they are connected, they are going to be successful. This game was a perfect example of that connection and fight. The defense was locked in and they finished the job.
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