Led by a second-half takeover from guard Tahaad Pettiford, No. 21 Auburn outscored No. 14 St. John’s by 20 points in the second half to knock off the Red Storm at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
Auburn (6-2) trailed by 9 points at the break and fell down by 11 early in the second half. But a hot-shooting night from Pettiford powered the Tigers to an 85-74 victory. St. John’s, which opened the season ranked fifth in the nation, has lost 3 of its first 7 games.
Playing its third game in as many nights, Auburn showed some serious mettle in the second half. The Tigers were blown out by Michigan on Tuesday, losing by 30 points in what was the program’s biggest defeat in over 2 years.
They shot 46% from the field over the opening 20 minutes, but went 1-for-6 on triples and turned the basketball over 10 times. St. John’s converted those giveaways in 13 points while also grabbing 10 offensive rebounds.
Auburn cut the turnovers in the second half (down to 2) and connected on 16 of its 25 shots from the field while also getting to the foul line 21 times. Keyshawn Hall made 9 free throws by himself in the second half to score 18 points in 18 minutes. Hall finished with 20.
Pettiford, though, was the star of the show. He scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half while connecting on 6 of his 8 attempts from the field and 2 of his 3 triples. He played every minute of the second half and turned it over only once.
“I knew that if I got things rolling, my team would follow,” Pettiford said after the game. “Once I got going, they kept feeding me, and it just kept going.”
Auburn led by as many as 7 in the first half. Over the final 8:30 of the opening salvo, St. John’s outscored Auburn 25-9.
In the second half, Auburn used a 13-2 run to flip the game.
“Proud of our guys,” said coach Steven Pearl. “[Tuesday] 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.”
Auburn faces NC State next as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge. That game tips from Neville Arena on Dec. 3 at 9:15 p.m. ET (ESPN).
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
