Sweet 16 Bound: No. 1 Auburn takes down Creighton in round of 32

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Surviving and advancing to the Sweet 16, No. 1 overall seed Auburn used 39 second half points from Tahaad Pettiford, Denver Jones and Chad Baker-Mazara to lead the Tigers to an 82-70 victory over ninth-seeded Creighton Saturday in the NCAA Tournament round of 32 at Rupp Arena.

“We played Auburn basketball,” coach Bruce Pearl said. “We played like the No. 1 team in the country. We acted like the No. 1 team in the country. We prepared like the No. 1 team in the country. The guys did a phenomenal job on both ends of the floor.”

Pettiford led the Tigers with 23 points, adding six rebounds and three assists. He scored 16 in the second half, making 4 of 6 shots from the field, including his only 3-point attempt, while going 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.

“We knew the shots that we were going to get, just getting in the gym and working on those types of shots and being ready for the situation,” the freshman said. “My guys helped me get the ball, get me open and helped me find the shots that I wanted to get. Our goal is to win it all.”

Baker-Mazara scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half on 4-of-5 shooting, helping Auburn outscore Creighton 47-33 after intermission.

“My coaches and teammates kept helping me, telling me they believed in me,” Baker-Mazara said. “It’s special but the job isn’t done. We’ve got to go back to the lab, fix a couple things and get ready for Michigan.” 

Jones added 15 while holding Creighton guard Steven Ashworth to two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the second half. 

“It was a lot of work chasing him around those screens,” said Jones, who scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half while making both of his 3-point attempts. “Coming into this game you could feel in the air that today was a lot different than the other day. We came out here and proved it, in the second half especially.”

SEC player of the year Johni Broome scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, helping the Tigers outrebound Creighton 37-27 while limiting the Bluejays to six second-chance points.

“It was very important,” Broome said. “I think that was everybody being bought in to wanting to win. This team has worked so hard to continue to make history.”

Chaney Johnson added eight points and eight rebounds, while Dylan Cardwell scored six points on 3-for-3 shooting, added six rebounds and three assists, and was a team-best plus-24.

Trailing by two at the half, Jones and Baker-Mazara each hit 3-pointers in the first two minutes to help the Tigers take the lead. 

Baker-Mazara scored seven consecutive points for the Tigers before Pettiford’s 3-pointer gave Auburn a 48-45 lead with 15 minutes to play.

Atter the Bluejays reclaimed the lead with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws, Auburn took control with a 10-0 run, going back in front on Baker-Mazara’s 3-point play.

Jones hit another 3-pointer, then passed to Cardwell for a dunk to cap the run and put Auburn ahead 58-50, the Tigers’ largest lead to that point.

Ryan Kalkbrenner scored on back-to-back possessions to pull Creigton within four, then the Tigers embarked on a second 10-0 run, with Pettiford providing six points on a pair of jumpers and two free throws to give Auburn a 68-54 lead with 6:20 remaining. 

Creighton cut Auburn’s lead in half with a 7-0 run, but the Tigers regrouped with baskets from Broome and Pettiford to reclaim a double-digit lead with 3:10 play, leading by six or more the rest of the game.

Jones‘ acrobatic and-one with 1:11 to play gave Auburn a nine-point lead, and the Bluejays would get no closer.

“We were trying to stall the clock a little,” Jones said. “I saw the shot clock with seven seconds left and knew I had to go in and make a play. That’s what I did. Being aggressive, listening to the game plan, running our sets.”

In a first half that featured 13 lead changes, Johnson made 4 of 5 shots and led the Tigers with eight points.

Auburn converted eight offensive rebounds into a 13-2 advantage in second-chance points in the half.
Creighton countered with exceptional 3-point shooting, especially from Jackson McAndrew and Ashworth, who combined to make 7 of 9 3-point attempts, helping the Bluejays shoot 64.3% (9-14) from 3-point range in the half.

“Them coming out and hitting shots, it wasn’t a shock to us,” said Pettiford, who helped hold Creighton to 23.1 percent (3 for 13) in the second half. “It was something we needed to put a stop to, we did in the second half and it slowed them down.”

Broome’s putback gave Auburn a one-point lead with 44 seconds remaining in the opening half but McAndrew splashed his fourth 3-pointer 16 seconds later to give Creighton a 37-35 halftime lead. 

Auburn (30-5) advances to the Sweet 16 in Atlanta and will play fifth-seeded Michigan Friday in the South Region semifinals.

“Getting back to Atlanta, getting a good crowd,” Broome said. “The Jungle is going to travel with us. It will be fun playing in front of our fans.”

“We knew Creighton was going to be as good as anybody we would see on the road to the Final Four. I feel that way,” Pearl said. “Hopefully this is something we could build on.”

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

POSTGAME NOTES

• With the win, Auburn tied a school record with its 30th overall win of the season. The record was previously set during the 2018-19 NCAA Final Four season.
• Auburn advances to its sixth NCAA Sweet 16 in program history (1985, 1986, 1999, 2003, 2019 and 2025) and second under head coach Bruce Pearl (2019 and 2025). The Tigers have won their first two tournament games by double-digits for the second time in program history and the first time since 1986.
• Auburn improved to 21-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 6-6 in the Round of 32. Coach Pearl is now 19-13 in the NCAA D-I Tournament overall and 10-5 at Auburn. He is advancing to his sixth career D-I Sweet 16 after making one at Milwaukee, three at Tennessee and now his second at Auburn.
• The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with Creighton. They are now also 2-0 against the Bluejays in the NCAA Tournament. AUA previously defeated Creigton, 72-69, in 2000 NCAA First Round in Minneapolis, Minn.
• Auburn is now 3-0 at historic Rupp Arena this season, matching the Tigers’ win total in the arena all-time prior to this season. On March 1, Auburn defeated Kentucky, 94-78, at Rupp Arena for just the third time ever and the first time since 1988 to clinch at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship, snapping a 20-game losing streak in the venue. The Tigers knocked off Alabama State, 83-63, in the NCAA First Round, before their 82-70 second-round victory over Creighton. Prior to this season, Auburn was 3-33 inside of Rupp Arena including 2-31 versus Kentucky (0-1 against the Wildcats in SEC Tournament play) and 1-2 versus other opponents in SEC Tournament action in the venue. 
• Auburn used the starting lineup of Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, Chad Baker-Mazara, Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell. The group is 21-4 as a starting unit this season. Cardwell is the only player who has started all 35 games this season.
• With 82 points against Creighton, Auburn moved up to second on the program’s single-season scoring chart with 2,932 points on the year, passing the 2,909 points from last season. The Tigers previously set a program record with 3,188 points during the 2018-19 season.
• Auburn won for the fourth time this season when trailing at the halftime. The Tigers were behind 37-35 to Creighton at the half on Saturday. Auburn previously defeated Houston, Iowa State and South Carolina after trailing at halftime.
• Auburn outscored Creighton, 47-33, in the second half on the strength of 60.0 percent shooting overall (15-of-25) and 4-of-8 from long range as well as 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the free throw line.
• AU committed only seven turnovers in the victory. It marked the 21st time this season the Tigers have had single-digit turnovers in a game.
• Auburn outrebounded Creighton, 37-27, marking the 12th time the Tigers have had a double-digit rebounding advantage this season. This includes both NCAA Tournament games where Auburn has a +10.0 (41.5-31.5) advantage on the boards. Auburn outrebounded the Bluejays, 11-4, on the offensive glass and outscored them 19-6 in second-chance points.  
• Auburn placed three players in double figures led by Tahaad Pettiford’s school NCAA Tournament freshman single-game record 23 points, which is one off his career high of 24 points at Georgia on Jan. 18. He shot 7-of-14 from the field, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 from the foul line against the Bluejays. He also added six rebounds and three assists to this stat line. Pettiford went for 16 points on 4-of-6 field goals, 1-of-1 from deep and 7-of-8 from the free throw line to go with three rebounds and an assist in the second half. He has scored in double figures in his first two career NCAA Tournament games and averaging 19.5 points in the tournament.
• Chad Baker-Mazara added 17 points on 6-of-12 field goals, 2-of-4 from long range and 3-of-4 from the foul line against Creighton. He also added two rebounds and one assist in the victory. In the second half, he scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting overall, 1-of-2 from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the stripe. It was his 24th game in double figures this season and the 56th of his career. CBM previously scored 17 points against Creighton during the 2022 NCAA First Round while at San Diego State.
• Denver Jones finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He was a perfect 2-of-2 from long range and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. The senior recorded three assists, pulled down one rebound and recorded one steal in the win. Jones scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting overall, including 2-of-2 from deep, and went 1-for-1 from the foul line in the second half. It was his 83rd career game in double figures including 22 this season.
• Johni Broome pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds against Creighton. It marked his 20th game of the season and the 80th of his career with double-digit boards. Broome now has 54 career rebounds in five NCAA Tournament games played at Auburn, which ranks fourth in the school record books. His eight points against Creighton gives him 79 points in the tournament at Auburn, which moves him past Mike Jones for ninth on the school’s NCAA Tournament career scoring list.
• Miles Kelly has made eight 3-pointers in his first two NCAA Tournament games, which is tied for third-most in a career by a Tiger in program history.