No. 22 Auburn battles in Birmingham in 73-72 loss to No. 1 Houston

BIRMINGHAM Ala. – In a matchup and setting that closely resembled the second weekend of March Madness, No. 22 Auburn battled No. 1 Houston before falling 73-72 Sunday at Legacy Arena in The Battleground 2K25.

“I want to thank the fans. That was a phenomenal environment,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “Showing up in numbers like that gave our guys the confidence and courage to give a substantial effort. They always show up. I really wanted to win that game for them.”

Trailing by seven with 2:57 to play, Auburn forced three Houston turnovers in a 6-0 run that gave the Tigers three chances to win on the game’s final possession. 

“Stay together in big situations. That’s what we did,” Tahaad Pettiford said. “We got stops when we needed to, just couldn’t convert at the end of the game. We think we can compete with anybody in the country. We fought against a great team.”

“Our guys did a really good job of sitting down and guarding,” Pearl said. “We plugged gaps a little bit better. Our guys made some plays and gave us a chance to win.”

In the final 15 seconds, Houston twice blocked Pettiford’s shots out of bounds.

“Tahaad did a good job of splitting the ball screen and getting downhill,” Pearl said. “He was locked into what we were trying to do. I thought the execution was really good late in the game.”

With one second left, Auburn lobbed from the sideline to KeShawn Murphy at the rim, but Houston knocked the ball away to hang on for the one-point win.

“I went up and got it,” Murphy said. “Maybe should’ve been closer to the rim on my end. They made a good play on the ball and it didn’t go our way.”

Nine missed free throws in the second half proved costly for Auburn.

“To come back and be in position to win the game, I’m incredibly proud of the effort,” Pearl said. “We missed 12 free throws, that’s the difference in the game. If we make our free throws, it’s a different ballgame. We expected to win the game. I have elite confidence in this group. It’s about what we do from here.” 

Keyshawn Hall recorded his third straight double-double to lead the Tigers with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Pettiford scored 15 and Kevin Overton added 13. 

Trailing 39-35 at the half, Auburn’s deficit doubled to eight when Houston freshman Chris Cenac Jr. hit a 3-pointer.

Auburn answered with a 6-0 run and a four-point possession that began with Elyjah Freeman’s poster dunk on Cenac, who fouled Freeman on the play. 

Overton drew a foul while rebounding the missed free throw, leading to Hall’s layup.

The Tigers had a chance to take the lead but Auburn missed and Joseph Tuggler jammed at the other end for a 48-44 Houston lead. 

Hall then pulled Auburn within one point on a layup and a pair of free throws.

Auburn outrebounded the Cougars in the first half, but Houston won the battle of the boards in the second half, using a 7-0 run to take an eight-point lead.

Emanuel Sharp’s second-chance corner 3-pointer gave Houston a 55-49 lead with 12:29 to play. 

Pettiford kept the Tigers within striking distance, with a nifty drive after a Cougars turnover, followed by a 3-pointer.

Sebastian Williams-Adams and Murphy took turns assisting each other for layups that pulled the Tigers within two points with 6:12 to play.

Hall scored on a putback, then after an Auburn stop, Hall drew a foul on a drive but needed help getting to the bench after going to the floor with 4:14 remaining. He stayed in the game, cutting Houston’s lead to 68-66 after a timeout before exiting.

Pettiford brought the pro-Auburn crowd to its feet with a pair of first-half 3-pointers. After Kaden Magwood’s 3-pointer put the Tigers up 19-16, Houston made a pair of steals in a 7-0 run that gave the Cougars a five-point lead.

As chants of “Let’s go, Auburn!” filled the BJCC, Freeman made a 3-pointer after Murphy’s offensive rebound to give the Tigers what would be their last lead of the game with 1:55 to play in the half before Houston ended the half on Kingston Flemings’ 3-pointer with two seconds to go. Flemings led all scorers with 22 points.

Auburn (3-1) returns to Neville Arena to host Jackson State Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network. 

“We have a chance to be pretty good,” Pearl said. “If we continue to do the things we know we’re capable of and continue to build and trust each other, we’ll be okay.”

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

GAME NOTES

• Auburn used its fourth different starting lineup in as many games to start the season. The Tigers went with the starting five of Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton, KeShawn Murphy, Elyjah Freeman and Keyshawn Hall. The group scored 62 of Auburn’s 72 points in the game. Pettiford (five career starts) and Hall have started all four games this season. It was the first start in an Auburn uniform for Murphy (fourth career start overall), while Overton (39th career start) and Freeman (31st career start) have started three games this season.
• The attendance was 15,623.
• Houston has won eight of the 10 all-time meetings against Auburn. The two teams have split a pair of games over the last two seasons after the 11th-ranked Tigers defeated the No. 4 Cougars 74-69 in Houston last season.
• Auburn trailed at halftime for the first time this season (39-35).
• Auburn matched its season low with eight turnovers (Merrimack), including just two in the second half.
• Auburn held Houston to 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) from 3-point range. It is the third straight game the Tigers have held an opponent under 30.0 percent shooting from long range. During that stretch, Auburn has held opponents to 21-of-81 (25.9 percent) from deep.
• Auburn held Houston scoreless over the final 2:57 of the game, forcing three turnovers and holding the Cougars 0-of-2 from the floor over that span.
• Hall recorded his fourth straight 20-point game to begin his Auburn career and his third straight double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to go with an assist and a steal in 29 minutes. He was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line and is 39-of-42 from the charity stripe through four games. The senior scored in double figures in the first half for the second straight game. He poured in 10 points in each half against Houston after scoring 13 first-half points against Wofford. Hall has scored 93 points in four games this season, making him the third Tiger to score 90 points through the first four games of a season since 1977-78 (Jeff Moore 98 points in 1986-87 and Wesley Person 96 points in 1993-94).
• Pettiford scored a season-high 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and he added a career-high two blocks, two steals, one assist and one rebound in 32 minutes. It is his 25th career game in double figures, including his third this season.
• Overton recorded his third game in double figures in just four appearances at Auburn. It was the 33rd double-figure scoring effort of his career, ending with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, along with five rebounds and an assist in 33 minutes.