FRISCO, Texas— Auburn put together one of its best defensive efforts so far this season as they remained unbeaten on the year with a 59-42 win over UTSA Monday afternoon in their first game at the Hoopfest Challenge.
The Tigers (7-0) forced UTSA (2-3) into 30 turnovers, the most by an Auburn opponent this season, turning those into 25 points as they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
“I thought we did a really good job of being active with our hands,” Auburn head coach Larry Vickers said. “When we get deflections and move around … I don’t think these offenses we’re seeing aren’t good offenses. When we come out there and talk, we do a good job defensively, and I thought we did a good job defensively tonight.”
Mya Petticord led three Tigers in double figures with 14 points. A’riel Jackson added a season-high 12, and Khady Leye poured in 10.
Kaitlyn Duhon contributed at both ends of the floor with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and a pair of blocks. The Tigers were plus-22 with Duhon on the floor.
“She does an excellent job, she loves basketball and plays the right way,” Vickers said of Duhon. “We’re super glad she decided to stay at Auburn. And on a game where she was 2-for-8, she dominated the basketball game, which a lot of people can’t say.”
Auburn used a 12-0 run midway through the first quarter with two of those buckets coming on the fast break to build a 19-11 lead after one period. UTSA gained some ground in the second, getting as close as three points, but a pair of Jackson layups and a Duhon trey in the last three minutes pushed the Tigers’ lead back to nine at 33-24 at the break.
The end of the third and start of the fourth quarters saw the Tigers push their advantage to as many as 20 at 51-31 with an 11-0 run spanning just under four minutes of game time.
UTSA took advantage of a foul-filled fourth quarter to pull as close at 13, but the Tigers’ defense would let them get no closer as the Roadrunners made just one field goal in the final five minutes.
Auburn’s defense held UTSA to 29.2 percent shooting, the fourth time this year the Tigers have held an opponent under 30 percent. The Roadrunners shot just 18.5 percent in the second half.
Auburn shot 40.7 percent from the field and made four 3-pointers on the night. The Tigers also won the rebounding battle 37-33 and controlled the paint with a 32-14 margin on scoring inside.
The Tigers play one more game at the Hoopfest Challenge when they take on California at 6:30 p.m. CT Wednesday. The game can be seen on FloSports and heard on the Auburn Sports Network.