Pettiford, Hall lead No. 21 Auburn over Oregon in Players Era opener

LAS VEGAS – Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall combined to score half of No. 21 Auburn’s points to lead the Tigers to an 84-73 victory over Oregon Monday at Michelob ULTRA Arena in the Players Era Championship.

“Really good win,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We showed a lot of grit and toughness.”

Pettiford scored a game-high 24 points and led Auburn with four assists while adding four rebounds. 

“My teammates had my back and just told me to keep going,” said Pettiford, who was 8 of 13 on 2-point shots and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. “Finding that rhythm early helped me a lot.”

Returning after missing one game with an ankle injury, Hall played a team-high 36 minutes and scored 18 points, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line while grabbing six rebounds.

“I wanted to get back out there so (athletic trainer) Clark (Pearson) had me grinding every day,” Hall said. 

Auburn committed only six turnovers while forcing 18, leading to a 14-7 advantage in points off turnovers. 

“Our guys did a better job of being more intentional and aggressive defensively,” Pearl said. “We made plays late which was really important.”

Tied 37-37 at the half, Pettiford hit a 3-pointer early in the second half of a back-and-forth game that featured 13 lead changes before freshman Kaden Magwood gave Auburn the lead for good with a jumper midway through the second half.

Magwood’s bucket began a 10-0 Auburn run that Elyjah Freeman ended with a steal and layup that gave the Tigers a nine-point lead with 6:26 remaining. Freeman made four of Auburn’s 12 steals and shared rebounding honors with Hall with six boards.

Oregon twice cut Auburn’s lead to five before Hall hit a 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 77-67 with 2:34 to play.

Kevin Overton forced Oregon’s 18th turnover with a steal and slammed home the game’s final points to account for the 11-point margin of victory.

Fillip Jovic scored nine points on 4-for-4 shooting and grabbed four rebounds in 14 minutes. 

Auburn committed only three turnovers in the first half while forcing 10.

Pettiford led the Tigers with 13 first-half points, putting Auburn up six on a jumper with 3:18 to play before the Ducks closed on an 8-2 run to even the score at halftime.

“It was great to see Tahaad get going. He kept us in the game in the first half,” Pearl said. “I’m really proud of him for stepping up. It was nice to see him back to his old self, getting to the rim, finishing through contact and being effective.”

Auburn (5-1) plays No. 7 Michigan Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. CT on TNT and the Auburn Sports Network. 

“I’m proud of our guys and our effort, but we’ve got to get to work,” Pearl said. “We’re going to have to do a really good job of keeping our bigs fresh because they’re going to have their hands full. It’s going to be a tall task because Michigan has a lot of bigs. 

“It was great to play a team like Oregon who has comparable size. It’s going to help us get ready for tomorrow. It’s going to be a challenge and our guys are excited about it.”

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

GAME NOTES

• Auburn used the starting lineup of Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton, Elyjah Freeman, Keyshawn Hall and KeShawn Murphy. It is the first starting unit that has started multiple games this season after the group started the Houston game on Nov. 16. 
• Auburn leads the series against Oregon, 2-0, all-time.
• Auburn has won nine straight games against the Big Ten dating back to 2021.
• With 84 points against Oregon, Auburn has scored 551 points this season, the fourth-most points through six games in program history and the most since the 1991-92 season.
• Auburn shot 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the free throw and has shot 81.0 percent (34-of-42) from the charity stripe over the last two games.
• In the second half, the Tigers shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the floor, including 76.5 percent (13-of-17) inside the arc, outscoring Oregon, 47-36. 
• Auburn held Oregon to 27.3 percent (9-of-33) from 3-point range. It is the fourth time in the last five games the Tigers have held an opponent to under 30.0 percent shooting from long range. During that stretch, Auburn has held opponents to 27.3 percent (36-of-132) shooting from deep.
• Auburn committed a season-low six turnovers, which is the fewest the Tigers have had since having only six turnovers in last year’s Elite Eight win over Michigan State. It is the fourth time in six games this season Auburn has committed single-digit turnovers, including each of the last three games when the Tigers have averaged only 7.7 turnovers.
• Auburn forced Oregon into 18 turnovers, including 12 Tiger steals. It is the fourth time in six games this season Auburn has recorded double-digit steals.
• Pettiford matched his career high with 24 points on 9-of-18 field goals, including one 3-pointer, and 5-of-6 from the foul line to go with four rebounds, four assists and one block in 29 minutes. It is his seventh career 20-point game and his first this season.
• Hall scored 18 points, including going 6-of-6 from the free throw line, and he added six rebounds, one assist and one steal in 36 minutes. With nine points in the first half, Hall reached 1,300 career points and ended the night with 1,309 points in his career.