LAS VEGAS – Tahaad Pettiford led No. 21 Auburn with 16 points but No. 7 Michigan ran away from the Tigers Tuesday in the Players Era Championship, winning 102-72 to end Auburn’s string of nine consecutive wins against Big Ten opponents.
“A lot of credit goes to Michigan, they played really well,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “A lot of it has to do with them and a lot of that has to do with our lack of execution offensively and defensively. That’s a really good basketball team.”
Keyshawn Hall, Filip Jovic and KeShawn Murphy also reached double figures with Hall scoring 15 points, Jovic adding 13 and Murphy contributing 12.
Pettiford, who made 4 of 6 3-pointers in his best outside shooting performance of the season, scored the game’s first points with a pair of free throws but it was all Wolverines after that.
Michigan needed fewer than five minutes to build a double-digit lead. Pettiford and Murphy hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Auburn within six points with 14:16 to play in the half but the Tigers would get no closer the rest of the game.
Murphy and Jovic made consecutive layups, getting Auburn within a dozen points, but Michigan used a 12-0 run to double its lead to 24 before freshman Simon Walker hit a 3-pointer late in the half.
“Our attention to detail wasn’t great,” Pearl said. “We didn’t execute tonight, that was the biggest thing.”
With Auburn trailing 59-31 at the half, Pettiford opened the second half with a 3-pointer and the Tigers got within 24 but Michigan hit its first three 3-point attempts of the half to build a 30-point lead.
Michigan outrebounded Auburn 51-35 and outscored the Tigers 24-13 in second-chance points, 29-3 in transition and 38-20 in paint points.
“We missed 15 free throws,” Pearl said. “In a 30-point game, those numbers can start to add up.”
Michigan’s size took Auburn out of its rhythm offensively, resulting in only three Tiger assists, none in the second half. The Wolverines (6-0) placed six scorers in double figures.
“For us to have three assists on 22 made field goals, that’s probably the lowest in the last 11 or 12 years since we’ve been here,” Pearl said “Their switching bothered us, they did a good job of being disruptive and we didn’t share the ball.”
Auburn (5-2) will play its third game in three nights on Wednesday, concluding its first Players Era appearance with No. 14 St. John's (4-2) at 7 p.m. CT on TruTV.
“We can’t get too high, we can’t get too low,” Pearl said. “It’s about how we respond from here. That’s the biggest thing. This is an unbelievable opportunity to see how we respond to some real adversity. I’m looking for some step-up from some our leaders, our older guys and our veterans to see how we handle it from here.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer