Pettiford deals in Vegas, leads No. 21 Auburn past No. 14 St. John's

LAS VEGAS –  Bouncing back impressively and playing its third game in three nights, No. 21 Auburn exploded for 55 second-half points, overcoming a double-digit deficit to defeat No. 14 St. John’s 85-74 Wednesday in the Players Era Championship at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

“We’re the sum of our parts,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl told the Tigers in the victorious locker room. “When this team stays together, this team can do unbelievable things. We took a really tough situation yesterday and we bounced back.”

Playing the entire second half while logging 37 minutes, Tahaad Pettiford scored a career-high 27 points to help Auburn outscore the Red Storm by 20 points after intermission.

“I knew that if I got things rolling my team would follow,” Pettiford said. “Once I got going, they kept feeding me and it just kept going.”

Keyshawn Hall scored 20 points and led the Tigers with eight rebounds, adding four assists and a blocked shot in 35 minutes.

“We locked in on defense a little more,” said Hall, who helped Auburn outrebound St. John’s 18-13 in the second half. “They’re big as heck so when we don’t let them get second-chance points, that would be a big emphasis for us. We tried to do that a little more and things started clicking offensively.”

Kevin Overton scored 12 points and led the Tigers with five assists.

“Our guys stuck with it,” said Pearl, whose team responded after losing to No. 7 Michigan by 30 points a day earlier. “I’m unbelievably proud of my guys for finding a way to hang in there and beat a really good team.”

Trailing 39-30 at the half, Pettiford and Hall each scored 18 points in the second half to lead the Auburn comeback.

After falling behind by 11 early in the second half, the Tigers used a pair of 6-0 runs to tie the score at 61-61 with 8:17 to play.

Auburn held St. John’s to two field goals over the final eight minutes while the Tigers made 9 of their last 11 shots.

Pettiford took over down the stretch, scoring 12 straight Auburn points on a pair of 3-pointers, two circus drives and a pair of free throws.

“Losing by 30 gave us a little chip on our shoulder,” Pettiford said. “Coach reminded us we just need to win that second half and that’s what we did.”

With Auburn leading by six, KeShawn Murphy hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:15 remaining to negate any chance of a St. John’s rally. Murphy scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds.

“Proud of our guys,” Pearl said. “Yesterday was not easy. To lose the way we lost was a little deflating. Our defense stepped up and carried us. Really proud of the effort and execution.”

Pettiford led the Tigers with nine first-half points, giving Auburn a seven-point lead with a layup with 8:30 remaining in the half.

St. John’s took control from there, sending Murphy to the bench with three fouls and outscoring the Tigers 25-9 the rest of the half.

Auburn had no answer for Zuby Ejiofor, who scored 17 in the half while shooting 5 of 6 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line. He finished with 24 points.

After winning two of three games in Las Vegas, Auburn (6-2) returns to Neville Arena Wednesday to host NC State at 8:15 p.m. CT in the ACC/SEC Challenge on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.

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

GAME NOTES

• Auburn started Tahaad Pettiford, Kevin Overton, KeShawn Murphy, Elyjah Freeman and Keyshawn Hall for the third straight game and the fourth time this season.
• Auburn improved to 2-0 against St. John’s all-time. The No. 8 seed Tigers defeated the top-seeded Red Storm 81-65 in the second round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament on the way to the program’s first Elite Eight appearance in the only previous meeting between the two teams.
• Auburn’s win over No. 14 St. John’s is the Tigers’ fifth regular season non-conference win over a team ranked in the top 16 over the last two seasons, compared to just two such victories all-time prior to the 2024-25 season. Auburn defeated fourth-ranked Houston 74-69, No. 5 Iowa State 83-81, 12th-ranked North Carolina 85-72 and No. 16 Purdue 87-69 last season. Prior to last season, Auburn’s only top-16 regular season non-conference victories both came against teams ranked 13th in the country – 61-59 at UAB in 1984 and 82-78 over Louisville to win the 1995 Puerto Rico Shootout.
• Auburn shot 54.7 percent (29-of-53) against St. John’s, including 64.0 percent (16-of-25) in the second half overall and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from 3-point range. It is the fourth time the Tigers have shot at least 50.0 percent this season. Auburn scored 55 points in the second half to erase a 39-30 halftime deficit, marking the first time the Tigers have won after trailing at the half this season. It is the fourth time Auburn has scored at least 55 points in a half this season, including three times in a second half.
• Auburn scored 20 points off 14 St. John’s turnovers. It is the third time the Tigers have scored at least 20 points off turnovers this season (39 vs. Jackson State and 21 vs. Merrimack).
• Pettiford scored a career-high 27 points, Hall added 20 and Overton 12. The duo of Pettiford and Hall outscored St. John’s entire team in the second half, 31-30, including 19 straight points for Auburn at one point in the second half. During that stretch, Pettiford scored 12 consecutive points for the Tigers. It is the second time two Tigers have scored 20 points in the same game this season after Freeman scored 21 points and Hall added 20 points against Wofford.
• Pettiford averaged 22.3 points in three games in the Players Era Championship, including a pair of 20-point games. He was 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the last two games in the event, including 3-of-8 in the win over St. John’s. The sophomore matched his season high with four rebounds, recorded a season-high three steals, two assists and one block in 37 minutes against the Red Storm.
• Hall has recorded five 20-point games and has scored at least 15 points in his first seven career games at Auburn. He pulled down eight rebounds to go with a season-high four assists and a block in 35 minutes in the victory. Hall averaged 17.7 points in three games in the Players Era Championship.
• Overton scored 12 points, including 5-of-5 from the free throw line, in the win over St. John’s. He finished with a season-high five assists, three rebounds and two steals in a season-high 38 minutes against the Red Storm. It is his 35th career game in double figures, including five this season.