AUBURN, Ala. – Tuning up for SEC play with an offensive outburst, Auburn routed Queens 106-65 Monday at Neville Arena in the Tigers’ nonconference finale.
“Nowhere else in the country, in my opinion, is going to have that type of turnout this late,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said of the 9 p.m. tip. “So thankful for our fans to show up like that and support these guys. Ultimately, it led to a really impressive first half for us and I thought that inspired our guys to lay everything on the line. I told our guys our fans deserve your best performance.”
Elyjah Freeman led Auburn with 27 points off the bench, making all four of his 3-point attempts and scoring 20 in the second half. Kevin Overton made 5 of 7 3-pointers and scored 23, Keyshawn Hall added 18 points and Sebastian Williams-Adams chipped in 10.
“I felt like it was the best option for the entire team,” Freeman said of his recent sixth man role. “I’m not really a selfish kid. I know what I’m capable of, being able to come off the bench with a little bit of spark. Hopefully that’ll show Saturday.”
“Great to see Elyjah make open shots,” Pearl said of Freeman’s 9-for-13 outing. “He really gave us a spark in the second half, which we needed.”
Auburn exploded for 57 first-half points, its highest output of the season, with Hall leading the way with 16 points before intermission.
“Offensively we shared the ball in the first half,” Pearl said. “The first half looked like Auburn basketball again, which was encouraging.”
KeShawn Murphy won the opening tip and made a 3-pointer on the game’s first possession, setting the tone for how “Nightmode at Neville” would go.
“For me to hit that 3 to begin with, it got the team, the crowd and everybody involved,” Murphy said. “I’m glad I hit that early. I’m ready to lead us into conference play and have a good run here.”
Tahaad Pettiford made a steal and passed to Overton, who drew a foul while making a 3-pointer, adding the free throw to give Auburn an early 10-point lead. Hall followed with a stepback 3 and the Tigers led by double digits for the game’s last 36 minutes and 19 seconds.
Hall scored eight points during a 15-0 Auburn run to put the Tigers on top 30-4 with 12:06 to play in the first half.
Pettiford equaled his career high with six assists on Overton’s fourth 3-pointer of the half.
“Key and Tahaad sharing the ball, getting other guys involved, makes a difference,” Pearl said.
Leading by 36 at the half, the Tigers and Royals traded baskets throughout the second half as Auburn cruised to its NCAA-leading 64th consecutive home nonconference victory.
After Pettiford hit a 3-pointer, Filip Jovic grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Pettiford, who fed Freeman for a dunk to extend his career high to nine assists.
“He was looking for his teammates,” Pearl said. “He was very intentional. You could tell he was trying to find his teammates.”
The Tigers held Queens without a 3-pointer until the 7:30 mark of the second half and limited the Royals to 2-for-15 shooting from long range.
“We did a good job of closing out and running people off the line,” Pearl said. “We did a good job of limiting them to one shot. Overall, a really good effort on their 3-pointers.”
The Tigers made 15 of 28 3-pointers, a 53.6-percent clip.
Overton led Auburn with four steals. Murphy and Williams-Adams each blocked three shots.
Auburn (9-4) heads to Athens to play No. 24 Georgia in the SEC opener Saturday at noon CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer