Pettiford's career high not enough, No. 20 Auburn falls at No. 2 Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – Tahaad Pettiford scored a career-high 30 points but No. 2 Arizona pounded No. 20 Auburn in the paint and defeated the Tigers 97-68 Saturday at McKale Memorial Center.

“We told our guys we’re going to have to have a lot of step-up,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We didn’t have a ton of that tonight. It’s disappointing any time you get exposed like that. I think there’s a pretty wide margin between Michigan, Arizona and the rest of college basketball. It was good for our guys to see where the bar is at because we’ve got a long way to go.”

Pettiford accounted for 10 of Auburn’s 21 field goals, including 5 of 9 3-point attempts.

“Great to see him make shots,” Pearl said. “It kept the game from getting even uglier. We’re going to need him to continue to do that for us to be successful. I’m glad his offense was rolling but I have really high expectations for him and the rest of our guards defensively.”

Arizona (8-0) placed five in double figures and shot 61.2 percent from the field compared to Auburn’s 33.3 percent.

Auburn used a 9-0 run to grab an early five-point lead thanks to 3-pointers from Keyshawn Hall and Pettiford, and Hall’s steal and coast-to-coast drive.

“We were executing our stuff, getting clean looks and doing what we needed to do defensively,” Pearl said. “Once they went on a run, we got away from a lot of things that we talked about.”

Arizona answered with a 12-0 run, taking advantage of four Tiger turnovers to lead 22-17.

Pettiford stopped the run with a pair of free throws, then pulled Auburn within three points with a layup in transition midway through the first half.

Things went downhill from there for Auburn.

The Tigers missed 10 straight shots and went scoreless for 6 minutes and 4 seconds while Arizona made eight straight shots in a 15-0 run to take an 18-point lead before Pettiford hit a 3-pointer.

Trailing by 20, the Tigers scored the final eight points of the first half to trim the Wildcats’ lead to a dozen.

Auburn endured another cold spell to start the second half, missing its first seven shots while Arizona made 11 of 12 shots and assembled an insurmountable 28-point lead with an 18-2 run.

Pettiford hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine points in 77 seconds, a bright spot in an otherwise tough night for the Tigers.

The bigger Wildcats dominated Auburn close to the basket, outscoring the Tigers 60-24 in paint points. Arizona totaled 23 assists to seven for Auburn, only one in the second half.

Hall continued his season-long streak of scoring in double figures, netting 13 points. KeShawn Murphy led Auburn with eight rebounds.

Auburn (7-3) takes time off for final exams before playing Chattanooga next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena in the annual Holiday Hoopsgiving event.

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 for the sixth time this season and the fifth straight game.
• The game marked Auburn’s fourth contest against a top-14 opponent in the first 10 games of the season.
• Pettiford led Auburn with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-19 field goals, 5-of-9 3-pointers and 5-of-5 from the free throw line to go with three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in 34 minutes.
• Pettiford is the first Tiger to record a 30-point game since Johni Broome scored 34 points against No. 7 Alabama in last year’s regular season finale. Seven of Pettiford’s nine career 20-point games have come against ranked opponents, including two of three this season.
• Keyshawn Hall scored in double figures for the ninth straight game to begin his Auburn career as he finished with 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting overall, including one 3-pointer to go with his perfect night from the free throw line. He also added four rebounds, one block and one steal in 36 minutes.
• Auburn shot 20-of-25 (80.0 pct) from the free throw line and as a team are shooting 83.3 percent (60-of-72) from the foul line over the last three games. Hall and Overton both went 6-of-6 from the foul line againt the Wildcats.
• In the last two games, Hall is 11-of-11 from the free throw line, while Overton is 18-of-18 from the charity stripe over the last three contests.
• With 68 points, Auburn has scored 859 points this season, which is the seventh-most points through the first 10 games of a season in program history.
• Six different Tigers recorded a steal as Auburn registered eight steals on the night. It is the sixth time this season Auburn has recorded at least eight steals in a game. Overton and Kaden Magwood led the Tigers with two steals apiece.