Jovic seizes opportunity, scores 23 to lead Auburn over South Carolina

AUBURN, Ala. – Filip Jovic scored a career-high 23 points and Auburn held on to defeat South Carolina 71-67 Saturday at Neville Arena.

“Another great environment. They constantly show up and we don’t win this game without them,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “Hard-fought game. Filip Jovic was phenomenal. He’s really physical and bouncy and does a great job of using his body to score on angles. He was the difference in the game tonight.”

Jovic saved his best for last, making a steal and driving downcourt for a dunk that gave Auburn an 11-point lead with 4:55 remaining. 

“I played aggressively defensively and the game came to me,” Jovic said. “We have a lot of scorers. We won this game today defensively. I let the game come to me. My teammates were finding me in great spots.”

South Carolina made its final five shots, pulling within two points twice with four seconds remaining on Meechie Johnson’s contested 25-foot 3-pointer. 

The Gamecocks fouled Kevin Overton, who made both free throws to secure Auburn’s second SEC win. 

KeShawn Murphy and Sebastian Williams-Adams each scored 11 points, with Williams-Adams adding a team-high eight rebounds to help Auburn overcome 2-for-19 shooting from 3-point range.

“For us to be able to find a way to win that game, that’s a positive,” Pearl said. “We got a lot of good looks and we didn’t convert.” 

Plagued by foul trouble, leading scorer Keyshawn Hall scored only eight points but made all four of his free throw attempts in the final 31 seconds to help clinch the win. 

“To his credit, he stayed engaged, he stayed locked and makes four free throws to seal the game,” Pearl said. 

Tahaad Pettiford scored nine points and had five assists and only one turnover in 33 minutes.

Jovic, who entered the game shooting better than 90 percent from the field, delivered another stellar outing, making 9 of 12 shots on assortment of low post moves while adding six rebounds.

“His impact was obvious. You exert so much effort on getting the two main culprits (Hall and Pettiford) slowed down that someone had to do something,” South Carolina coach Lamont Paris said. “He seized his opportunity. Good on him for doing that. He had a really big impact."

Leading by six at the half, Auburn maintained its lead throughout the second half, briefly taking a double-digit advantage on Jovic’s highlight-reel steal and slam.

Auburn held South Carolina to 24 points on 25-percent shooting in the first half, taking a 30-24 lead at intermission. 

“Our first-half defense was as good as it’s been all year,” Pearl said. “To turn that team over 15 times was important. We didn’t let our offense affect our defense and that’s something this team has been struggling with.”

Auburn (11-7, 2-3) hits the road next week for an 8 p.m. CT Tuesday tip at Ole Miss and a Saturday matinee at No. 19 Florida before returning to Neville Arena Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. CT for the Rumble in the Jungle vs. Texas featuring free foam tiger paws for Auburn University students. 

“For us to have the confidence to see we can win some of these grind-‘em-out game because that’s going to happen on the road,” Pearl said. “ 

 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, Keshawn Hall, Sebastian Williams-Adams and KeShawn Murphy. It was the sixth time the group had started together (4-2). Hall and Overton have each started 17 games this season, while Pettiford has 16 starts, Murphy has 15 starts on the season and Williams-Adams has started 11 of the first 18 games of his career.
• Auburn has won 10 straight games against South Carolina, which is the Tigers’ longest active winning streak against an SEC opponent.
• On Tuesday night, Auburn will look for its 10th straight win over Ole Miss when the Tigers travel to Oxford.
• Three of Auburn’s first five SEC games have been decided by four points or fewer.
• Saturday was the 79th consecutive sellout at Neville Arena (9,121).
• Auburn connected on 50 percent (13-of-26) of its field goal attempts in the second half.
• Auburn went 23-of-30 from the free-throw line, including 14-of-17 in the second half. The Tigers went 6-of-6 from the foul line in the final 31 seconds to secure the win. It was the 11th time this season Auburn has made at least 20 free throws and the ninth time the Tigers have attempted 30 free throws.
• Auburn outscored South Carolina 42-26 in the paint. It’s the eighth time this season the Tigers have scored at least 40 points in the paint.
• Auburn led 30-24 at halftime and is now 9-1 when leading at the half on the season.
• Auburn recorded 10 steals, which is the seventh time this season the Tigers have registered double-digit steals.
• Auburn placed three players in double figures, led by a career-high 23 points from freshman Filip Jovic. He and fellow freshman Williams-Adams combined to score 34 points and grab 14 rebounds to go with five steals and two blocks. Jovic made 9-of-12 field goals and 5-of-8 from the free throw line to go with six rebounds, two steals and one block in 30 minutes. He is shooting 82.6 percent in SEC play.
• Williams-Adams and Murphy scored 11 points apiece. Williams-Adams went 3-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free throw line, and he added a career-high eight rebounds, three steals, one assist and one block in 34 minutes. It was his sixth game in double figures, including four in the last six contests.
• Murphy finished 4-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. He pulled down two rebounds and added two blocks, one assist and one steal in 21 minutes. It was Murphy’s 33rd career game in double figures, including six this season and three in his last five games.