AUBURN, Ala. – Keyshawn Hall and Kevin Overton combined for 56 points to lead Auburn to its fourth straight SEC win, overcoming a 14-point deficit to defeat Texas 88-82 Wednesday at Neville Arena.
“Another unbelievable environment, another unbelievable crowd,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “It makes all the difference in the world. Having a full house gives our guys the confidence and courage to chip away and get back in the game. Our guys hung in there and we were able to find a way to grind out a win. Really proud of the guys.”
Hall and Overton combined to make 5 of 6 3-pointers in Auburn’s 54-point second half. Hall scored 25 of his game-high 31 points in the half, including 11 of 14 free throws.
“We’re going to keep trying to win, keep trying to roll,” said Hall, who drew 10 fouls and was 14-for-17 from the free-throw line. “We’ve got to keep getting better as a team, staying consistent every day.”
Overton scored 17 of his 25 after intermission and made all 8 of his second-half free throws.
“Making myself open off the catch is where I think I can affect the game,” said Overton, who made 5 of 7 3-pointers.
“Key and KO had a lot of step-up in that second half,” Pearl said of Hall and Overton. “We got bailed out by two of our best players. Key and KO were phenomenal.”
Trailing by eight points at the half, Auburn pulled within three with 16:40 remaining when Hall hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 7-0 run.
Overton got hot from there, hitting a pair of 3s in 46 seconds, forcing a Texas timeout with the Longhorns leading 52-50.
Elyjah Freeman’s putback with 11:32 to play gave Auburn its first lead since the opening two minutes. Freeman added 10 points.
Texas tied the score once more before Overton’s third 3-pointer of the half gave Auburn the lead for good with 8:06 remaining.
KeShawn Murphy banked in a 3-pointer to put the Tigers on top by six points at the 5:14 mark, and Hall scored 11 points down the stretch to help Auburn take a 10-point lead.
Tahaad Pettiford scored seven points and led Auburn with three assists and zero turnovers in 36 minutes. Auburn tied the program record by committing only three turnovers while forcing 11, leading to a decisive 18-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
In the second half, Auburn shot 68.4 from the field, 66.7 percent from 3-point range and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line. After a cold-shooting start, the Tigers made 19 of their final 27 shots.
“Auburn has an excellent basketball team. We saw it on full display in the second half,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “We could not stop them in the second half. I give them a lot of credit. It’s a great environment, great home court. Lot of respect for Auburn, lot of respect for Steven. We lost to a really great team. They were the better team.”
Texas built a 14-point first half lead on the strength of eight 3-pointers.
Auburn capitalized on nine Longhorn turnovers in the half, converting them into 14 points to slice nine points off a 14-point Texas lead before Texas made two free throws in the final second to lead 42-34 at the half.
Daylin Swain scored 30 points to lead Texas (12-9, 3-5).
The Tigers (14-7, 5-3) travel to Knoxville Saturday to play Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network before returning to Neville Arena on Saturday, Feb. 7, to meet No. 23 Alabama in the All Auburn All Orange game with free orange t-shirts for Auburn University students.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer