AUBURN, Ala. – Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall combined for 49 points but Alabama scored 59 second-half points to defeat Auburn 96-92 Saturday at Neville Arena.
“They made tough one-on-one plays in the second half and we got a little out of character from what worked in the first 18 minutes,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We scored 92 points. We’ve got to be able to win that game. It has nothing to do with our offense, it has everything to do with our defense. Our defense has got to get better. If we want to win games, we’ll sit down and guard.”
Pettiford scored 25 points and had a game-high seven assists while Hall scored 24 points. Kevin Overton added 17 and KeShawn Murphy logged a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Leading by four points at the half, Auburn scored the first three points of the second half to go up by seven but Alabama used an 11-0 run soon after to take a 58-54 lead.
Pettiford hit a pair of 3-pointers and Overton swished his fourth to reclaim the lead for Auburn midway through the second half.
Freshman Amari Allen, who made all three of his 3-point attempts in the second half, hit a triple to put the visitors in front at the 10:39 mark, a lead Alabama would not relinquish.
The Tigers twice pulled within one point down the stretch, closing to 80-79 on Hall’s free throw with 4:01 to play.
Auburn committed only five turnovers, but after a costly one prevented the Tigers from potentially taking the lead, Allen hit another three at the 3:01 mark to give Alabama an 83-79 lead.
Murphy’s 3-pointer cut Alabama’s six-point lead in half with 1:57 to go, then the Tigers forced a shot clock violation to earn a chance to get closer or perhaps tie, but a contested layup would not fall, and Alabama made seven free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.
“We’ve got to guard,” Pearl said. “Our best players have got to be better defenders. They’ve shown the ability to do so. If we’re going to beat the best teams on our schedule, our best players have got to play better defense.”
Overton made a trio of 3-pointers to help Auburn lead for 17:43 of the first half.
The Tigers forced nine first-half turnovers while committing only two, leading to a 15-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
Sebastian Williams-Adams and Murphy each made steal-and-slams to help the Tigers build and maintain the lead.
After Pettiford gave the Tigers a 10-point lead with a pair of free throws with 2:33 remaining in the half, Alabama hit three 3-pointers to pull within one before Overton’s third 3-pointer gave the Tigers a 41-37 halftime lead.
“The last two minutes in the first half when we gave up three 3s was a huge momentum swing,” Pearl said. “It gave them the confidence they needed to know that they could knock down those shots.”
Labaron Philon scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half for Alabama (16-7, 6-4), adding six assists and five rebounds.
The Tigers (14-9, 5-5) remain home for their next game, hosting No. 15 Vanderbilt Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network. Auburn University students will receive free Tiger bucket hats.
“You can’t mull on this loss,” said Williams-Adams, who scored six points while contributing three rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot. “We’ve been here before. We’ll be better on Tuesday.”
“We have another unbelievable opportunity Tuesday to wash this one away,” Pearl said. “This team’s done a great job of bouncing back after tough situations. We’ve got to stay consistent, learn from it and move on because in this league, the next one comes really quick.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer