AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half, taking the lead three times before a 9-0 Arizona run gave the No. 12 Wildcats an 80-69 win Friday at Neville Arena, the Tigers’ first non-conference home loss in more than a decade.
“They were better tonight. The crowd was incredible; student section was incredible, environment was phenomenal. Very appreciative for that,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We have to find a way to execute better offensively. Too many bad shots that led to a lot of misses. Offensively, we have to be better. Defensively, our guys played with a ton of effort in the first half. Early in the second half, they got us on a couple backdoors.”
Thomas Dowd made 4-of-5 3-pointers and led Auburn with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Adam Olsen made three 3s to add 12 points. The rest of the Tigers combined to make only 4-of-18 3-point attempts.
Auburn had won 69 consecutive nonconference home games – the nation’s longest streak – since it last came up short in a non-SEC home game against Oklahoma State on Jan. 30, 2016.
Trailing by four points at halftime, Auburn missed its first five shots of the second half while Arizona scored 10 straight points to push its lead to 14.
Kevin Overton and Olsen made 3-pointers for a 6-0 Auburn run that pulled the Tigers within six points before Caleb Holt’s fourth 3-pointer gave Arizona a nine-point lead.
Holt, a freshman from Huntsville, Alabama, led all scorers with 24 points, adding nine rebounds. Arizona 7-footer Motiejus Krivas logged a double-double with 16 points and 12 assists while leading the Wildcats with four assists.
George Kimble III capped a 7-0 Auburn run with a 3-pointer that trimmed Arizona’s lead to 51-48 with 12:41 to play.
“Our bench did a great job of coming in and giving us real life and real lift,” Pearl said. “They battled. Those guys played within themselves and did a lot of good things for us and allowed us to get back in the game.”
Olsen knocked in another 3-pointer, then assisted Owen Freeman for a game-tying jumper in the paint midway through the half.
The lead changed hands six times over the next four minutes, with Dowd’s fourth 3-pointer putting Auburn ahead 58-57 with 7:46 to go. After an Arizona layup, Olsen made three free throws for a two-point Auburn lead with 7:12 remaining.
Arizona (3-1) made three layups and a 3-pointer, scoring nine unanswered points in a minute and 39 seconds, part of a decisive sequence that saw the Wildcats make seven consecutive shots to take the lead for good.
Olsen ended the 9-0 run with a 3-pointer that pulled Auburn within four points with five minutes left, but the Tigers would get no closer.
Holt made a pair of 3-pointers to help the Wildcats take an early five-point lead before Dowd answered with his own pair of 3s and a layup for a one-man 8-0 run that put Auburn ahead 17-14 midway through the half.
Auburn trailed by nine late in the opening half before Dowd and Tahaad Pettiford each made 3-pointers in a 24-second span to the delight of the Jungle. Dowd and Pettiford combined for 20 of Auburn’s 32 first half points.
Steals and blocked shots helped the Tigers stay close to the Wildcats. Narcisse Ngoy swatted five of Auburn’s nine blocks in the first half while Overton made four of the team’s seven steals in the first 20 minutes. Ngoy finished with eight rebounds and seven blocked shots while Overton added another steal in the second half to total five.
Auburn (2-1) heads to Las Vegas next week for three games in three days in the Players Era event, beginning Tuesday at 11 p.m. CT against West Virginia on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer