No. 1 Auburn shakes off sluggish start, doubts in win

• Ben BabyMar 22, 2025, 11:35 PM ET Close Ben Infant covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the business in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for numerous papers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Early Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides everyday coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he finished from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an accessory journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

LEXINGTON, Ky.– Auburn freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford drove down the middle of the defense, struck a floater and waved bye-bye to nobody in specific at Rupp Arena on Saturday night.In the minute,

it was a salutation that recommended the top-seeded Tigers were about to knock 9-seed Creighton out of the NCAA tournament, an outcome completed a few minutes later on in an 82-70 victory in a second-round matchup.But Pettiford’s wave could be rerouted towards all the knocks Auburn has actually faced in current weeks and years. The Tigers entered this year’s tourney as the No. 1 total seed however had actually lost 3 of 4 games entering the postseason. They had a relatively uninspiring efficiency versus 16-seed Alabama State on Thursday and routed Creighton at halftime Saturday.But a second half that included a strong protective showing and Pettiford’s burst off the bench indicated Auburn had a defense for the concerns surrounding the team. “We never really listened to what folks needed to state about us,”senior forward Johni Broome stated.”We knew that what we had in this group, we’ll be able to make a run and if we played how we played [Thursday] night, we’re going to make it out of the very first [weekend] “Broome, the SEC Player of the Year, was limited to eight points and 12 rebounds on 4-of-13 shooting. However there were plenty of others who picked up the slack for the Tigers(30-5 ). Pettiford scored a game-high 23 points, consisting of 16 in the 2nd half. Senior forward Chad Baker-Mazara had 17 points regardless of missing most of the second half after taking a hard fall on a drive to the basket. Senior guard Denver Jones included 15 points.Editor’s Picks 1 Related Creighton(25-11)led by two at halftime and remained in the game until Auburn went on a massive run. During the game-defining stretch,

Auburn scored 20 of the game’s 26 points to open a 14-point lead with 6:20 left. As much as Auburn was clicking offensively, the defense secured down in the second half.In the opening 20 minutes, Creighton senior guard Steven Ashworth and freshman forward Jackson McAndrew integrated for 23 of the Bluejays ’37 points. Creighton was 9-of-14 shooting behind the 3-point arc. After the break, Auburn eliminated simple looks on the perimeter.Tigers coach Bruce Pearl stated the activity of the team’s huge men on Creighton’s shooters and an uptick in physicality assisted slow the Bluejays.”I would state fatigue might have been an element,”Pearl said,” in the sense that the method we protect makes Creighton work actually tough to get open and get looks. It does take its toll a little bit.”The Tigers turn their attention to 5-seed Michigan in the South Regional in Atlanta.For Auburn senior Dylan Cardwell, this season’s run and the development into the second round was years in the making. On a group filled with transfers, Cardwell might point across the locker space at those who were on the lineup for the previous March imperfections. Cardwell stated this year’s group set the mark for intending higher than previous years.”Last year, we were content with the SEC tournament champion,”Cardwell informed ESPN.” Now it’s like, hello, those do not suggest anything. We won the SEC regular season [this year] We didn’t even celebrate. “The very same could not be stated after Saturday’s win over Creighton. Pettiford was carefully teased by Broome and Jones for not wishing his mama a pleased birthday till completion of their press conference. Cardwell might hardly get through a number of sentences before making fun of his colleagues in the locker room. It was a group enjoying some relief

after finally getting rid of old mistakes.”This is more of a fresh win, genuine, “Cardwell stated.” I hope it offers us among those moments where we simply fume and it propels us to a great run. “