COLUMBIA, S.C. - After a grueling 40 minutes of basketball inside Colonial Life Arena, the Auburn Tigers (15-1, 3-0) survived a huge upset bid from the South Carolina Gamecocks (10-6, 0-3), winning 66-63 behind clutch free throws and big defensive stops down the stretch.
The Tigers faced their fair share of adversity throughout the contest, most notably an injury to Johni Broome. South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles drove to the rim with Broome closely trailing him. After getting the basket to go, Broome had his ankle sprained badly on the way down. The remaining 13:45 were without the star center.
Another challenging setback Auburn faced was the dominating first half of play from the Gamecocks. Murray-Boyles seemed to get everything to go his way, putting up 18 first-half points. His big half paired with a minus-seven rebound margin for Auburn and 11 second-chance points from South Carolina had Lamont Paris’ team up six at the break..
To top it off, the Tigers found themselves in foul trouble. The consequences became even more significant after Broome’s exit, with Dylan Cardwell playing the majority of the second half on four fouls.
Auburn overcame all those factors and put together an impressive second half to come back from as many as nine down to win the game.
Miles Kelly found fire on the road yet again, this time hitting four triples on his eight attempts. Freshman Tahaad Pettiford was another huge offensive piece for the Tigers, leading the team with 15 points. However, it was the defensive effort down the stretch that put the Tigers over the top.
With Broome out, Auburn’s true 5, Dylan Cardwell, stepped up and provided three huge blocks, including one in the final minute of the game to preserve Auburn’s lead. The team as a whole had the South Carolina offense stifled, holding them to just 23 points in the second half.
“We all stepped up,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “23 points in the second half and they don’t score in the last three minutes. That’s just a will to win right there.”
The Auburn contingent in the building made their voices known as well. South Carolina forward Nick Pringle stepped to the line down one with nine seconds left to attempt to put the Gamecocks ahead. The noise in the arena was surely a factor, as Pringle missed both attempts to tie the game.
“I just remember back in the day when Kentucky fans would travel like that,” Pearl said. “We do have that going on right now. I don’t call them fans. They’re witnesses.”
Pringle himself said it was a “tough environment.”
After the missed free throws and a jump ball that went Auburn’s way, it was Tahaad Pettiford’s turn to shoot clutch free throws. With ice in his veins, the freshman knocked them both down to put the Tigers up three with just four seconds remaining.
“We go through stuff like this every day in practice,” Pettiford said. “It was just another moment for me to step up and do what we do every day.”
In a game where they were favored to win by nearly 18 points, Auburn will certainly be fine walking away with another tally in the win column, even if it was just by three points. In a league as deep as the Southeastern Conference, Pearl knows how important winning is.
“This is what it’s going to be [like] every night in the league,” coach Pearl said postgame. “This is what it’s going to be, and road wins are going to be hard to get. I think the key is that you can’t be too affected by losing and you can’t be too affected by winning.”
Auburn has almost no time to think about what happened in Columbia this afternoon, as they await news on Broome, as well as 14th-ranked Mississippi State. Another top-25 showdown is set for Tuesday night in Neville Arena between the Tigers and Bulldogs. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT with coverage from the Auburn Sports Network and the SEC Network.
