LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Auburn Tigers, the number one overall seed, beat the 9-seed Creighton Bluejays 82-70 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Tahaad Pettiford led an all-around, scoring a game-high 23 points en route to the victory.
Creighton picked up right where they left off against Louisville, raining threes down on the Auburn defense. The Bluejays first 18 points all came from beyond the arc, and they shot 9-14 from deep in the first half.
Auburn’s second-chance points helped keep the game within reach, trailing by just two at the halftime break. All seven Tigers that saw first-half action scored.
In the second half, Chad Baker-Mazara came out firing, scoring 12 points in just six minutes before exiting with a hip injury. Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones picked up the slack in Baker Mazara’s absence, combining for 27 second-half points on 75 percent from the field and a perfect 3-3 from deep.
Dylan Cardwell led the charge in slowing down Creighton’s offense. When the three stopped falling, the Bluejays tried to force it inside with their big man Ryan Kalkbrenner. Cardwell, alongside Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson, protected the basket with authority, allowing just 24 points in the paint and holding Creighton to just 50 percent on shots inside the arc.
“We played Auburn basketball,” said Tigers Head Coach Bruce Pearl following the game. “We played like the number one team in the country. We acted like the number one team in the country. We prepared like the number one team in the country.”
Auburn’s defensive effort was as high as it has been all season as they tried to slow down Steven Ashworth and the Creighton offense. “Not going to lie, I was pretty tired after the game. It was a lot of work chasing him around those screens,” Auburn point guard Denver Jones remarked. “Coming into this game, you could feel in the air that today was a lot different than the other day.”
Auburn’s guard combination of Pettiford, Jones, and Baker-Mazara combined for 55 points and seven assists. Pettiford had a career-high six rebounds as part of the Tigers’ improved defensive effort. Broome’s 12 rebounds were a game high.
Speaking to the day his backcourt had, Broome said, “I didn't have a good offensive game. I shot four for 13, but that's okay… I know my teammates got my back and they know I have theirs.”
Broome continued, specifically about Pettiford, saying, “He's a special freshman, you know… He steps up to the challenge, you know, a lot of the times for us. That's what you expect out of a guy like him.”
Pettiford’s 23-point, six-rebound, three-assist performance was one of his best games of the season. He set a career high in rebounds, and had his second-highest scoring game of the season.
With the win, the Tigers move onto the Sweet Sixteen to face Michigan in Atlanta.
“As I said yesterday, Thursday was the first NCAA win for a lot of our guys. We haven't been past the first weekend since 2019, when we got to the Final Four. Being the number one overall seed it would have been disappointing if we didn't do it again,” Pearl said. “Hopefully this is something we could build on.”
The Tigers and the Wolverines will play Friday, March 28, in Atlanta. Time and television carrier is to be announced. The game will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network.
