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Auburn Freshman Reminds Teammates of What’s Really Important After Win vs. MSU

Stephen Douglas

Auburn freshman Tahaad Pettiford addresses his teammates after they clinched a spot in the Final Four.
Auburn freshman Tahaad Pettiford addresses his teammates after they clinched a spot in the Final Four. / @MarchMadnessMBB
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The Auburn Tigers beat the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday to earn the school's second ever trip to the Final Four. Auburn won 70–64 thanks to a heroic performance by senior Johni Broome who finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds despite suffering a scary injury that forced him to miss time in the second half before making a dramatic comeback.

The Tigers' second leading scorer was freshman Tahaad Pettiford who had 10 points to go along with three assists, one rebound, one steal and one block.

In the locker room after the game, while his team was celebrating the victory, it was the freshman who delivered an important message to his teammates.

"Make sure y'all at class tomorrow," said Pettiford. "Make sure y'all at class. Ain't nothing changed. Ain't nothing changed."

The brief change in tone in the room was amazing, but it was an important message.

We've come a long way since the time that Cardale Jones tweeted, "We ain't come here to play school." Of course, even Jones eventually came around on that opinion by earning his degree in 2017.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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