Steven Pearl Reflects on Standout NIT Performance From Auburn Forward

The Auburn Tigers will play in the semifinals of the NIT on Thursday, April 2, in Indianapolis, with a berth in the championship game on the line. Auburn has made it through South Alabama, Seattle, and Nevada, all in Neville Arena, to make it to Indy.

With the game less than three days away, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl was asked about the postseason performance of Keyshawn Hall, who has been a lightning rod for the media this season after an elite scoring start and then a late-season tough stretch that seemed to include some issues with team chemistry. However, Hall has bounced back for the postseason.

“He was one of the main guys when the season ended that wanted to continue to play basketball, and made that very vocal,” Pearl said. “And, you know, I give him a ton of credit for that. This is still something to compete for and still an opportunity to go out there on national television and show what you’re capable of, and to get some more tape out there.”

Hall has scored 21, 9, and 14 points, respectively in the first three games of the NIT, shooting 42.1% from the floor during that span. Though two of those three numbers are dramatically down from his 19.4 points per game this season, they don’t tell the full story. His assist-to-turnover ratio has marginally improved in the postseason, moving from 2.6 to 2.5, to 2.7 to 2.3.

He also seems to be playing better with his teammates, something that was a concern down the stretch in the regular season. The general vibes of the team have been far improved in the last three weeks, with fewer and fewer reports about team dysfunction surfacing as the Tigers continue to click off wins.

Though I think it is fair to say that winning helps fix everything, it is also true that Auburn is finally finding out what the best version of itself can be, albeit about two months too late. The Tigers look their best when two of the trio of Hall, Tahaad Pettiford, and Kevin Overton are leading the way in the box score, with whoever the third is on the night providing a supporting role. That was particularly visible against Nevada, with Hall and Pettiford each close behind Filip Jovic.

“I thought he [Hall] did a really good job in the Nevada game of not forcing things,” Pearl said. “[He] had a really efficient game offensively, had a few turnovers, but, you know, I think he is just excited about the opportunity to compete and continue to work to win games.”

Auburn will need Hall to continue to be a quality team player for two more games as the Tigers look to claim the NIT championship this weekend. Auburn’s season started with Hall as the catalyst and driving force, and, if it ends the same way, the Tigers might find themselves with a new banner at season’s end.

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