Auburn's Kevin Overton Re-Lives Clutch 3-Pointers in Tigers' NIT Win Over Tulsa

The Auburn Tigers were in command of the NIT Championship Game against Tulsa with a lead that ballooned to 21 points in the first half and was still at 17 at halftime.

The Golden Hurricane staged a furious comeback in the second half, erasing that lead in just under 10 minutes in the second half. The Tigers composed themselves and were able to force overtime, with a clutch three-pointer from Kevin Overton that knotted the game at 78, before going on to win 92-86.

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“That's just a regular play we have,” Overton said of his shot from the corner off an inbounds pass. "It's, I can't really give the scheme of what it is, but it's, it's not exactly for me. Well, we got a couple of different options out of that, but I'm not gonna give that up for other reasons. Yeah, it was just basically a moment play,” Overton said with a laugh.

Even if he wasn’t the first option on the inbounds pass, Overton didn’t hesitate with his catch and shoot from the corner.

“I was kind of prepared for it,” Overton said. “I just slipped out of it like I always did. I ran it right, and he gave me the ball, and I was, like I said, ready for the moment.”

Overton created his own moment with a three-pointer that pushed Auburn’s lead to an insurmountable five points in overtime. Overton trusted his hot hand with a shot well beyond the NBA arc at 27 feet.

The shot is at the 38-second mark of the video.

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— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) April 6, 2026

“I just knocked it down and the deep three was just kind of heat checked,” Overton said. “I feel like that was a normal shot for me all year, so I just shot it and it went in.”

Taking the momentum from the end of regulation into overtime, Overton admitted his team didn’t need a motivational speech to come out ready.

“I think we were just focused,” Overton said. “I think at that point there wasn't really a whole lot to talk about. We kind of knew where we were, so we just listened to the game plan, what the coaches said, and we just had a togetherness and a feel to us, and we just went out there, and we played.”

Playing in the NIT itself wasn’t always a sure thing. Programs of Auburn’s caliber that miss the NCAA Tournament can elect not to play. For Overton and his teammates, it was a chance to put a good finish on what was a disappointing regular season for them.

“It says a lot,” Overton said of the character of the Auburn Tigers. “I think we all had that moment of doubt in the year. Like, truthfully, we didn't really want to play. We could have packed it up, but we came together, we made a decision, and like you said, once we started playing, it became like, ‘OK, it's still basketball at the end of the day, we're still competitors.’

“Let's go win the game.”

Overton and his teammates took accountability for how the regular season went, and they wanted to right some wrongs.

“Obviously we didn't wanna be where we were, but we're the ones who got in that situation,” Overton said of missing the NCAA Tournament. “So let's just go make the best of it.”

And they did.

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