Tahaad Pettiford Cooks, but Auburn Falls to No. 2 Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – Tahaad Pettiford scored a career-high 30 points, but No. 2 Arizona pounded No. 20 Auburn in the paint and defeated the Tigers 97-68 Saturday at McKale Memorial Center.

“We told our guys we’re going to have to have a lot of step-up,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “We didn’t have a ton of that tonight. It’s disappointing any time you get exposed like that. I think there’s a pretty wide margin between Michigan, Arizona and the rest of college basketball. It was good for our guys to see where the bar is at because we’ve got a long way to go.”

Pettiford accounted for 10 of Auburn’s 21 field goals, including 5 of 9 3-point attempts.

“Great to see him make shots,” Pearl said. “It kept the game from getting even uglier. We’re going to need him to continue to do that for us to be successful. I’m glad his offense was rolling but I have really high expectations for him and the rest of our guards defensively.”

Arizona (8-0) placed five in double figures and shot 61.2 percent from the field compared to Auburn’s 33.3 percent.

Auburn used a 9-0 run to grab an early five-point lead thanks to 3-pointers from Keyshawn Hall and Pettiford, and Hall’s steal and coast-to-coast drive.

“We were executing our stuff, getting clean looks and doing what we needed to do defensively,” Pearl said. “Once they went on a run, we got away from a lot of things that we talked about.”

Arizona answered with a 12-0 run, taking advantage of four Tiger turnovers to lead 22-17.

Pettiford stopped the run with a pair of free throws, then pulled Auburn within three points with a layup in transition midway through the first half.

Things went downhill from there for Auburn.

The Tigers missed 10 straight shots and went scoreless for 6 minutes and 4 seconds while Arizona made eight straight shots in a 15-0 run to take an 18-point lead before Pettiford hit a 3-pointer.

Trailing by 20, the Tigers scored the final eight points of the first half to trim the Wildcats’ lead to a dozen.

Auburn endured another cold spell to start the second half, missing its first seven shots while Arizona made 11 of 12 shots and assembled an insurmountable 28-point lead with an 18-2 run.

Pettiford hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine points in 77 seconds, a bright spot in an otherwise tough night for the Tigers.

The bigger Wildcats dominated Auburn close to the basket, outscoring the Tigers 60-24 in paint points. Arizona totaled 23 assists to seven for Auburn, only one in the second half.

Hall continued his season-long streak of scoring in double figures, netting 13 points. KeShawn Murphy led Auburn with eight rebounds.

Auburn (7-3) takes time off for final exams before playing Chattanooga next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena in the annual Holiday Hoopsgiving event.

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @Jeff_Shearer