LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tahaad Pettiford scored 27 points and No. 21 Auburn defeated No. 14 St. John’s 85-74 on Wednesday in the consolation round of the Players Era Championship.
After falling behind by 11 points, Auburn (6-2) outscored St. John’s 55-35 in the second half — including a 30-13 run over the final nine minutes. Pettiford scored 16 points during that stretch.
Keyshawn Hall had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, and Kevin Overton scored 12. Auburn shot 55% from the field, including 6 of 14 (43%) from 3-point range.
Auburn, which went 2-1 in the tournament, improved to 1-2 against Top 25 teams this season, after losses to Houston and Michigan.
St. John’s (4-3), which finished 1-2 in the event, was led by Big East preseason player of the year Zuby Ejiofor, who had 24 points. Joson Sanon finished with 16, but Bryce Hopkins was held to nine on 2-for-11 shooting and Oziyah Sellers managed just four on 1-for-7 shooting. Those two combined to go 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.
The Red Storm shot 7 for 25 (28%) from long distance and 38% from the floor overall as they dropped to 0-3 against ranked teams this season.
The Johnnies came in with the eighth-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 95.3 points per game after scoring 82 or more in each of their first six. But they found themselves in a defensive tussle with a scrappy Tigers team looking to avenge Tuesday’s 102-72 blowout loss to Michigan.
St. John's closed the first half with an 11-2 surge over the final 3:24 to take a 39-30 lead into halftime. The Tigers, however, opened the second half with an 11-3 spurt of their own to swing the momentum.
St. John's: Will host Mississippi at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 6.
Auburn: Will host No. 23 North Carolina State next Wednesday.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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Dirk van Ulden said:
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