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Auburn takes bumpy road to comfortable first-round win over Alabama State
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Auburn beat Alabama State in its first-round game at the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. That outcome was never in doubt. The top overall seed in the field, Auburn closed as a 31.5-point favorite in the matchup with the 16-seed Hornets.
The Tigers didn’t quite get to that number, though they were never in danger in the second half. Behind 23 points from Miles Kelly, Auburn (29-5) rolled to an 83-63 win over Alabama State.
But it was not a smooth ride. At least, not in the first half.
Kelly opened the game on fire, knocking down 4 triples in the first 5 and a half minutes to supply 15 of Auburn’s first 12 points. With 8:02 to play in the first half, Auburn had doubled up on Alabama State to take a 26-13 lead.
Over the next 6 minutes and 14 seconds, the Auburn offense ran aground and Alabama State chipped away at the lead. Auburn missed 9 straight shots from the field and went scoreless for more than 3 minutes. A 12-1 Alabama State run trimmed the SEC champs’ lead to just 1 point with a little under 2 to play before the halftime break.
Would a 16 upset a 1 for just the third time ever?
Auburn answered that question quickly. The Tigers scored 9 unanswered to end the first half and take a 10-point lead into the break. The Tigers then outscored the Hornets 13-5 over the first 5 minutes of the second half.
An and-1 from Johni Broom and a pair of free throws from Chad Baker-Mazara pushed the lead to 23 with 6:48 to play. The lead got as large as 24. Over the game’s final 14 minutes, Alabama State never got closer than 16 points.
“We’ve gotta sharpen some things up,” coach Bruce Pearl told the CBS broadcast crew immediately after the game.
Auburn ended the game shooting 45% from the field and 31% from 3. The Tigers made 11 triples, but Kelly was responsible for 7 of them. The rest of the team shot 4-for-20 from beyond the arc. Tahaad Pettiford scored 16 points to go with 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Broome (14 points, 11 boards) was the only other Tiger to reach double figures.
The Tigers also turned it over 12 times and shot 18-for-32 from the charity stripe. They gave up 28 paint points and 10 steals. It was a comfortable win, but it wasn’t a squeaky-clean performance from the national title contenders.
But Auburn is moving on, and that’s what matters in March. The Tigers will face 9-seed Creighton in the second round on Saturday. The Bluejays beat Louisville 89-75 on Thursday.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
