Tahaad Pettiford controls Auburn late, dumps LSU

Tahaad Pettiford scored eight of his game-high 27 points during a surge to start the second half in host Auburn’s 88-74 victory over LSU on Tuesday.

Pettiford tied a career-high with six assists, helping Auburn (16-14, 7-10 SEC) outscore LSU 47-40 in the second half for its second win in nine games and improve its postseason restart.

Kevin Overton had 21 points for the hosts. Keyshawn Hall scored 17 points and Elyjah Freeman added 10.

Mike Nwoko had 19 points, Pablo Tamba had 12 points and nine rebounds, Jaylen Reece had 12 points and Marquel Sutton had 10 points for LSU (15-15, 3-14). The away team suffered their 7th loss in 8 games.

After Auburn led by seven points at halftime, Pettiford scored eight straight points for his team to build a 53-42 lead 3 1/2 minutes into the second half. The gap reached 12 points before Reese’s two 3-pointers and PJ Carter’s 3-pointer put LSU up 58-51.

Freeman made a jumper and Overton hit two treys as Auburn increased its lead to 11 points near the midway point of the first half. Nwoko made two free throws, but Overton responded with a layup and a 3-pointer to help Auburn take a 14-point lead.

Tamba’s layup ended an LSU field goal drought of 4 1/2 minutes, but Hall and Pettiford hit back-to-back jumpers to push the lead to 78-61 with 6:44 remaining.

Robert Miller III put LSU on top with a layup for the seventh lead change of the period and added a dunk for a 16-13 lead. Back-to-back dunks by Filip Jovic helped Auburn take a 19-18 lead, setting off seven more lead changes.

Nwoko tied the score at 29 before Freeman hit a 3-pointer and Hall added a hoop to give Auburn its largest lead of either team at halftime, 34-29.

Carter hit a 3-pointer, but a trey by Freeman and four free throws by Hall helped Auburn extend its lead to 41-34 entering halftime.

–Field level media