With 12:26 to play in Auburn’s Sweet 16 game against Michigan, things looked bleak.
The Wolverines had just converted two free throws to take a nine-point lead, and it started to seem like a historic season was wilting away in front of a majority Auburn crowd inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Michigan was on an 11-2 run, and an extended spree of turnovers, missed shots and good Michigan offense had Auburn in a hole. Will Tschetter capped off the run with his points at the line and the crowd went quiet.
Then, Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn’s fearless five-star freshman did what he often does, step up in the Tigers’ biggest games.
Pettiford knocked down a 3-pointer on Auburn’s next possession, cutting the deficit to six and starting a 20-2 run that flipped the game on its head.
“Definitely,” Pettiford said when asked postgame if his 3-pointer to start the run felt big. “I felt the momentum shift our way and seeing the guys bring more energy that we didn’t have earlier in the game, and felt like that, that’s what started it.”
Pettiford finished the game with 20 points, 15 of which came in the second half. He also had three assists and no turnovers in the final 20 minutes after going into halftime with three turnovers and no assists.
He knocked down two big 3s during Auburn’s second-half surge, but his and-1 on a mid-range shot with 4:35 to go in the game seemed like an early dagger.
The sequence put Auburn up by 13 points and Michigan never made another real push to put itself back in the game.
“He does whatever it takes to win. We need a spark, he gives the spark,” said Auburn star forward Johni Broome. “There’s not too many freshmen who can take over a game like he can. You saw in today’s game he had a spurt where he just took over the game.”
It wasn’t just Pettiford either. Starting point guard Denver Jones also finished with 20 points, and 13 came in the second half.
He knocked down a 3-pointer on the possession after Pettiford’s to start the run and later went on a personal 8-0 run to extend Auburn’s lead from one to nine with 7:27 left in the game. That mini run was highlighted by Jones hitting back-to-back 3s, a moment that put the pro-Auburn crowd into a frenzy.
“I’m never going to forget that one,” Jones said. “The second one… That’s the spark that really got me going. I was excited. I just feel like I could shoot anything.”
The run was an embodiment of a quality head coach Bruce Pearl said the team needed going into the postseason: Step up.
It wasn’t just one player doing so against Michigan either. Jones and Pettiford stood out, but it was team effort that helped Auburn overcome a poor team performance to start the second half.
As much as Auburn’s backcourt started lighting it up from the field, the Tigers also locked in defensively. Michigan star center, Danny Wolf, didn’t score in the final 13 minutes of the game as Auburn held the Wolverines to 35.7% from the field and forced seven turnovers in the second half.
“We knew they would turn the ball a lot, but we obviously turned the ball over a lot as well,” said Auburn center Dylan Cardwell. “It was just a change in our defensive intensity. Like I said, we just wanted it more.”
In other words, Auburn stepped up. Now, it has a chance to reach the Final Four for just the second time in program history when it plays Michigan State on Sunday.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m
