Auburn forward Filip Jovic scored a career high 23 points to lift the Auburn Tigers to a 71-67 win over South Carolina on Saturday at Neville Arena in Auburn.
“Another great environment. Our fans constantly show up, and we don’t win this game without them,” said Auburn head coach Steven Pearl. “Hard-fought game. Filip Jovic was phenomenal. He’s really physical and bouncy and does a great job of using his body to score on angles. He was the difference in the game tonight.”
With Tigers’ leading scorer Keyshawn Hall sidelined for most of the night with foul trouble, Jovic delivered his most productive performance of his career.
The 6-foot-8 freshman from Bosnia and Herzegovina entered the contest having made seven consecutive makes from the field dating back to the Georgia game and extended that streak to 11 on Saturday. He finished 9-of-12 from the field and continued his stellar play in league games.
“I played aggressively defensively and the game came to me,” Jovic said. “We have a lot of scorers. We won this game today defensively. My teammates were finding me in great spots.”
The Gamecocks, netting their final five shots from the field to pull within two points with four seconds remaining, never shied away, but Kevin Overton delivered the dagger with two free throws on the other end.
KeShawn Murphy and Sebastian Williams-Adams each scored 11 points for the Tigers, with Williams-Adams adding a team-high eight rebounds to help Auburn overcome a 2-for-19 showing from deep – its worst mark of the season.
“For us to be able to find a way to win that game, that’s a positive,” Pearl said. “We got a lot of good looks, and we didn’t convert.”
After a string of three turnovers in the early going, Hall picked up his third foul with over 11:29 remaining in the first half. He did not re-enter until the 15:45 mark in the second half, but picked up a fourth foul with over 10 minutes remaining.
Hall finished with eight points – the first time this season he has not reached double figures – but made all four of his free throw attempts in the final 31 seconds to help clinch the win.
“To his credit, he stayed engaged, he stayed locked and made four free throws to seal the game,” Pearl said.
Tahaad Pettiford scored nine points and had five assists with only one turnover in 33 minutes, leading Auburn in plus-minus with a plus-10.
“Really impressed with Tahaad,” Pearl said of his sophomore guard. “He did such a great job of getting the ball to his open teammates. He did a great job of bouncing back from a tough game.”
Auburn held South Carolina to 24 points on 25 percent shooting in the first half and limited the Gamecocks to their second-lowest point total of the season. The Tigers forced South Carolina into 15 turnovers, turning them into 10 points on the other end.
“Our first-half defense was as good as it’s been all year,” Pearl said. “To turn that team over 15 times was important. We didn’t let our offense affect our defense, and that’s something this team has been struggling with.”
The Tigers will travel to SJB Pavilion to take on Ole Miss on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU. TG
