Auburn basketball’s star point guard had a less-than-stellar start to his sophomore campaign – at least, by the standards he set for himself a year ago.
But the crafty Tahaad Pettiford returned to form in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week, as the Tigers escaped with a 2-1 record in the Players Era Festival at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Averaging 22.3 points across three games in Sin City, Pettiford displayed Wednesday night heroics that put the college basketball world back on notice, notching a career-high 27 points on 10-of-19 from the field with a trio of 3-pointers against No. 14 St. John’s.
Pettiford and the Tigers also dispatched Oregon on Monday.
Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers
After an up-and-down start to the game, Auburn found itself in a 9-point hole at the break as the Red Storm closed out the first half on a 19-5 run behind Zuby Ejiofor’s 17 points.
But Auburn did not shy away.
With nearly seven minutes left in the game and Auburn nursing a 2-point lead, Pettiford – widely known as “Big game Haad” – delivered the Tigers’ following 12 points as they rode his hot hand to an 85-74 victory over the Red Storm.
“I knew that if I got things rolling, my team would follow,” Pettiford said. “Once I got going, they kept feeding me, and it just kept going.”
Auburn came into Wednesday night’s matchup against St. John’s with a chip on its shoulder. The Tigers fell victim to their worst loss since the 2023 season, as No. 7 Michigan trounced Auburn, 102-72, on Tuesday.
Pettiford, who tallied 16 points to lead all Auburn scorers, knew that display of basketball was not going to cut it if the Tigers wanted to live up to their billing as one of the Southeastern Conference’s best squads, especially with a Hall-of-Famer Rick Pitino awaiting.
“Losing by 30 gave us a little chip on our shoulder,” Pettiford said. “Coach reminded us we just need to win that second half, and that’s what we did.”
Photo by Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers
After shooting just 28.6 percent in the Tigers’ first five games of the season, Pettiford knows the level of play he must bring to the table consistently. Not to mention, Auburn still has non-conference games left against current No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Arizona.
First-year head coach Steven Pearl wants Pettiford to lead his team to greater heights, but he knows it’s a team effort.
“We’re the sum of our parts,” Pearl said to his squad following the win over the Red Storm. “When this team stays together, this team can do unbelievable things.” TG
Cover Photo: Auburn point guard Tahaad Pettiford. Photo by: Zach Bland | Auburn Athletics
