The Auburn Tigers celebrated senior night with a win against the LSU Tigers on Tuesday night in Neville Arena. In its first game on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble this season, Auburn won 88-74 and exploded offensively with four double-digit scorers. The Tigers also posted their highest steal count in an SEC game this season with 13.
A fast-paced start to senior night saw 29 combined points in the first 8 minutes, but it was Auburn’s defense that wowed in the first half. The Auburn Tigers would force 10 first-half giveaways from LSU, scoring 10 of their 41 points in the first half off those turnovers. It was a back-and-forth stretch to the first media timeout, highlighted by back-to-back shots from LSU's Mike Nwoko and a highlight dunk by Elyjah Freeman.
Doin’ what he does best🔨🔨 pic.twitter.com/287208Hmer
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 4, 2026
However, after the under-16 media timeout, Auburn went ice-cold, going all the way to the next media timeout before making another field goal, something that hasn't been uncommon for the Tigers since the beginning of February. The redeeming grace for Auburn during that stretch was their tenacious attacking defense. Even with LSU shooting 9-12 from the court, Auburn stole the ball six times in the first 12 minutes to keep the game at a manageable 21-19.
That under-8 media timeout would be the turning point for Auburn, as a plethora of scorers finally pushed the home Tigers ahead. Led by sophomore Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall’s double-digit scoring in the first half, Auburn jumped out to a 30-27 lead and never looked back. The Tigers pushed their lead to seven right before half, making their last four right before half while forcing double-digit turnovers for the Bayou Bengals.
The Auburn offense used the late first-half momentum to keep the gas pedal down in the second half, leading as much as 18 late. It didn’t take long for senior big man Keshawn Murphy and Pettiford to make their presence known in the second half, combining for Auburn’s first 16 points of the half. That stretch was highlighted by Pettiford’s eight straight points, including back-to-back threes to push the lead to 11, which forced a LSU timeout.
Led by Pettiford’s 17 in the final 20 minutes, three other Tigers also joined him in the double digits, with Kevin Overton scoring 21 points, Keyshawn Hall racking up 17, and Elyjah Freeman finishing with 10 of his own on the night. Even with LSU finishing the game with a field goal percentage above 50%, Auburn was able to better that mark at 54%. The key difference ultimately was LSU’s limited shot attempts, as Auburn forced 16 LSU turnovers in a welcome return to a more familiar defensive tenacity..
After the game, Murphy reflected on what he would like to say to Auburn fans on senior night and what Auburn has meant to him.
"Honestly man, I just can't thank this school enough," Murphy said. “I appreciate the coaches, the managers, down to the people that work for the schools. I just really enjoyed this game today. I’m glad we got a win today, and I just want to keep that momentum going into whatever is next.”
The bounce-back win for Auburn on senior night clinches another winning regular season for the Tigers ahead of their season finale against Alabama on Saturday. The second edition of this season's Iron Bowl of Basketball will be in Tuscaloosa at 7:30 p.m. CDT and will be broadcast on ESPN as Auburn looks to carry some momentum into postseason play.
