AUBURN, Ala. — The Auburn Tigers hosted the No. 12 Arizona Wildcats in Neville Arena, looking to extend their 69-game nonconference home winning streak. However, Auburn was unable to come away with the victory. With a final score of 80-69, the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season.
The Tigers started the game strong, with Caleb Williams hitting a 3-pointer to open the scoring. Both teams traded blows in the first half, with George Kimble III and Williams helping Auburn on offense.
On defense, one key factor for Auburn was Narcisse Ngoy, who grabbed multiple blocks in the paint. However, Arizona gained ground on the scoreboard thanks to Caleb Holt and Motiejus Krivas. Holt was the top scorer for both teams, with 24 points and nine rebounds. Krivas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats.
Auburn tried to narrow the gap in the final minutes of the first half, with Tahaad Pettiford hitting a 3-pointer and Kolby King making a jumper. However, Arizona managed to keep its lead. At the end of the first half, Arizona led the Tigers 36-32.
Arizona increased its lead to 46-32 at the start of the second half. However, Auburn didn’t let up and came back with an aggressive slam dunk by Bukky Oboye, followed by Kevin Overton making a layup and a 3-pointer.
Adam Olsen also helped create shots at the rim, making two 3-pointers. Kimble added another 3-pointer as Auburn built offensive momentum. The Tigers took a temporary lead as their offense started working.
Thomas Dowd proved to be one of Auburn's most consistent shooters throughout the game. He finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, hitting 4-for-5 from beyond the arc to become the Tigers’ leading scorer.
The second half stayed competitive, but Arizona started to pull away thanks to Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov. Auburn still attempted to put points on the board as Olsen hit another 3-pointer, and Oboye scored on an alley-oop from Pettiford in the final moments. However, Auburn couldn't capitalize, and Arizona finished on top with an 80-69 win.
Defensively, Auburn showed some impressive performances. Ngoy tallied seven blocks and eight rebounds, and Overton contributed five steals.
After the game, head coach Steven Pearl mentioned the team's weak spots and areas to improve. Pearl pointed to shot selection and execution as two areas that affected the Tigers throughout the game.
"We have to find a way to execute better offensively. Too many bad shots that led to a lot of misses. Offensively, we have to be better. Defensively, our guys played with a ton of effort in the first half. Early in the second half, they got us on a couple backdoors,” Pearl said.
Auburn will look to bounce back Tuesday, Nov. 17, when the Tigers face West Virginia in Las Vegas. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 p.m. CT.
