With Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall struggling from the floor, Auburn needed someone to step up and produce some points in a close battle against South Carolina.
Filip Jović was that guy, as the freshman forward scored a career-high 23 points, shooting 9-of-12 from the floor, to help the Tigers to a 71-67 victory over the Gamecocks on Saturday night in Neville Arena.
During a 1:41 stretch in the first half, Jović scored five straight points for Auburn, capped by a layup that put Auburn’s lead up to seven. With the lead down to four, the freshman made a free throw, then got fouled on a basket and made the and-one to stretch the lead back to eight.
“Filip Jovic was phenomenal,” Steven Pearl said after the game. “I think that was one of the first games where we hadn’t been doubled in the post this year. Filip listens. We were like Filip, go score the basketball this game and stop looking to pass so much, and he said, " Okay, Coach’ and that’s what he did. He was great.”
Auburn struggles shooting from the field
It was a much-needed performance as a majority of Auburn’s stars had an off game, including Hall and Pettiford, who combined for 17 points on 4-of-15 shooting in the physical battle. The Tigers ended up shooting 41.1 percent from the floor, but much of that is thanks to Jović, who finished 75 percent from the field.
After, the Bosnia & Herzegovina native heaped praise on the rest of his teammates.
“Anybody can get a lot of points,” Jović said. “I think we won this game because of our defense. I just let the game come to me and had my teammates find great looks for me.”
Auburn (11-7, 2-3 SEC) travels to Oxford to battle Ole Miss on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT.