The Auburn Tigers won their sixth game in eight tries under new head coach Steven Pearl on Wednesday night, with a pre-Thanksgiving blessing to the Auburn Family in the form of an 85-74 victory over the St. John's Red Storm at the Player's Era Tourament.
Pearl or his Tigers' resilience isn't the story in the Big Apple today with the Macy's Day Parade marching down Sixth Avenue. Instead, The New York Post's Zach Braziller blamed Rick Pitino's group for giving up defensively in the second half.
" If Tuesday’s rousing rout of Baylor was a step in the right direction, then Wednesday was a major step back," Braziller wrote. "With a chance to head home on a winning note, St. John’s was sloppy, shaky defensively and blew an 11-point second-half lead in a dismal 85-74 setback to No. 21 Auburn.
"The Red Storm were outscored by 20 points in the second half, and by 17 over the final 9:53.
"There was no defense to speak of, outside of a brief stretch late in the first half."
As Braziller would note, Tahaad Pettiford torched St. John's for 27 points. Pettiford's play went beyond his timely shot-making, though, as he grabbed four boards, dished out two assists, poached three steals, and even had a block.
Pettiford had a team-high 16 against the Michigan Wolverines in a 30-point loss, but piled on 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting in No. 21 Auburn’s 84–73 win over the Oregon Ducks during their opening Players Era Tournament draw.
This was absolutely an effort Pitino most certainly chewed his team out in an NSFW way for, but this was as much of a win for Pearl as it was a failure for the Red Storm. Auburn outrebounding St. John's, while also winning the assist and turnover battles, was a team-wide effort to play all 40 minutes. That effort was not reciprocated by the Tigers' Big East foes.
Pettiford was the star of the show for his on-court leadership, with Pearl getting credit for not giving up against a more talented roster. Pitino will grab the headlines, but instead of giving lip to the losers, we should have cheers for the winners.