LEXINGTON | No. 1 overall seed Auburn survived a barrage of Creighton three-pointers in the first half and pulled away from the Bluejays in an 82-70 victory to advance to the program’s seventh Sweet 16 in program history.
The Bluejays hardly missed from three-point range in the first half, finishing 9-of-14 from beyond the arc, including a three by Jackson McAndrew with 28 seconds left to give Creighton a two-point lead at halftime. The first 20 minutes featured 13 lead changes, with both teams taking four-point leads at one time.
Auburn went on a 10-0 run capped by a Dylan Cardwell dunk to take an eight-point lead at 12:27 to force Creighton to call a timeout. The Bluejays responded with a 4-0 run but the Tigers punched back with a 8-0 run itself.
With the Tigers up 14, Creighton went on a quick 7-0 run, forcing Bruce Pearl to call a timeout. Johni Broome put in a floater followed by a bucket from Tahaad Pettiford.
Another 4-0 run by the Bluejays cut it to seven points with 2:30 left. Pettiford hit two free throws to extend the lead back to nine, but Creighton answered with a bucket and called timeout.
Creighton tried to make it a game at the end, cutting the lead to six, but the Tigers closed it out with seven consecutive free throws.
Pettiford led Auburn with 23 points while Chad Baker-Mazara poured in 17. Denver Jones added 15 and Broome led Auburn with 12 rebounds.
Auburn takes on No. 5 seed Michigan on Friday in Atlanta.
