After falling behind by 11 points, Auburn (6-2) outscored St. John’s 55-35 in the second half, including a 30-13 run in the final nine minutes. Pettiford scored 16 points during that stretch.
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Keyshawn Hall had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, and Kevin Overton scored 12. Auburn shot 55% from the field, including 6 of 14 (43%) from 3-point range.
Auburn, which went 2-1 in the tournament, improved to 1-2 against Top 25 teams this season after losses to Houston and Michigan.
St. John’s (4-3), which finished 1-2 in the event, was led by Big East preseason player of the year Zuby Ejiofor, who scored 24 points. Joson Sanon finished with 16, but Bryce Hopkins was held to nine on 2-of-11 shooting and Oziyah Sellers had just four on 1-of-7 shooting. Those two combined to go 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
The Red Storm shot 7 of 25 (28%) from long range and 38% from the floor overall as they fell to 0-3 against ranked teams this season.
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The Johnnies came in with the eighth-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 95.3 points per game after scoring 82 or more in each of their first six. But they found themselves in a defensive tussle with a Tigers team looking to avenge Tuesday’s 102-72 loss to Michigan.
St. John’s closed the first half on an 11-2 run in the final 3:24 to take a 39-30 halftime lead. The Tigers, however, opened the second half with an 11-3 run to gain momentum.
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