The Auburn Tigers made it close in the end, but after a last-second shot by Caleb Williams was unsuccessful, the Tigers fell in a rematch with KK Mega Superbet of Serbia on Sunday 70-68.
The second of Auburn’s two games in Mykonos, Greece, Sunday’s contest saw some of Steven Pearl’s starters play limited minutes, making the roster just a little thinner as Owen Freeman and George Kimble III were sitting due to injury, while Narcisse Ngoy and Mantas Rubštavičius did not dress while they are awaiting an eligibility ruling from the NCAA.
As a result, Tahaad Pettiford only played during the first quarter, while Kevin Overton was held out the last 17 minutes of action.
“I thought Mega did a great job of just coming out and being aggressive and playing physically,” Pearl said. “They did a really good job of limiting us to one shot early in the game. We had way too many turnovers with 22 and without Tahaad and KO in the second half, that was kind of to be expected.”
The two sides played by FIBA rules, just as they did on Saturday, necessitating four 10-minute quarters instead of the Tigers’ traditional two 20-minute halves.
Auburn held a slight 18-12 advantage after one quarter of play, powered by Pettiford’s five points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal and one block.
That was the only quarter the junior point guard played though, as Pearl said he “tweaked his knee a little bit.” The injury was not serious though, and while he could have returned, Pearl kept him out of the game out of caution.
Superbet closed the gap just a tad in the second quarter by outscoring the Tigers 25-23 in the second quarter and creating momentum.
However, Caleb Williams lobbed the ball up to Bukky Oboye just as time expired to put Auburn up 41-37 heading into the break.
The squad from Serbia took their first lead since the first quarter early in the third, going up 44-43 off a 3-pointer and simply widening the advantage from there.
The Tigers trailed by five at 60-55 going into the fourth after Superbet outscored them 23-14 out of the break, and eventually fell down nine after the Serbian club scored the first four points of the fourth.
Auburn went on a seven-point run after the bout of momentum by Superbet, which ended with a dunk from Oboye to cut the score to 64-62.
The two sides went back and forth before the Tigers got a stop in the final seconds. Williams then got a chance to win it with a triple, but the shot was off the mark and Superbet took the victory.
Pearl said with the limited rotation in the late stages of the game, he was proud of the way his group fought. However, the outcome is something they can definitely learn from.
“We got down nine in the second half and I thought they battled, got it to a one-possession game and ultimately had a shot late to win the game,” Pearl said. “Not our best night, but I think it’s something that this young group that we had out there can learn from.”
Auburn fielded three scorers in double figures for the night. Oboye led all scorers for the entire game with 17 points to go along with his eight rebounds and four blocks. Adam Olsen followed that with 14 points, seven rebounds and one steal, while Kevin Overton put up 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
After a night where Oboye struggled for a good chunk of the game, Pearl was happy with the way the Santa Clara transfer responded to his challenge for him.
“Bukky responded to me challenging him yesterday,” Pearl said. “I kind of called him out a little bit and he did a great job tonight of playing through fatigue.”
Thomas Dowd also played another huge role in his second game, only scoring eight points but notching 18 rebounds and four assists.
“TD just plays so hard and battles and fights on every possession,” Pearl said. “He’s a guy that I’ll always rock with just because he makes an impact on the game.”
Overall, the Tigers shot just 36.07 percent from the field, going 8-for-34 from beyond the arc in the process. Olsen was the only one who made multiple 3-pointers for Auburn, draining four. The Tigers also turned the ball over 22 times as well.
Auburn now returns back to the Plains after its trip overseas, soon preparing for its October showdown with Florida State in Birmingham.
“It was great,” Pearl said. “We have really good film of the guys that were able to play. Obviously not having the depth that we have currently on the roster showed in that second game. If we were able to have guys like Narcisse and Mantas and George and Owen, things probably would’ve been different.”
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
