In a place where the Steven Pearl’s squad fell in dramatic fashion in 2025, the ending was not quite of the same magnitude in 2026 when the Auburn Tigers walked off the floor on Wednesday night.
Nonetheless, the Florida State Seminoles erased any momentum that Auburn had going into halftime, as after the Tigers led 37-32 going into the break, the Seminoles shot more than 40 percent from the field in the second half to win 82-71.
In the middle of the second half, Florida State went on a 15-2 run powered by a five-point swing by Shon Abaev to take the lead back with 12:33 left to play. After that, the lead was never relinquished by Luke Loucks’ squad.
The Seminoles got the lead to 53-48 thanks to a pair of free throws afterwards by Marcis Ponder, but thanks to baskets from Tahaad Pettiford and Caleb Williams, the score was tied moments later.
However, Florida State’s Kameron Taylor went on to post a dunk over the top of Auburn big man Bukky Oboye, sending the Seminoles bench into a frenzy and silencing the Tigers crowd.
Later, when Florida State was up 60-59, five consecutive free throws made by Ponder, Sebastian Rancik and Martay Barnes kickstarted a 12-3 run again for the Seminoles, forcing Auburn into a timeout with 3:40 left as it trailed 72-62.
While the Tigers cut the deficit to eight points in the final minute of the second half, Florida State iced the game with free throws, helping the Seminoles win 82-71.
Pettiford finished the game as the leader among all scorers with 20 points with two assists, shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc. The point guard was one of three to score in double digits for Auburn on the night, as Adam Olsen put up 11 points with four rebounds while Kevin Overton scored 10 points with five rebounds.
The Seminoles were led by Taylor, who put up 19 points, four rebounds and one assist. Abaev followed him up with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while Rancik at 14 points, three rebounds and two assists. Ponder meanwhile was the lone player with a double-double, notching 13 points and 21 rebounds.
Florida State shot 40.7 percent from the field in the second half compared to the 28.6 percent of the Tigers. The Seminoles also put up 15 second-chance points, while Auburn notched six for the night. In addition, Florida State went 34-for-40 from the free throw line, making 20 more free throws than Pearl’s squad even attempted.
The Tigers have now lost back-to-back games in Boutwell Auditorium after falling to the Oklahoma State Cowboys 97-95 in overtime in 2025.
Auburn now heads back to the Plains for about a week before heading back up to Birmingham for its second exhibition game of the preseason. Its next contest will be a showdown in Legacy Arena with the Alabama Crimson Tide on Oct. 22.
The Tigers’ first game of the regular season is set for Nov. 4 when they take on Southeastern Louisiana in Neville Arena.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
