Heading into the 2026-2027 regular season, there was some question of the Auburn Tigers as to whether their performances and spotty struggles during exhibition play would leak into games that counted.
On Wednesday night, those questions were erased.
Auburn took down the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in Neville Arena to open up the second year of the Steven Pearl era with a 92-59 win, powered by a flashy run from one of its veterans.
At the tail end of the first half, junior point guard Tahaad Pettiford once again proved why he has been highly touted throughout his college career. Over the course of the final 1:13 of the first 20 minutes of play, Pettiford drove right on three consecutive possessions, got near the basket and went up and under for a reverse layup, hitting two and-ones as well in the process.
Then, with just a few seconds left in the half, Southeastern Louisiana’s Logan Suber missed a free throw. It was then rebounded by Kolby King, who passed it to Pettiford.
The point guard heaved the ball up from three-quarters court and banked it in, sending the crowd at Neville Arena into a loud frenzy and the Tigers into the break up 42-25.
Auburn began the game with a 5-0 run thanks to buckets from Thomas Dowd and Caleb Williams, before later going on another five-point swing with the first points for Owen Freeman and a triple from Kevin Overton.
Up 11-7, the Lions did not mess around out of the first media timeout, sprinting on a 7-2 run of their own thanks to sloppy possession by the Tigers, getting the lead at 14-13.
Auburn took the advantage back though, and did so quickly. Narcisse Ngoy got an and-one opportunity inside thanks to a put-back two-pointer, converting on the ensuing free throw. King then got a chance of his own soon after, and while he did not convert the extra shot, it kickstarted a five-point swing of his own.
The teams continued to go back and forth for a few more minutes before Freeman and George Kimble III scored back-to-back buckets to put the Tigers up eight points.
Pettiford then ended the half with his big run, getting Auburn to its largest lead of the night at 17 points, up 42-25.
The Tigers started letting it fly a lot from 3-point land early in the second, but had things going.
Within the first seven minutes, Auburn went 3-for-5 from deep to begin the second half. Pettiford had assists on two of those—one to Overton and the other to Williams. Meanwhile, Overton got a pass to a wide-open Dowd, making it 57-38.
The Tigers continued to blow the doors open in the second, not looking back on a complete game for Pearl’s squad.
Auburn went on a 12-0 run with buckets from Kimble, Freeman and Ngoy, getting the score 69-40 with a whole host of two-pointers, and a triple from the stroke of Freeman.
Adam Olsen and King proceeded the 3-point party, hitting back-to-back triples a couple of minutes later to extend the advantage to 20 points at 76-46.
The Tigers closed things out from there, continuing to let the triples and deep shots fly, getting multiple makes from Overton, who sealed the opening night win.
Auburn was led by Pettiford, who notched 18 points with two rebounds and four assists. Overton and King meanwhile both had 12 points, with Overton having two rebounds and two assists, while King had seven rebounds and one assist.
The Tigers now move to 1-0 on the season and 68-consecutive wins in home non-conference games. They will take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Monday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
