The Auburn Tigers continue to play basketball after a 75-69 win over the Nevada Wolfpack on Wednesday night in the NIT quarterfinals.
The win sets up a game on April 2nd at Hinkle Fieldhouse versus Illinois State. Auburn used a big first half and had four players score in double figures to secure the win.
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For Auburn, it was not just one player who stood out. It was an entire team effort. The win also closes the season for Neville Arena, and the Tigers made sure the final home game was a win. They end the 2025-26 season with a 14-4 home record.
Here are five takeaways from Auburn basketball’s NIT win over Nevada on Wednesday.
Filip Jovic big night
Freshman Filip Jovic picked the final Auburn home game to have his best performance of the season. Jovic scored 18 points in the game and also added 9 rebounds. That was big with Nevada having more of a frontcourt presence than Auburn’s previous opponents, South Alabama and Seattle U. He played well early and often on Wednesday night, and had 12 points at halftime.
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Full 40 from Elyjah Freeman
The Auburn Tigers needed everything from Elyjah Freeman to defeat Nevada to advance to the NIT semifinals. Freeman did not leave the floor and played the full 40 minutes. He was efficient while on the floor, scoring 15 points. He was 5 of 11 from the floor and connected on all four of his free throw attempts. He helped out with four rebounds and two assists.
Pettiford and Hall combine for 30
For most of the season, if Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall played well, the Tigers were going to win. While the two have had some offensive struggles in the first two games, guard Kevin Overton was able to pick up the slack. Well, Overton only scored seven versus Nevada, and the big stars came to play. Pettiford scored 16 points off 5 of 13 shooting and got his teammates involved with six assists. For Hall, he scored 14 points on Wednesday on six of nine shooting and connected on two three-point shots. He had a solid night on the boards with six rebounds and added two assists.
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Turnover battle
In any tournament, each game can be decided on who takes care of the basketball. Auburn won that battle on the stat sheet Wednesday night, forcing 12 turnovers for the Wolfpack and only committing seven. Those turnovers resulted in 11 points for the Tigers. Nine of those turnovers were due to steals from Auburn. Pettiford and Sebastian Williams-Adams led the way in that department with two each.
Big first half for the Tigers
Auburn outscored Nevada 38-26 in the first half and led for 96% of the game. Auburn built a 30-14 lead with 7:22 until halftime when Freeman connected on a 25-foot three-pointer. Auburn scored on 60.7% of its first-half possessions and capitalized to score 11 second-chance points. Turns out the big first half was needed with Nevada outscoring Auburn 43-37 in the second half.
This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Auburn basketball’s five key stats from NIT win over Nevada
