LEXINGTON | One week ago, Tahaad Pettiford walked out of Bridgestone Arena in Nashville with a singular purpose.
“I just told myself I never want to play like that again,” said Pettiford.
The Auburn freshman had just 0 of 8 from the floor in a 70-65 loss to Tennessee in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.
Saturday night, he walked out of Rupp Arena as the Tigers’ leading scorer in an 82-70 win over Creighton as AU advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.
Pettiford scored 23 points on 7 of 14 shooting and added six rebounds and three assists.
“He played like a man. He’s not scared of the moment,” said Chad Baker-Mazara. “I just love the confidence he has in himself. Just to see a freshman like that is really rare — come in and take big shots, and just playing the way he does, I love it.”
Pettiford had a team-high 39 points combined in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Saturday against the Bluejays, he was especially effective driving into the lane and hitting a floater or layup.
“We noticed that the guards really couldn’t stay in front of us as much,” said Pettiford. “So we tried to attack their guards as much as possible to get them out of the game.
“It means a lot just seeing the trust my teammates and my coaches have in me. Just putting the ball in my hands in such a big game just felt amazing.”
Next up for No. 1 overall seed Auburn is a game Friday against No. 5 seed Michigan at State Farm Arena in Atlanta with a spot in the Elite Eight up for grabs.
“It feels amazing,” said Pettiford. “We all wanted to get to Atlanta. That’s like home for us. Now, we’ve just got to get back in the gym and get ready for next week.”
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