Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn control second half, dump LSU

Tahaad Pettiford scored eight of his game-high 27 points during a surge to start the second half as host Auburn pulled away for an 88-74 victory over LSU on Tuesday.

Pettiford matched a career high with six assists to help Auburn (16-14, 7-10 SEC) outscore LSU 47-40 in the second half to win for just the second time in nine games and improve its postseason resume.

Kevin Overton finished with 21 points for the hosts. Keyshawn Hall scored 17 points, and Elyjah Freeman added 10.

Mike Nwoko scored 19 points, Pablo Tamba had 12 points and nine rebounds, Jaylen Reece scored 12 and Marquel Sutton had 10 for LSU (15-15, 3-14). The visitors lost for the seventh time in eight games.

After Auburn led by seven points at halftime, Pettiford scored eight consecutive points for his team, producing a 53-42 lead 3 1/2 minutes into the second half. The gap reached 12 before two 3-pointers by Reece and one by PJ Carter pulled LSU within 58-51.

Freeman made a jumper and Overton hit two treys as Auburn increased the lead to 11 points near the midpoint of the half. Nwoko made two free throws, but Overton answered with a layup and a 3-pointer to help Auburn take a 14-point lead.

Tamba's layup ended an LSU field-goal drought of 4 1/2 minutes, but Hall and Pettiford made consecutive jumpers to push the lead to 78-61 with 6:44 remaining.

Robert Miller III sank a layup to put LSU on top with the seventh lead change of the early going, and he added a dunk for a 16-13 lead. Consecutive dunks by Filip Jovic helped Auburn take a 19-18 lead, starting a stretch of seven more lead changes.

Nwoko dunked to tie the score at 29 before Freeman made a 3-pointer and Hall added a hoop to give Auburn the largest lead of the half for either team to that point, 34-29.

Carter made a 3-pointer, but a trey by Freeman and four free throws by Hall helped Auburn expand the lead to 41-34 entering halftime.