Kevin Overton scored 23 points and Elyjah Freeman added 19 to lead a balanced attack as top-seeded Auburn held off a late rally to defeat visiting Seattle University 91-85 on Sunday night in the second round of the NIT.
Sebastian Williams-Adams added 15 points and Filip Jovic scored 12 for the Tigers (19-16 overall). Keyshawn Hall had nine points — all in the first half — grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and had a team-high five assists.
The Tigers will face Nevada in the quarterfinals. The Wolf Pack defeated Liberty 73-63 on Saturday.
Brayden Maldonado scored a game-high 25 points for the Redhawks (21-11), making seven 3-pointers. Junseok Yeo and John Christofilis each scored 13 points, and Will Heimbrodt added 12.
The Tigers shot 50% from the field (29 of 58), while the Redhawks made 51.7% of their attempts (31 of 60), including 16 of 31 3-pointers. Auburn was 24 of 32 at the free-throw line to help clinch the victory.
Auburn took a 42-31 lead at the half and extended its advantage to as many as 16 points with 7:10 remaining in the game.
The Redhawks finally got within single digits at 82-73 on a driving layup by Maleek Arrington with 2:05 to go. A 3-pointer by Maldonado pulled them within four with six seconds left, but that was as close as they’d get.
The Tigers didn’t seem to miss starting forward KeShawn Murphy, who decided against participating in the NIT. Murphy averaged 10.7 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds.
Auburn led 5-1 before Maldonado made a jumper and Yeo added a 3-pointer to give the Redhawks a 6-5 advantage.
Overton made a 3-pointer with 16:05 left — the Tigers’ first field goal of the game — for an 8-5 lead.
Seattle pulled within 21-20 on a 3-pointer by Christofilis.
Hall made a 3-pointer with 10:16 left to spark an 11-0 run that put the Tigers up 32-20. Hall scored seven points during that stretch, adding a tip-in on an offensive rebound and a fastbreak layup off a turnover.
An 8-0 run gave Auburn its largest lead of the half at 42-27.
–Field Level Media
