Takeaways From Auburn's Blowout Loss to Purdue

On Saturday, the No. 21 Auburn Tigers fell in blowout fashion to the No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers by a final score of 88-60. It was the third straight top-10 matchup for the Tigers, in which Steven Pearl’s squad lost by at least 20 points.

It’s clear that this Auburn team has many places to improve, particularly against top opponents, so let’s take a look at a few key takeaways.

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Games are Won and Lost in the Paint

Everyone loves a player who finds himself on the highlight reels, but at the end of the day, it’s the big men who often decide the outcome of any matchup. In the Tigers’ matchup with the Boilermakers, Auburn’s smaller centers and forwards seemed to be utterly dominated by those of Purdue.

 “We’re young,” Overton said. “We’re learning how to be in these games, how to compete on a consistent level. We took strides, especially defensively, our approach in practice. All of those things are coming together. We’ve got to stay with it.”

The Boilermakers outclassed the Tigers in rebounds, 36-25, including 27 defensive rebounds to Auburn’s nine. This wasn’t helped by the fact that shots weren’t falling much for the Tigers, as the team shot a combined 36% from the field, resulting in a need for rebounds that mostly went unfulfilled.

Additionally, Purdue doubled Auburn’s paint points, 40-20, and blocked the Tigers five times while the Tigers could muster just a single block. Auburn is smaller than many top teams by height, but Steven Pearl and company need to figure something out with their bigs if the Tigers are to have a prayer of competing against top opponents.

Silent Night for Auburn Stars

When one thinks of Auburn’s basketball team this year, two players mainly come to mind for the vast majority of people: Tahaad Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall. Pettiford has struggled with consistency this season, but had an especially quiet night against the Boilermakers, putting up just five points before leaving the game with an ankle injury halfway through the second half.

Keyshawn Hall was the Tigers’ second leading scorer, but even his night was muted by his standards. The senior forward has averaged 20.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this year, but managed just 14 points and three rebounds on Saturday.

With Pettiford and Hall showing signs of struggle, where did Auburn get all of its points? A vast majority of the team’s production came from Kevin Overton, who has recently come into his own after a 29-point performance against NC State.

Overton managed 21 points for the Tigers on Saturday, a fourth of the team’s total production. He also led the team in rebounds with five, a further testament to the Auburn big men’s struggle to control the paint.

Cohesion Creates Champions

Without a doubt, the aspect that sets the best teams apart from average teams is overall cohesion. Purdue, led by standout guard Braden Smith, boasted 21 assists to Auburn’s 13. The kicker? Auburn allowed Smith to put together a ridiculous 14 assists on his own.

Additionally, Auburn had one fewer turnover than Purdue, yet the Boilermakers were able to string together 10 more points off turnovers than the Tigers. Purdue was excellent at moving the ball both in the half-court and on fast breaks, propelling their production to leagues above what the Tigers could achieve.

Get Some Shots Up Over Christmas

Steven Pearl’s squad has struggled to capitalize on open looks, has missed far too many layups and has yet to remedy the free-throw shooting issue. The Tigers shot an overall 36% from the field, including 28% from beyond the three-point arc.

It sounds like a broken record to say this, but Auburn is struggling to capitalize from the charity stripe. The Tigers shot 69% from the free-throw line on Saturday, while Purdue didn’t miss a single free throw.  

Of course, everyone has off nights, but this is becoming a redundancy that reflects poorly on Auburn. The Tigers desperately need to remedy their shooting issues if they want to hang in with any team, let alone the cream of the crop.

Up next for the now 8-4 Tigers is a tune-up matchup against Queens, which is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 29. It’s set to tip off at 9 p.m. CST and will hopefully be a promising showing for the future of this year’s Tigers.

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