Tigers turn up the defense in exhibition win over Memphis

Steven Pearl made defense a priority for Auburn following a 97-95 overtime loss to Oklahoma State in an opening exhibition game.

The Tigers responded in a big way against Memphis Thursday night. Auburn scored 33 points off 23 turnovers in a 100-71 win at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga.

“I thought our guys responded well to a disappointing performance against Oklahoma State,” said Pearl. “The last two weeks we really made a concerted effort to clean up a lot of the things that hurt us in that game, primarily just letting guys drive it downhill and get to the rim.

“We started out in our zone defense and I think that really threw them off guard. And we were constantly changing defenses from man to zone and there were a lot of possessions where they were running zone offenses against our man-to-man.”

AU had 13 steals and held UM to .368 shooting including 4 of 20 3-pointers.

Keyshawn Hall led AU with 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Kaden Magwood added 15 points, Tahaad Pettiford 11 points and a team-high five assists and Filip Jovic 11 points on 7 of 8 free throws.

Elyjah Freeman had eight points and led AU with six rebounds and four steals.

The Tigers shot .526 from the floor including 10 of 24 3-pointers.

Auburn led 52-27 at halftime, scoring 25 points off 17 turnovers. AU broke out to an early 15-2 lead, scoring 13 points off nine early turnovers, and leading the game for 39 minutes and 23 seconds.

Auburn opens the season Monday night against Bethune-Cookman. Tip-off at Neville Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on SECN+.