Kevin Overton and Keyshawn Hall combined to make 11 3-pointers and No. 20-ranked Auburn shot 59.1% from the floor en route to an 83-73 win over North Carolina State on Wednesday in Auburn, Alabama.
The Tigers (7-2) led much of the night, but only created some breathing room when Hall fueled a pivotal, 10-0 run midway through the second half.
With NC State (5-3) trailing 56-54 on Tre Holloman’s 3-pointer, Hall scored eight consecutive points — including a pair of triples — after a Sebastian Williams-Adams layup kicked off Auburn’s run.
The surge gave the Tigers a lead that hovered between seven and 12 points for the final 10 minutes. Auburn warded off Wolfpack rally efforts with the red-hot shooting of Overton and Hall, who answered made NC State 3-pointers with triples on three separate occasions down the stretch.
Hall answered long-range makes from Holloman and Ven-Allen Lubin, while Overton knocked down an attempt from deep to respond to a Paul McNeil Jr. 3-pointer.
NC State went 10 of 30 from outside, led by Holloman’s 4 of 9 on the way to 16 points. He complemented Qadir Copeland’s team-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor.
They could not keep pace with Overton and Hall, however, who were 6 of 9 and 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, respectively. Hall finished with 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Overton posted a career-high with 29 points.
The duo powered Auburn to a 12 of 22 night from deep, part of the Tigers’ 26-of-44 shooting overall. Despite Auburn’s torrid shooting, NC State remained in striking distance much of the way thanks to forcing 20 turnovers.
The Wolfpack parlayed the 20 takeaways into 22 points — double Auburn’s output off of turnovers.
Hall committed six of Auburn’s turnovers. Tahaad Pettiford was responsible for four, but compensated for his offensive struggles — which also included shooting just 1 of 7 from the floor — with four blocked shots.
