3 takeaways from ‘The Feud’: Auburn’s exhibition game against Alabama

By Jerry Humphrey III | jhumphreyiii@al.comIt was a packed house split down the middle inside legacy arena on Thursday night for the Auburn and Alabama basketball exhibition. This was the second preseason game for the state rivals with both teams participating in the Boutwell event last week. Alabama came out on top 87-85 to take an unofficial 1-0 lead in this season’s series. Auburn drops to 0-2 in preseason play and will play its final exhibition against Samford on Oct. 29 inside Neville Arena. Here are three takeaways from the game: Kevin Overton carries Auburn, Tahaad Pettiford fouls outAuburn guard Tahaad Pettifford fouled out in the final two minutes of the game after finishing with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists. It was a rough shooting night for Pettiford overall, who only connected on three shots from the floor. Kevin Overton was the main source of offense for Auburn with a team-high 26 points. Adam Olsen was the only other Tiger to finish with a double-digit point total, scoring 12 points on four made 3-pointers. Alabama had four players score in double figures, as Amari Allen led the Crimson Tide 23 points.Auburn’s frontcourt shows improvement, not enough vs. AlabamaAuburn’s frontcourt duo of Narcisse Ngoy and Bukky Oboye looked a lot more comfortable in the Tigers second exhibition game compared to its first. The 7-footers combined for 15 points and 16 rebounds to finish the game. However, Alabama led the game with 34 points in the paint and 19 second chance points. Auburn would finish the game with 48 rebounds. Defensively, Alabama dominated Auburn with 12 steals, eight blocks and 17 forced turnovers on the Tigers. The Crimson Tide also led the game with 32 points coming from their bench alone. Oboye fouled out of the game with 7:57 left in the game, leaving for Thomas Dowd to play down low in a small-ball lineup. First half fireworksIn the first of its kind game exhibition game of this storied rivalry, tempers flared early between Auburn and Alabama with coaches eventually stepping exchanging a few words between each other. Alabama led 44-41 at the break after finished with four turnovers in the final five minutes of the half. Ngoy and Overton combined for 16 first half points. Pettiford and Oboye combined for 12 points, leading the Tigers in the first 20 minutes of play. The Crimson Tide’s Quayden Samuels led the half with 14 points in the first half, as Alabama shot 41% from the floor as a team. Samuels would finish the game with 20 total points. Jerry Humphrey III is an Auburn Sports Beat Writer for AL.com since Oct. 2024, covering football, basketball and all things Auburn sports. Prior to joining the sports staff at AL.com, Jerry spent time at...