Auburn basketball took care of business in style on Wednesday, knocking out the Nevada Wolfpack with a 75-69 victory in the NIT semifinals at Neville Arena. This win punches their ticket to the NIT Final Four in Indianapolis next week.
Auburn fans, brace yourselves for another late-night showdown as the Tigers face off against Illinois State next Thursday, April 2, with an 8:30 p.m. CT tipoff.
You can catch all the action on ESPN.
Auburn dominated the game, holding the lead for a whopping 38 minutes. Four of the five starters hit double figures, with Elyjah Freeman putting up an impressive 15 points while playing the entire game. Head coach Steven Pearl praised Freeman's performance, especially in the absence of Keshawn Murphy, and welcomed the upcoming eight-day break to give Freeman some much-needed rest.
"I had to push him a bit on defense, but that’s partly because he’s probably exhausted out there and sometimes gets caught standing still," Pearl noted about Freeman. "But those 15 points and his aggressive drives were fantastic."
On the other side, Illinois State earned their spot by besting Dayton 61-55, holding the Flyers to just 30% shooting from the field. Johnny Kinzinger led the Redbirds with 16 points, while Chase Walker notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The winner of next Thursday’s clash will move on to face either Tulsa or New Mexico in the NIT finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, set for Sunday, April 5, at 7 p.m. CT.