# SEC Men's Basketball: Auburn Tigers Dominates SE Louisiana Lions 92-59 **Published:** 2026-11-04 — **By:** Stacy Stanfield **Category:** games — **Type:** game-recap **Source:** https://secscouts.com/news/sec-men-s-basketball-auburn-tigers-dominates-se-louisiana-lions-92-59 **Teams:** [Auburn](https://secscouts.com/auburn/) **Players:** [Kolby King](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/5105604/kolby-king), [Narcisse Ngoy](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/5345015/narcisse-ngoy), [Kevin Overton](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/5176314/kevin-overton), [Tahaad Pettiford](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4873089/tahaad-pettiford) --- AUBURN, Ala. (11/03/2026) — The Auburn Tigers delivered a commanding performance at Neville Arena on Tuesday, routing the SE Louisiana Lions 92-59 to open the 2026 season in front of 9,121 fans. Auburn's balanced attack — 51% shooting from the field and 46% from three-point range — combined with a 50-37 rebounding advantage to produce a dominant result that was never seriously in doubt after the midway point of the first half. ## How It Happened The opening minutes featured a genuine back-and-forth. Thomas Dowd's tip-in gave Auburn an early 2-0 lead, but SE Louisiana's Yanis Ndjonga answered with a 22-footer to draw the Lions within one. The lead changed hands four times before the game settled — Ndjonga hit a second three, this one from 27 feet off Tyler Rolison's assist, to give SE Louisiana a 7-6 advantage at the 16:52 mark. Owen Freeman's tip-in restored Auburn's edge immediately, and Kevin Overton extended it to 11-7 with a 24-foot three-pointer at 15:46. Quincy Allen kept SE Louisiana competitive with a 25-footer to cut it to one, and Jackson Furman's driving layup at 12:41 gave the Lions their final lead of the night at 14-13. Narcisse Ngoy's tip-in one possession later put Auburn back in front at 15-14 — and the Tigers would not trail again. Kolby King's 23-footer at 9:53 pushed the margin to 21-14, and Tahaad Pettiford added a dunk off a Caleb Williams feed to push it to 23-17. Pettiford then drilled a 25-foot three-pointer with four seconds remaining in the first half, sending the Tigers to the break ahead 42-25. ## Turning Point SE Louisiana opened the second half with some early energy — Ndjonga hit a layup, and Allen converted an alley-oop dunk off Rolison's feed — but Auburn answered with clinical efficiency. Overton drained a 25-footer at 17:33 to push the lead to 18, and Caleb Williams added a 27-footer at 16:44 to extend it to 52-34. When Ngoy threw down a dunk at 11:55 to make it 59-40, Auburn launched the decisive sequence: a 12-0 run that removed any remaining uncertainty, pushing the margin out to 69-41. Freeman ignited the stretch with a 26-foot three-pointer at 10:50, and the Tigers continued to convert while the Lions struggled to find consistent offense. Adam Olsen added a 22-footer off George Kimble III's assist, and Kolby King drained a 22-footer off a Dowd feed to extend the lead to 76-46 — an advantage the Lions had no answer for down the stretch. ## Star of the Game **Tahaad Pettiford** paced the Auburn Tigers with 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists, controlling the game's tempo across both halves. His first-half activity set the tone — a dunk off a Caleb Williams feed gave the Tigers breathing room in a tight period, and his buzzer-beating three-pointer from 25 feet with four seconds left sent Auburn to the locker room with a commanding cushion and the crowd at Neville Arena on its feet. In the second half, Pettiford functioned as an effective distributor, assisting on key buckets for Ngoy and Overton as Auburn stretched its lead beyond reach. Ngoy came within one rebound of a double-double, finishing with 10 points and 9 boards. Kolby King was equally productive at 12 points and 7 rebounds, and Overton chipped in 12 points. The collective output made defensive adjustments almost impossible for the Lions to sustain. For SE Louisiana, Allen led all scorers with 16 points on a productive shooting performance, while Ndjonga finished with 13 points — including three made threes — and 6 rebounds, giving the Lions two reliable offensive options even on a difficult night. ## What It Means The result sets a strong tone for Auburn's 2026 home schedule. The Tigers demonstrated the inside-outside balance that makes them difficult to defend — Ngoy and King controlling the glass while Pettiford, Overton, Williams, and others punished SE Louisiana from three-point range on a night when the Tigers connected on 46% of their deep attempts. For SE Louisiana, the first half offered some real competitive moments. Allen and Ndjonga gave the Lions an offensive identity, and the team held its own early. Shooting 30% from the field on the night proved the decisive gap — with Auburn grabbing 50 rebounds, every Lions miss translated almost directly into another Auburn possession and another opportunity to extend the lead. --- *Original article: [SEC Men's Basketball: Auburn Tigers Dominates SE Louisiana Lions 92-59](https://secscouts.com/news/sec-men-s-basketball-auburn-tigers-dominates-se-louisiana-lions-92-59) — SEC Scouts*