Why Tahaad Pettiford could be the X-Factor to Auburn’s March Madness run

Auburn has been the top team consistently this college basketball season.

The Auburn Tigers have been arguably the best team in college basketball this season, holding the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for the last seven weeks as they’ve gone 25-2 in the loaded SEC.

Auburn’s year started off with a marquee 74-69 victory over the Houston Cougars back in game No. 2 of the season and they haven’t looked back since, going an impressive 13-1 in conference play with the lone loss being a single-digit game against the No. 3 Florida Gators.

Looking at the Tigers roster, they have an All-American-caliber player in forward Johni Broome, who has averaged 18.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game, making a strong case for the Wooden Award this season.

But, Auburn’s entire rotation is loaded, as they have six players averaging over 10 points per game, with the forwards being highly efficient inside the arc, while the guards each can shoot the three-ball at a high level.

Auburn’s starting five has been one of the top-performing lineups in college basketball when considering efficiency metrics, but they’ve also relied heavily on their depth to be such a high-functioning team.

A key part of that depth? True freshman Tahaad Pettiford, who has impressed the Tigers coaching staff from the offseason and carved out a key role on a veteran-laden team.

Coming off the bench, Pettiford had a quick introduction to the world of college basketball, as he shined in Auburn’s early-season win over Houston, serving as the X-Factor with 21 points and five threes as a spark off the bench.

From there, he’s solidified his role as Auburn’s sixth man, finding a way to consistently put the ball in the basket.

Pettiford is third on the team averaging 11 points per game in just 21.3 minutes of action, while shooting over 37 percent from three. In a way, he’s been the consistency that Auburn has needed with its second unit to be one of the top teams in college basketball this season.

Despite being a freshman, Pettiford has had a knack for playing well while the lights shine bright, most recently putting in 13 points on 50 percent from the field in Auburn’s 94-85 win over Alabama on the road.

With the game tied at 65 a piece with just under eight minutes to go, Pettiford started Auburn’s rally with a huge three-pointer, as the Tigers never trailed from that point on.

The guard continued to make an impact late in the second half, getting a pair of layups to go minutes later before hitting two clutch free throws with under two minutes to go to fend off the Crimson Tide.

“Tahaad is a fearless basketball player and that’s a good shot for him,” Auburn assistant coach Steve Pearl said last week on an appearance on “The Next Round” show. “As soon as he shot it, we had all the confidence in the world that he was gonna knock it down.”

Pettiford has his rougher moments, as all top college basketball players do, as seen in Auburn’s 82-70 win over Georgia where he was held to just two points on 0-for-7 from the field.

However, over the course of the season, the guard has been one of the best surprises in college basketball, completing this elite Auburn team that is now surrounded by talent in their starting lineup and off the bench.

When it comes to March, depth is extremely important with the pace of the tournament, which is why Auburn has a good shot of making a deep run in the postseason.

To do so though, they’re going to continue needing strong contributions from Pettiford, who very well could be the X-Factor to Auburn’s March Madness run.