Auburn Captures First NIT Title, Validating Steven Pearl's Debut Season

Kevin Overton caught an inbound pass, rose from behind the arc, and buried a three-pointer with eight seconds left in regulation to tie Tulsa and send a frenzied Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd into chaos. That shot, coming after Auburn had squandered a 21-point first-half lead and watched the Golden Hurricane seize control deep into the second half, became the defining image of a 92-86 overtime victory that delivered Auburn its first NIT championship.

The win capped a season that demanded validation. Steven Pearl, taking over the Auburn program after his father Bruce Pearl's retirement following the 2024-25 season, missed the NCAA Tournament in his first year at the helm. The scrutiny was loud and public. Charles Barkley, Auburn's most famous former player and an NBA Hall of Famer, had said plainly before the NIT began: "I love Steve(n) Pearl but we playing in the NIT tonight. We didn't deserve to get into the big dance. We were too inconsistent all year." Both Barkley and Bruce Pearl sat in the stands at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday night to watch Pearl's squad answer every doubt. Steven Pearl also set a new Auburn program record for wins by a head coach in his first season, finishing 22-16.

Overton, a 6-foot-5 junior combo guard who transferred from Texas Tech last April, was named tournament MVP after delivering the NIT's signature moment. He and Tahaad Pettiford combined for 29 first-half points as Auburn built its commanding lead, with forward Filip Jovic adding emphatic first-half dunks. But Tulsa steadily chipped away, turning a 17-point halftime deficit into a second-half lead before Overton's corner three forced overtime. In extra time, Auburn steadied itself, and Overton added another deep-range bucket that helped seal the final margin. "Trusting my work. My teammates trust me to make shots," Overton said afterward. When asked about the championship itself, he was succinct: "We've been here before … We'll take it."

Overton's path to this moment was built on consistent growth. He started all 35 games as a freshman at Drake, averaged 11.3 points per game, and earned All-Freshman honors before transferring to Texas Tech, where he came off the bench averaging 7.8 points during the Red Raiders' Elite Eight run. He committed to Auburn on April 17, 2025, giving the Tigers a proven perimeter shooter. He had already gone 5-for-5 from three-point range in the NIT semifinal blowout of Illinois State, a performance that foreshadowed Sunday's heroics.

Senior forward Keyshawn Hall, a transfer from UCF, was Auburn's engine throughout the postseason. His 683 points on the season placed him fifth on Auburn's all-time single-season scoring list, ahead of Johni Broom's 669 from 2024-25 and Mike Mitchell's 671 from 1977-78. Hall scored 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting in the semifinal win over Illinois State at the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, part of a dominant 88-66 performance in which Auburn knocked down 12 three-pointers.

The setting added layers to an already charged evening. Indianapolis was simultaneously hosting the NCAA Final Four, making Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers, the second biggest basketball venue in the city that weekend. Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol, who was a student assistant on the Golden Hurricane's 2001 NIT championship team, entered the final at 30-7, the program's best single-season win total since Bill Self's 2000 squad won 32 games. A third NIT title would have been historic for Tulsa; instead, Auburn's late-game composure ended that bid.

Auburn's road to the title ran through its own building first: wins over South Alabama, Seattle U, and Nevada at Neville Arena before the trip to Indianapolis. The NIT title is the program's first such trophy and its first NIT appearance since 2009. For Pearl, it is a foundation worth building on.