Auburn Tigers guard Tahaad Pettiford is said to be no longer playing the rest of his team’s most recent regular-season game due to a setback he suffered during it. On Saturday, Dec. 20, Pettiford and the rest of coach Steven Pearl’s 2025 Tigers are taking on coach Matt Painter’s Purdue Boilermakers for this year’s Indy Classic in the latter’s home court, the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
On the same day, college basketball reporter Justin Hokanson reported on his X/Twitter account that Pettiford suffered an ankle injury during the highly intense matchup, causing him to be said by the TV broadcast to no longer be returning to play in the game. It is also said by Hokanson that he got the injury after he stepped on the foot of one of his teammates, Auburn forward Filip Jovic.
Pettiford is going back to the locker room. He stepped on the foot of Jovic and just turned his ankle. https://t.co/clgF9p0seG
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) December 21, 2025
Tahaad Pettiford will not return to this game, per TV broadcast. “Ankle injury,” they say. https://t.co/Pmp7RTNNbb
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) December 21, 2025
Pettiford is currently in his second season of collegiate basketball in the 2025-26 campaign, both of which have been spent with the Tigers thus far. After a respectable outing in his rookie year, Pettiford has improved to become Auburn’s second leading scorer thus far as he is averaging 16.1 points on 38.7% from the field, to go along with 2.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks.
In his previous stint in the 2024-25 season, he helped the Tigers to an NCAA Final Four appearance in the 2025 national tournament. Their March Madness run in that campaign was unfortunately halted by coach Todd Golden’s Florida Gators through a six-point defeat, 79-73, despite being the No. 1 nationally-ranked team. The Tigers are looking to reclaim the same type of run this year, but will have to do so in the meantime, as Pettiford is out for now.
The Auburn Tigers Were Defeated By The Purdue Boilermakers By Double Digits In 2025
With Tahaad Pettiford out for the game, coach Steven Pearl and the rest of the Auburn Tigers were unable to defeat the Purdue Boilermakers as they lost by a staggering 28 points, 88-60.
Auburn now falls to a current record of 8-4, as they are still not yet in conference play. They will look to get back into their winning ways when they face coach Grant Leonard’s Queens Royals on Monday, Dec. 29, in their home arena.
Read More: Tahaad Pettiford Tipped to Beat Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee to Top SEC Crown After NBA Draft Withdrawal
Also Read: Tahaad Pettiford NBA Combine Effort May Have Just Elevated His Draft Ceiling
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