SEATTLE | Saint Louis had no answer for Walker Kessler, especially on a pick-and-roll play at the top of the key. Bruce Pearl and his coaching staff noticed and kept on going back to the big man. Heck, even Saint Louis was aware that Auburn was doing the same thing over and over.

"They ran the same play," Billikens forward Terrence Hargrove said after the game.

It was a wise call as it helped the Tigers come back from a 13-point deficit for a 74-70 victory. There were a lot of key players in the road win, but possibly no one played a more significant part than Kessler. The center echoed the statement of his counterpart on Saturday night.

"Same play," he said of Auburn's offensive play-calling. "It's a high pick-and-roll. Jabari fills out to the corner. That's basically it. It's not super complex. But if you run it right, it works."

The center finished with a team-high in points (19), rebounds (9) and blocks (4) and continually came through with big baskets, including two free throws late and the Tigers down three.

His coach might have been slightly nervous about those two shots from the charity stripe.

"I would've killed him if he missed one of them," Pearl said jokingly.

Kessler's 11 second-half points came in the final 11 minutes as the Tigers continued to fight back. A dunk at the 6:30 mark cut it to a six-point Billikens lead. Another dunk a minute and a half later cut it to four and, on the next possession, yet another slam gave the Tigers an answer to a Saint Louis bucket. Those critical free throws cut it to two and, after a corner three from Lior Berman, Auburn never trailed again.

It's a sign of a team maturing and knowing that they are never out of the game. After every free throw and basket made, Kessler was there to encourage his teammates that what seemed impossible just earlier was right there for the Tigers' taking.

"We really just came together," Kessler said. "We had to get into our own playstyle and our own game plan. So, I just think we really just calmed down and did what we did best and ended up with the win."