LEXINGTON | No. 1 overall seed Auburn survived a barrage of Creighton three-pointers in the first half and pulled away from the Bluejays in an 82-70 victory to advance to the program's seventh Sweet 16 in program history.

"Very proud of my team," Bruce Pearl said. "We played Auburn basketball. We played like the number 1 team in the country. We acted like the number 1 team in the country. We prepared like the number 1 team in the country."

The Bluejays hardly missed from three-point range in the first half, finishing 9-of-14 from beyond the arc, including a three by Jackson McAndrew with 28 seconds left to give Creighton a two-point lead at halftime. The first 20 minutes featured 13 lead changes, with both teams taking four-point leads at one time.

Auburn went on a 10-0 run capped by a Dylan Cardwell dunk to take an eight-point lead at 12:27 to force Creighton to call a timeout. The Bluejays responded with a 4-0 run but the Tigers punched back with a 8-0 run itself.

With the Tigers up 14, Creighton went on a quick 7-0 run, forcing Pearl to call a timeout. Johni Broome put in a floater followed by a bucket from Tahaad Pettiford.

Another 4-0 run by the Bluejays cut it to seven points with 2:30 left. Pettiford hit two free throws to extend the lead back to nine, but Creighton answered with a bucket and called timeout.

Creighton tried to make it a game at the end, cutting the lead to six, but the Tigers closed it out with seven consecutive free throws.

Pettiford led Auburn with 23 points while Chad Baker-Mazara poured in 17. Denver Jones added 15 and Broome led Auburn with 12 rebounds.

"My guys helped me get the ball, get me open and helped me find the shots that I wanted to get," Pettiford said.

Jones was excellent on both sides of the floor, helping the Tigers hold down Creighton's explosive guards.Getting to the Sweet 16 was a goal for him when he arrived at Auburn.

"Honestly, that was the main reason why I came here," Jones said. "I came because I wanted to win and I knew the system. I knew the type of players that they were going to have here at Auburn.

"Coming here obviously defense. The way we play defense is challenging already, just coming from another school but I wanted to be one of the best two-way guards in the league, and that was one of the main things I focused on, especially this off-season."

Auburn takes on No. 5 seed Michigan on Friday in Atlanta.