What could a second season of Kevin Overton look like for Auburn?

KO is back after shooting a blistering 47.3% from deep in the second half of the season. Like his jumper, his potential has plenty of range.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

AUBURN — Kevin Overton hit 95 3-pointers for Auburn last season.

If that sounds like a large number to you, that’s because it is. Overton is only the seventh player in the history of Auburn basketball to hit that many triples in a single season. He was the first Tiger to do it since Bryce Brown and Jared Harper both cracked that mark in their 2019 run to the Final Four.

And Overton’s 94th and 95th 3-pointers of the season — breaking a tie with Wesley Person in the 1993-94 campaign — were ones to remember.

Auburn had blown a huge lead against Tulsa in the NIT championship game and needed three big points in the final seconds of regulation after forcing a turnover. Overton caught a pass from Tahaad Pettiford in the corner and buried it.

Several minutes into overtime, with Auburn leading by a single bucket, Overton found himself on the receiving end of another Pettiford pass. This time, Overton was several feet behind the 3-point arc. It didn’t matter. Same result.

Auburn led by multiple possessions the rest of the way, holding off Tulsa to claim a championship at the end of a long, challenging first season under Steven Pearl.

Overton was named the NIT’s Most Valuable Player, having scored a game-high 26 points in the final. He went 5-8 from 3-point range and played all but 2.5 minutes of the marathon game in Indianapolis.

Yes, Auburn would have much rather not been in that situation in the first place. The Tigers’ late-season meltdown cost them a trip to the NCAA Tournament, which had been installed as the standard for the program over the last decade or so.

But Auburn ultimately decided to accept a bid to the consolation competition, and Overton was key in making sure the Tigers finished well — both on and off the floor.

“I think we all had that moment of doubt in the year,” Overton said after the win over Tulsa. “Truthfully, we didn’t all really want to play… We could have packed it up. But we came together. We made a decision. Once we started playing, it became, ‘OK, it’s basketball, at the end of the day, and we’re still competitors. Let’s go win the game.’

“Obviously, we didn’t want to be where we were, but we are the ones that got in that situation, so let’s just go make the best of it.”

It’s safe to say Overton made the best of it. But, unlike several others on the roster who decided to go elsewhere, he’s not done with Auburn.

And if the way he finished his first season is any indication, the second season of KO on the Plains could be special.