Michigan guard Tre Donaldson entered Friday’s NCAA tournament game against Auburn with plans of upsetting his former team.

After draining his first 3-pointer and staring down Auburn coach Bruce Pearl, Donaldson celebrated a made layup by chirping at the Tigers backcourt in the first half.

Those were Donaldson’s last points of the game as he shot 2-of-9 from the floor with no assists and four turnovers.

We obviously locked in defensively, we like to go to the hot hand,” Pearl said Saturday. “When Denver banged a shot, he got the next two. When Tahaad banged a shot, he got the next two or three, and Johni had a spurt. That’s why we won the game.”

Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford combined for 40 points for the Tigers and connected on six 3-pointers.

“Honestly, just I seen one go in, and I just felt the basket got bigger. I just wanted to continue being aggressive,” Jones said postgame Friday. “Coach was getting me more involved in the plays, and I was just taking more advantage of it.”

In the final eight minutes of the game, Jones went on a personal 8-0 run draining back-to-back 3-pointers for the Tigers. He scored 13 points in the second half as Pettiford scored 15 points on the night.

“Obviously three-ball wasn’t falling for us yesterday, but we knew that late down in the game we’re going to need to make some shots and obviously Denver got us going, making a couple in a row, the energy just shifting from there and I just felt the energy from that moment,” Pettiford said Saturday.

Chaney Johnson expressed how he felt watching his backcourt takeover in the second half.

“Denver Jones is such a hard worker, just to see him go crazy, just really go on a run by himself, him and Tahaad,” Johnson said Saturday. “Like he went on that run, and had Tahaad going on his run, I would just say it was ecstatic because like, without them, we don’t win that game.”

With Michigan State next, Auburn faces another strong backcourt matching up against Jeremy Fears Jr., Jaden Akins and Jase Richardson.

“They’ve got some talented guards. Really athletic. Some like to get downhill and get hit a lot. I’m pretty sure our coaches, they’ll come up with a great game plan just for that,” Jones said Saturday.

“Yeah, I feel like our guards are always going to step up to the challenge, no matter how we’re feeling. I feel like the beauty of our team is our depth. We count on each other to have each other’s back, man. That’s how I feel about our team.”

Auburn and Michigan State will tipoff at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday and the game will be televised on CBS.

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3 or email him at [email protected].