Senior forward Korvotney Barber was a spectator for most of Auburn’s second-round NIT game Friday, saddled with foul trouble practically from the opening tip. His teammates made sure his career didn’t end on that note.

Rasheem Barrett scored 17 points and Auburn locked down on defense in a 74-55 win against Tulsa at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum to cruise into the National Invitation Tournament’s third round.

Auburn forced 18 turnovers, had 12 steals and allowed the fewest points in its brief NIT history despite having Barber, one of its best defenders, in the game for only 13 minutes.

“We just play like a bunch of junkyard dogs,” Auburn head coach Jeff Lebo said. “That’s what we do.”

The Tigers (24-11) tied the 1999-2000 squad for the second-most wins in school history and have won two NIT games in the same season for the first time.

Auburn hosts the winner of today’s game between Virginia Tech and Baylor on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EDT.

Some thoughts ...

• Horribly officiated game. Just plain awful. It was a hodgepodge of officials from several difference conferences who really weren't in unison with what they were going to call. It resulted in players getting called for ticky-tack fouls on one possessions and then getting hammered with no call on the next.

• This was best exemplified with Vot, who had a case against each one of the four fouls he had called against him. He played just 13 minutes but scored nine points.

• Brendon Knox and Johnnie Lett, who returned from a severely sprained ankle that had kept him out since January, did a good job on Tulsa's seven-foot center Jerome Jordan, who finished with four points, 10 below his season average.

• Tulsa led the nation in 3-point defense, holding opponents to 27.3 percent shooting. Auburn went 8-for-21 (38.1 percent) from long range Friday.

• Nice well-rounded effort by Quantez Robertson, whose game has been peaking. The senior had six points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals in the win. He also went 6-for-6 from the line. That's 11 straight for someone whose charity stripe troubles have been well documented.

• DeWayne Reed had a big night as well, finishing with 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and five steals. He also had five turnovers.

• One more win and Auburn is headed to New York City for the NIT semifinals, which would be a nice consolation prize after the team narrowly missed out on making the NCAA tournament. “These country boys haven’t been to New York,” Lebo joked. “That’d be a nice treat for them. We’ve still got some work to do.”