AUBURN, Ala. (EETV)- Texas A&M entered Neville Arena with "Boots" on the ground on Wednesday Night. The Tiger's 28-game home winning streak came to an end in large part thanks to Tyrece “Boots” Radford. Radford had 30 points in their 79-63 Victory.
“He (Tyrece Radford) is a great player," said Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl. "Great athlete, one of the best athletes in the country. Strong, physical. He had a big game and played great. We couldn’t stay in front of him.”
The loss brings Auburn's record to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play.
Auburn came out with fire scoring 10 points in under three minutes to A&M's two. After the slow start, the Aggies turned up the heat with A&M going into the half with a 15-point cushion.
Two players for Auburn scored double-digit points, forward Johni Broome and guard Wendell Green Jr., both with 16. The Tigers just couldn't keep up with the play from A&M. The tigers only shot 42.9% from the field to A&M's 47.3%, giving them just enough room to play spoiler in Neville Arena.
The Tigers, however, shot well from the free throw line at 75% (18-24). A&M would still outshine the Tigers from the line shooting 20-24 in a game filled with whistles. The Tigers also fell behind the Aggies in rebounds (33-28) and turnovers (13-9). The Aggies beat the Tigers in steals as well (8-2).
Another struggle for the Tigers was 3-point shooting. As a team, they only shot 18.8% (3-16) behind the arc Zep Jasper making two and Green making his first shot of the game.
A bright spot in a tough loss for the Tigers was the addition of Chris Moore. Moore, who missed the last three games with a shoulder injury played in eight minutes of the contest recording only a rebound.
"Getting back out there after missing some time, honestly, for the first half I had some jitters. I took a week, week and a half off. It’s kind of been hard for me mentally. In the first half, I had a little sling on, but I had to mentally take it off, because it was taking me out of the game. I felt like I was handicapped," Moore said after the game. "In the second half, I kind of had more confidence in myself, but unfortunately, we came up short. But, I felt like in the second half I got more comfortable.”
The Tigers turn their focus to the SEC/Big12 challenge where they face off against West Virginia. The game will tip off at 11 AM CT, Saturday, Jan. 28. The game will be aired on ESPN.
