COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (EETV) – The No. 1 Auburn Tigers traveled to College Station, Texas, to take on the No. 22 Texas A&M Aggies. Missing a key defensive presence in Denver Jones, the Tigers struggled to contain the Aggies and fell 83-72.
In a press conference held on March 3rd, coach Bruce Pearl mentioned that Auburn is 2-5 in the last seven games against the Aggies.
"We know we have a tough matchup against a team that is just as athletic and as deep as any other team in our league," Coach Pearl said. "They play as hard as anybody in the league."
The Aggies wasted no time making a statement, opening the game with a 7-0 run. Auburn's momentum took an early hit when Johni Broome suffered a brief injury scare with his shoulder, though he was able to return. Despite the setback, Auburn clawed its way back into the contest, narrowing the deficit to just one point at one point. However, Texas A&M remained relentless, maintaining their lead throughout the first half.
Prior to the game, Pearl said, "Texas A&M is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in our league." They proved that in Tuesday's matchup by doubling Auburn's offensive rebounds, 10-5. What really hurt the Tigers was allowing points off their turnovers, and their points from the bench. They allowed 12 points off turnovers while the Aggies allowed two.
Despite Auburn’s shooting struggles, Chad Baker-Mazara led the Tigers with 10 points in the first half. Meanwhile, Texas A&M’s Zhuric Phelps led all scorers with 11 points, helping the Aggies secure a 37-31 halftime lead.
The Aggies came out firing after halftime, going on an 11-5 run before Coach Pearl called a timeout to regroup his squad. Auburn responded with a 9-3 run of its own, showing resilience, but Texas A&M refused to back down. The Aggies continued to dominate the offensive glass and controlled the pace of play, making it difficult for the Tigers to gain any sustained momentum.
The Aggies were led by Wade Taylor IV with 13 points, while Auburn had two scorers record double-digit points in the second half: Tahaad Pettiford with 15 and Miles Kelly with 10. Although scoring improved, offensive rebounding, overall efficiency, and defense didn't improve much, making it harder for the Tigers to come back.
Overall, Auburn was led by Tahaad Pettiford with 19 points, Baker-Mazara with 15, Kelly with 12 and Johni Broome with eight points and seven rebounds. Texas A&M was led by Wade Taylor IV with 16 points and Andersson Garcia with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Texas A&M bounced back after losing four straight games with a final score of 83-72 against the No. 1 Auburn Tigers. The Aggies improved to 21-9 (11-7 SEC) this season, while Auburn regresses to 27-3 (15-2 SEC) with one more game to go.
That final game of the regular season for the Auburn Tigers will be on Saturday, March 8th against a revenge-seeking No. 7 Alabama. The game will go down in Neville Arena as the last home game for the top-ranked Tigers with tipoff at 1 p.m.
