Turns out, nobody’s immune to a hangover.
Not even the No. 1 team in the country. Which explains how top-ranked Auburn — which clinched its second SEC regular-season title in the last four seasons on Saturday — stumbled only days later at No. 22 Texas A&M, dropping its third game all season, 83-72.
“It’s human nature,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said postgame. “This game did not have implications for a conference championship. If it did, would we have put our bodies on the line a little more? I hope so.”
And for the reeling Aggies, who entered Tuesday night having lost four straight? The program’s first win ever over the nation’s No. 1 team (0-9 previously) couldn’t have come at a better time.
“I understand the results and that we’re judged according to the results,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “I have such respect and admiration for how our guys handled everything in the last two weeks. I understand we lost four games in a row. Credit to our staff and group.”
It’s not like Williams’ team stole this one at the buzzer, either. The exact opposite, in fact; Texas A&M led wire-to-wire, with its aggressive defense — which entered the game eighth nationally in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom — visibly exhausting Auburn all night. For only the second time all season, and the first since before Thanksgiving, Auburn didn’t lead once in the first half. And while the Tigers still wound up scoring 72 points, that’s far off their average of 85.4, the fifth-highest in Division-I.
If anything, this game was a testament to Texas A&M’s “kamikaze” play style, which clearly wore down the shorthanded Tigers. Auburn point guard Denver Jones — an every-game starter and double-digit scorer, who Pearl said postgame is his team’s “most physical defender” — missed his first contest all season with an ankle injury he suffered Saturday versus Kentucky, and National Player of the Year contender Johni Broome briefly exited the game in the first half with an apparent shoulder injury. (Broome returned, but only finished with eight points on four-of-nine shooting, the third time this season he’s finished a game only scoring single-digits.)
But those injuries were not why Auburn lost — or rather, why Texas A&M won. The Aggies asserted their will in the best way possible, with the nation’s best offensive rebounding team gobbling up 24 offensive boards, and often making the most of second-chance opportunities; A&M’s 29 second-chance points were its second most in a game this season,and exploited one of the league champs’ few susceptibilities. Case in point: Williams is now 6-2 against Pearl in SEC games
“We got physically punched in the mouth,” Pearl told Auburn’s radio station postgame.
It also helped that Williams’ team — whose offense often oscillates between “painful to watch” and “gritty” — shot the ball better than usual. Texas A&M entered Tuesday night making just 30.6 percent of its 3s this season, “good” for 326th nationally, but instead made nine 3s versus Auburn, only the eighth time this season it’s made that many treys.
Four drains a 3👌#GigEm pic.twitter.com/v3yOgbhnse
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) March 5, 2025
Auburn even tried going zone at times to throw A&M’s offense out of whack, but the Aggies — led by Zhuric Phelps’ team-best 19 points, and Wade Tayor IV’s 16 — kept bombing away, often with success.
For Taylor — the heartbeat of this program for several seasons, whose jersey was honored immediately after the game — there’s almost no drawing up a better Senior Night send-off. (Maybe one where fans storm the court following an all-time win… but Williams followed Missouri coach Dennis Gates’ lead from earlier this season and waved for Texas A&M’s students not to rush the floor in the final seconds, so as to avoid a hefty SEC fine.)
“His impact on our program has been distinct. He represents everything our school is about,” Williams said of Taylor, who could set the program’s all-time scoring record on Saturday against LSU. “I’m thankful we were able to honor him.”
As for Auburn, the loss in and of itself isn’t a concern…but getting whole again certainly is. Broome’s shoulder injury, which initially looked more serious, turned out not to be significant enough to hold him out, but the Tigers aren’t going anywhere this postseason if he’s less than 100 percent; that immediately becomes the team’s priority. And Jones, the team’s best 3-point shooter and floor general, was sorely missed, too. The 6-foot-4 guard struggled in the team’s previous two losses — going for two combined points on zero-for-eight shooting against Duke and Florida — and it now seems apparent how integral he is to Auburn’s postseason ambitions.
With Broome struggling, freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford again led the Tigers in scoring with 19 points, with all six of his made baskets coming from 3. Chad Baker-Mazara chipped in 15, as well, and Miles Kelly — who exploded for 30 points and nine made 3s versus Kentucky on Saturday — added 12.
This is Texas A&M’s seventh Quad-1 win this season, although the Aggies are still on the outside looking in for a double-bye in next week’s SEC Tournament.
Required reading
(Photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
