Texas A&M trounces top-ranked Auburn: How Aggies wore down Tigers to snag first ever win over No. 1 team

New York Times

05-03-2025

Turns out, nobody's immune from 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.
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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.
It's not like Buzz Williams' team stole this one at the buzzer, either. The exact opposite; 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. 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 — 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 one of the few areas where the SEC champs are somewhat susceptible. 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.
Four drains a 3👌#GigEm pic.twitter.com/v3yOgbhnse
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) March 5, 2025
Auburn even attempted going zone at times, but the Aggies — led by Zhuric Phelps' team-best 19 points, and Wade Tayor IV's 16 — kept bombing away, often with success.
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.
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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.