National Basketball Association
Texas A&M 83, Auburn 72
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Officials:
# Jeb Hartness, # Pat Adams, # Vladimir Voyard-Tadal
Attendance:
12257
By Field Level Media
Zhuric Phelps scored 19 points and No. 22 Texas A&M defeated a No. 1 team for the first time in program history with an 83-72 victory over Auburn on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play in College Station, Texas.
Wade Taylor IV added 16 points and Pharrel Payne had 12 points as the Aggies (21-9, 10-7 SEC) snapped a four-game losing streak. Andersson Garcia scored 11 points and Manny Obaseki had 10 for Texas A&M.
Texas A&M had lost nine previous games against top-ranked teams - the most recent at Auburn in 2022.
Tahaad Pettiford made six 3-pointers and scored 19 points for Auburn (27-3, 15-2), which had a six-game winning streak halted. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 15 points and Miles Kelly had 12 points and a career-high five steals.
National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome of the Tigers had just eight points for his second straight single-digit scoring output.
Texas A&M made 43.1 percent of its shots and hit 9 of 25 from 3-point range.
Auburn shot 50 percent -- 9 of 22 from behind the arc. Kelly made just 1 of 8 field-goal attempts and missed all four 3-point tries after scoring a season-high 30 points and sinking a career-best nine 3-pointers Saturday in a win over Kentucky.
Texas A&M held a six-point halftime advantage Tuesday and doubled the lead to 51-39 on a trey from Obaseki with 16:17 left.
Pettiford hit three 3-pointers over a 92-second span as the Tigers moved within 57-51 with 13:43 remaining.
The Aggies answered with a three-point play by Taylor and a putback by Payne to take an 11-point lead with 12:35 left.
Texas A&M led 69-56 after Solomon Washington split two free throws with 9:40 remaining.
Broome and Kelly later converted consecutive hoops to bring Auburn within 73-65 with 5:30 left.
Payne's dunk made it 79-67 with 2:08 remaining.
The Aggies scored the game's first seven points and led 12-2 after a basket by Hayden Hefner with 16:44 left in the half.
Auburn crept within 28-27 on a hoop by Chris Moore with 3:28 remaining. Garcia answered with a 3-pointer as Texas A&M scored 12 of the next 16 points to take a 40-31 lead.
Baker-Mazara hit a last-second trey to pull Auburn within 40-34 at halftime. Phelps scored 11 in the half for Texas A&M and Baker-Mazara had 10 for the Tigers.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Auburn |
|
Texas A&M |
Tahaad Pettiford 19 |
Scoring |
Zhuric Phelps 19 |
Chad Baker-Mazara 5 |
Assists |
Andersson Garcia 5 |
Johni Broome 7 |
Rebounds |
Andersson Garcia 11 |
Miles Kelly 10 |
Free Throws Made |
Zhuric Phelps 5 |
Miles Kelly 5 |
Steals |
Jace Carter 2 |
Chad Baker-Mazara 2 |
Blocks |
Andersson Garcia 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Auburn
|
72 |
50.0 |
9-22 |
13-15 |
16 |
24 |
5 |
8 |
13 |
Texas A&M
|
83 |
43.1 |
9-25 |
18-25 |
16 |
39 |
2 |
7 |
11 |