Auburn struggles in stunning SEC Tournament loss to Texas A&M

Down goes No. 1. Top-seeded Auburn is out of the SEC Tournament after a 67-62 upset loss to No. 8 seed Texas A&M.

The Tigers found their shooting stroke in the second half, closing a 20-point lead to single digits with 4:28 to play. But the Aggies pulled away to eventually bring home the win — and send Auburn home earlier than fans expected.

The first half was, in a word, rough for Auburn. The Tigers shot just 6-for-37 (16.2%) from the field, including 3-for-20 (15%) from three-point territory, and made just one of their last 16 shots to end the half. But things turned around after halftime as Auburn went 15-for-30 from the field after halftime to make things interesting late.

After the game, Aggies coach Buzz Williams addressed his game plan to go small, saying he wanted to push the tempo against Auburn’s big lineup.

“They put a lot of pressure on you in every possible way,” Williams told host Dari Nowkhah. “They’re more talented, Dari, than us at every position. Relative to us playing small ball, we want fast to beat big, and the only way that happens is when fast is fast, right?

“We have no chance to match up and just tip it up and think we’re going to play a normal game. We’re can’t beat Auburn that way. Fast has to beat big, but in order for that to happen, fast has to be fast.”

Inside the box score: Texas A&M vs. Auburn

Wendell Green Jr. did everything he could to get the Tigers back into it, scoring 12 of his 15 points after halftime — including two late threes to make it a five-point game. But Texas A&M pulled away to stay out in front and, eventually, win the game.

Tyrece Radford had a monster day for the Aggies, scoring 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, including 5-for-6 from three-point land. Quenton Jackson added 17 points while Henry Coleman III dropped 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Texas A&M.

Auburn had three players reach double figures, led by star guard Jabari Smith, who had 17 points despite a rough shooting day, going 5-for-16 from the field and 3-for-10 from downtown. Walker Kessler had a big day, as well, scoring 16 points to go with nine rebounds and four blocks. Green’s 15 were also big for the Tigers down the stretch.

It’s just Auburn’s fifth loss of the year — its fourth against an SEC team. The Tigers are a shoo-in for the tournament, but now they have to wait and see how this loss affects their seeding when Selection Sunday comes around.

Texas A&M now advances to the SEC Tournament semifinals, where it’ll face the winner of No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 5 LSU. That game is set for approximately 2:45 p.m. ET on ESPN.