Texas A&M dominates No. 1 Auburn, makes program history with upset victory

Texas A&M entered Tuesday night hoping to snap two different losing streaks. The first was a four-game skid, which dropped the Aggies to 20-9 overall and 9-7 in SEC play.

The other was nine straight losses to the AP No. 1-ranked team. With a dominant showing Tuesday night at Reed Arena against Auburn, the Aggies took care of both.

Texas A&M got off to a quick start and didn’t trail Auburn in the first half. The Aggies then kept their foot on the gas after halftime and eventually sealed the 83-72 victory.

Just like that, Texas A&M got back on track. In the process, the Aggies became just the fifth team in history to snap a losing streak of four games or longer by beating the AP No. 1-ranked team in the country.

Texas A&M took a 40-34 lead into the halftime locker room, and the Aggies’ lead grew to as many as 13 in the second half. But Auburn didn’t back down, getting within single digits in the final minutes to make things interesting. However, the Aggies responded in kind and eventually pulled away to knock off the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in program history.

Five Texas A&M players hit double-digit scoring to lead the wire-to-wire victory. Zhuric Phelps led all scorers with 19 points while Wade Taylor IV added 16 to go with three rebounds. Andersson Garcia also had a big night with 11 points and 11 rebounds, along with five assists.

On the Auburn side, Tahaad Pettiford had 19 points while Chad Baker-Mazara added 15. Miles Kelly had 12 points as he went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.

With the victory, the Aggies improve to 10-7 overall in conference play, still right in the thick of the standings. Texas A&M is now a half-game behind Missouri for the No. 5-seed, and a Tigers loss would give the Aggies that spot heading into the final day of the regular season.

As for Auburn, the Tigers already secured an outright SEC title, entering Tuesday’s game three games ahead of second-place Florida and Alabama with two to play. Bruce Pearl’s group will be the No. 1 seed at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville when the SEC Tournament gets underway.

Texas A&M will close out the regular season on Saturday against LSU. Auburn, meanwhile, will square off against Alabama in a high-profile rematch in The Jungle.