Brief thoughts and grades: No. 2 Auburn over Texas

Like the Missouri game, No. 2 Auburn built a big lead, but didn't completely shut the door on the opponent. Missouri wasn't able to ever really threaten the outcome, but Texas sure did on Tuesday night. It's a learning moment for these Tigers. Building a 21-point lead on the road against a likely NCAA Tournament team is impressive. That's a Quad I win for Auburn, it's nation-leading seventh of the season. But the coaching staff will have plenty to harp on after the lead shrunk to just three points with 33 seconds left. Auburn won basically every statistical category, from field goal percentage to FT percentage, more assists, less turnovers, more fast break points, more second-chance points, more rebounds, more offensive rebounds, more blocks (the Tigers blocked 10 shots!) and so on. The one thing Auburn didn't win was the second half, being outscored 55-48 in the final 20 minutes. That will be the focal point for Bruce Pearl and Co. the rest of this week. Arthur Kaluma going off for 34 points is one thing, he made some tough shots, but as Pearl said postgame, there were too many lapses in 1-on-1 defense. Auburn is better than that. All in all though, a SEC road win, especially against a high-quality opponent, is good stuff. Take it and run. Auburn has opened the season 14-1 or better for the eighth time in program history and the fourth time over the last eight seasons. Stats, grades and thoughts inside.