No. 22 Texas A&M Aggies Upset No. 1 Auburn Tigers on Senior Night

The Texas A&M Aggies would be nothing without their core of seniors, and that group made sure to say goodbye to College Station the right way Tuesday night against the best team in the country.

Texas A&M guard Zhuric Phelps scored 19 points and No. 22 Texas A&M secured a wire-to-wire 83-72 win over the No. 1 Auburn Tigers at Reed Arena on Senior Night, sending Wade Taylor IV, Henry Coleman III and six more seniors off with one final home victory. The Aggies looked like the more urgent team after losing four straight games, and secured the program’s first-ever win over a No. 1 team as a result.

Taylor IV had 16 points in his final home game as an Aggie while Andersson Garcia (11 points, 11 rebounds), Pharrel Payne (12 points) and Manny Obaseki (10 points) all finished in double figures.

Auburn freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford scored a team-high 19 points while Chad Baker-Mazara added 15 points. Tigers star forward Johni Broome appeared to tweak an elbow injury and never looked right, finishing with just eight points and seven rebounds.

The Aggies out-muscled Auburn from the opening tip, building a 12-2 lead by the 16:44 mark. The Tigers responded and cut the lead to three at 23-20 following a triple from Pettiford after the midway point of the first half.

Texas A&M went nearly five minutes with a made field goal before Taylor IV hit a 3-pointer at the 4:47 mark after Pettiford had cut the lead to two. A late 5-0 run by the Aggies gave them a 40-34 lead at halftime.

Things didn’t slow down to begin the second half. The Aggies used a quick 6-0 run to balloon the lead to eight before another triple from Taylor IV gave Texas A&M a 49-36 advantage with 18:03 to play.

Auburn only cut the lead down to as little as six and were playing catch up for nearly all of the second half. A fastbreak dunk from Payne with 2:08 to play made it a 12-point game and eliminated any chance at a comeback.