Field Level Media
Mar 4, 2020
Josh Nebo scored 17 of his team-high 19 points in the second half before fouling out with 1:42 remaining as visiting Texas A&M beat No. 17 Auburn, 78-75, on Wednesday night.
The Tigers (24-6, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) took their first loss in 17 home games this season and saw their 19-game Auburn Arena winning streak end.
Wendell Mitchell, Jay Jay Chandler and Savion Flagg each scored 14 points for the Aggies (15-14, 9-8), who finished 5-4 in SEC road games. Their regular-season finale is at home against Arkansas on Saturday.
Auburn's Samir Doughty led all scorers with 25 points. Isaac Okoro and Austin Wiley added 15 each for the Tigers, who wrap up the regular season at Tennessee on Saturday.
A pair of technical fouls against Auburn coach Bruce Pearl and his son, assistant coach Steven Pearl, were critical. They seemed to stem the momentum the Tigers had at the start of the second half.
The Tigers had quickly overcome a seven-point halftime deficit to grab a 35-33 lead, and they were up 38-37 until Mitchell hit four free throws awarded for the technicals with 15:46 to play.
The visitors never trailed the rest of the game but couldn't breathe easily until Danjel Purifoy missed a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer that could have sent the game to overtime.
The Tigers took less than four minutes to jump out to a 12-1 lead, but after hitting five of their first six shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, they suddenly went cold.
Over the last 16 minutes of the half, they had three field-goal droughts of nearly three minutes each, and the Aggies went on a 16-3 run for a 17-15 lead with 9:30 left in the half. Texas A&M eventually led 33-26 at halftime.
--Field Level Media