Observations: Texas A&M 83, Auburn 72

The Tigers were down a key player and in a traditionally tough matchup. That doesn't excuse getting physically dominated, though.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Let’s get one thing straight up front: This Auburn basketball team was good enough to win the toughest version of the SEC ever — with a week to spare — on its own merits.

But it would be foolish to overlook the fortunate timing the Tigers have also had with their schedule.

Auburn opened its conference season with Missouri, well before it became one of the hottest teams in the country. There was the off date before a monumental home win over Tennessee, which helped get Johni Broome back on the floor at a crucial time.

The Tigers also had a good chunk of road games early, meaning they could get a run of the straight home games late in their title push. Of the other current top-five teams in the SEC, Alabama was the only team Auburn had to play away from home.

Timing can be everything, and Tuesday night reflected that in more ways than one.

With the outright regular-season SEC championship already clinched, Auburn wasn’t in a must-win situation at Texas A&M. The Tigers’ work at claiming a title was done with their road win over Kentucky last Saturday and Alabama’s collapse at Tennessee.

That softened the blow two-fold: First, Auburn wouldn’t be in a desperate situation if Denver Jones — its starting point guard and top perimeter defender — wasn’t able to play after suffering an injury in that Kentucky win.

Second, Bruce Pearl and Auburn wouldn’t absolutely need to walk out of Texas A&M after a quick, three-day turnaround with a road win over Buzz Williams, who is now 6-2 against the Tigers during his time with the Aggies. That includes a perfect 3-0 mark in College Station.

“It's been a tough matchup for us,” Pearl said Tuesday. “It's been a tough matchup for me. Buzz does a great job. You know, systems do match up with each other. The things that they do bother us a little bit.”

Not having Jones mattered against a Texas A&M team that, while having been one of the least efficient shooting clubs in America, had its best performance from 3-point range in more than a month. It also mattered on offense, as Auburn had its second-highest turnover rate all season.

But, ultimately, the reason why Auburn left Reed Arena on Tuesday night with another loss to Texas A&M was that the Tigers got “physically manhandled” by the Aggies.

And that just can’t happen.

“We have no excuses to allow these guys to get 24 offensive rebounds,” Pearl said after Auburn’s 83-72 loss. “I give Texas A&M all the credit — all the credit. But our guys were physically dominated. No, I don't excuse our guys at all.

“We're better than that. But not tonight.”

Auburn got out-rebounded by 16 overall. Texas A&M rebounded 24 of its own misses, while Auburn only got 16 of them on the defensive glass. The Aggies turned that advantage into 29 second-chance points, which were 18 more than the Tigers had.

That tone was set early. Texas A&M had six rebounds — including three on offense — before Auburn got its first board. The Aggies went up 7-0 early. They would never trail, and the Tigers only spent around six more minutes down by a single possession the rest of the way.

This was a wire-to-wire victory for Texas A&M, much like the ones Auburn has handed out to plenty of quality teams over the course of its charge to a potential No. 1 overall seed.

So, yes, there were plenty of things you could point to as reasons why Auburn’s trip wasn’t going to go well: The timing, the Jones injury, the matchups, etc.

Also, Texas A&M was desperate after four straight losses. Auburn was already locked-in as the best team in the conference. This win for the Aggies means infinitely more than this loss ever could for the Tigers, who are still in a great position to accomplish all of their goals.

But the way it all played out Tuesday night makes this result sting more than the stakes would indicate.

“Look, they've beaten us before this way,” Pearl said. “But you're either going to man up or… the scouting report's out. It's out. The best way to beat Auburn is to hit them in the mouth. And we're either going to be able to handle the physicality of the play, or we're not.

“Tonight, we just couldn't handle it.”

Here are four Observations from Auburn’s 83-72 loss at Texas A&M, along with the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and the Quote of the Night.