Wild, Confusing Ending to Auburn-Texas A&M Game Left Both Coaches Upset

Stephen Douglas | Jan 7, 2026

Steven Pearl had to plead his case to someone after an Auburn buzzer-beater was waved off. / ESPN / YouTub

Texas A&M beat Auburn 90-88 on Tuesday night in a game that featured a truly wild finish. The Aggies nearly blew an eight-point lead in the final minute of the game and lost the game after a buzzer-beater from KeShawn Murphy was overturned by an official review.

Auburn celebrated in the moment, but were then left confused and devastated when the basket was taken off the scoreboard. The Auburn crowd went wild and then made so much noise booing the decision that A&M coach Bucky McMillan had to cut his postgame interview short with ESPN.

Here is the full, agonizing scene as it unfolded:

The worst part is the Auburn players seeing something that they thought confirmed they had won and having a second celebration seconds before the officials ruled that the basket didn't count. As the officials walked off the court Auburn coach Steven Pearl was left showing something on an iPad to... someone. Pearl tried to make sense of it in his postgame interview.

"There was zero communication. They didn't say a word. They just said it was no good and ran off the floor. I probably wouldn't want to talk to me in that moment anyway, so I get why they'd run away from me." - Steven Pearl on the scene after Auburn's buzzer-beater was waved off pic.twitter.com/qfrzdUrEol

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) January 7, 2026

"There was zero communication," said Pearl. "They didn't say a word. They just said it was no good and ran off the floor. I probably wouldn't want to talk to me in that moment anyway, so I get why they'd run away from me. Yeah, I mean just from the angles I saw it looked like it was off his fingers, but I don't have all the same angles they have. I'm just looking at an iPad you know and it looks like on the clock it says point two, but obviously... Like on the floor I'm like sh--, we just won the game."

Meanwhile, in McMillan's press conference he had his own issues with the officiating in the final minutes and thought that the refs basically owed A&M the call.

“I think [the officials] knew the situation — if it was close it had to go our way based on what had just transpired the play before.” Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan following Auburn’s overturned buzzer beater pic.twitter.com/MIW7kMwraI

— The Barn (@TheBarn_Auburn) January 7, 2026

"The game's over if there's not a clock malfunction. They had no timeouts," explained McMillan. Auburn's ill-fated buzzer-beater was set up by an intentionally missed free throw by the Aggies that didn't touch the rim.

Texas A&M failed to guard the guy who took and made the final shot, but McMillan argued they might have guarded the play perfectly since he didn't technically get the shot off.

"I thought the officials in the situation... I think they knew the situation," said McMillan. "That if it was close then it had to go our way based on what had just transpired the play before."

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