Takeaways: No. 16 Auburn survives physical battle, defeats Texas A&M 66-55

The Tigers finished strong against the Aggies to move to 2-0 in SEC play.

Author:
Lance Dawe
Publish date:
Jan 9, 2024 11:47 PM EST

In this story:

The SEC is going to feature a lot of dogfights like this one.

The Tigers (13-2, 2-0 SEC) closed out their SEC home opener strong, defeating the Texas A&M Aggies 66-55.

It was a rough, physical battle that featured a lot of poor officiating, an odd moment with the crowd, and a lot of struggling offense.

Here are three takeaways from Auburn's victory.

Auburn lost the battle, but not the war

The Tigers came into the game knowing it was going to be a physical battle on the boards. A&M leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage and collects nearly 45% of their misses. They grabbed 43.1% of their missed shots tonight, but it ended up not mattering.

Auburn lost the rebound battle 44-34 and managed to find a way with clutch shots and even more clutch defense as the game wound down. Texas A&M didn't score a field goal for the final 9:15 of the game. They finished the contest 1-of-12.

The offense may give out for the Tigers. But the defense can step up make plays.

Have a night, Jaylin Williams

He's just simply built different.

Williams finished with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. Yet another efficient night from one of the SEC's most consistent scorers.

Pearl's offense desperately needed someone to step up tonight, and Williams delivered.

Tough sledding for the stars, but Auburn's bench came through

Minus Jaylin Williams, Auburn really couldn't get their top scorers going tonight. Aden Holloway, Johni Broome and Chad-Baker Mazara went a combined 4-of-16 from the field.

Wade Taylor, A&M's lead guard and scorer of 30 points in his last trip to Neville, finished the game with eight points on 2-of-16 shooting. Woof.

Thankfully for the Tigers, their depth outlasted the Aggies. Auburn's bench outscored A&M 26-6. Bruce Pearl said that he was going to utilize his depth during conference play, and it has showed through two games. Auburn had nine different players finish with double-digit minutes opposed to A&M's seven.