© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK
Takeaways from Auburn Basketball’s loss vs. Texas A&M
The Auburn Tigers took on the Aggies in College Station Tuesday night. Auburn was called for 26 fouls and the Aggies shot 39 free throws to Auburn’s 13. It has been a tough week in Auburn athletics experience with officiating. The Tigers played really well tonight. They executed well on the offensive end. They played hard. They deserved to win, but it didn’t happen. Here are a few takeaways from tonight’s game.
Lineup changes
Fans have been crying out for it for weeks. Tonight it happened. Tre Donaldson shared the floor with Wendell Green Jr. Lior Berman was also on the floor and immediately hit a three to go up 20-14. This tells me one thing. Coach Bruce Pearl is desperate for more offense. Desperation will make you try anything, even something you said you wouldn’t a week ago. Coach Pearl said that he was not interested in playing both at the same time, but Auburn didn’t score 20 points in the first half on Saturday. They were there around a quarter of the way through this game in part due to this new look lineup.
Officiating continues to be a major problem
This was not a basketball game tonight. It was a referee show. Unwatchable does not begin to describe it, and it was a crime against basketball. This was 3 hours of watching mostly one team shoot free throws. Auburn was up double digits through a large part of the first half. Unfortunately, the refs began calling all kinds of fouls on Auburn and none on Texas A&M. They called Auburn for twice as many fouls and even gave the ball to A&M when it clearly went off their players foot. These calls stopped all momentum the Tigers had and led to the Aggies tying the game at the half. Auburn was the better team in the first half. They led in every major statistical category, but were called for far more fouls. Texas A&M shot 21 more free throws. There is one reason for this. His name is Pat Adams. He’s notoriously bad at his job. Auburn rarely wins when he officiates. It always feels personal. He finds a way to make games about himself. He’s an embarrassment to the game of basketball.
Finally, here are some twitter reactions and highlights from tonight’s game
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