Tournament Bound? Aggies Stun No. 1 Seed Auburn in SEC Quarterfinals
The Aggies headed into the SEC tournament as a bubble team with little hope of making it to the NCAA tournament. An eight-game losing streak during the season had dug A&M into a major hole.
And with the No. 1 seed Auburn Tigers on tap for the SEC quarterfinals Friday morning in Tampa, one last gasp toward the Big Dance seemed unlikely.
But behind a game-high 19 points from Tyrece Radford and 17 points from Quenton Jackson, eighth-seeded A&M (22-11) shocked Auburn (27-5) in a 67-62 win to advance to the semifinals on Saturday.
The upset skyrockets A&M's chances of making it into the NCAA tournament. The Aggies have now won six straight games, the longest streak in the SEC.
Kim Klement, USA Today
Kim Klement, USA Today
Auburn was led by forward Jabari Smith (17 points) and guard Wendell Green Jr. (15 points). Despite forcing 16 A&M turnovers, the Tigers shot 36 3-pointers as a team and failed to use their size advantage in the paint.
The Aggies dominated the first half in impressive fashion, mounting a 37-21 lead heading into the locker room. Twenty-one points was a season-low first-half scoring mark for the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament.
Despite losing the turnover battle 7-5, A&M shot 5-9 from deep compared to 3-20 for Auburn. The Tigers' over-reliance on the 3-point shot resulted in just three makes from inside the arc.
Auburn center Walker Kessler is second in the country with 4.5 blocks per game, but he and the Tigers showed little resistance in the paint in the first half. Coleman led all scorers with 12 points through the first 20 minutes on 6-9 shooting.
USA Today
Kim Klement, USA Today
A&M guard Tyrece Radford was a major reason the Aggies were able to build a surprising 16-point lead heading into the break. He scored eight-straight points in the closing minutes.
With a response from Auburn expected in the second frame, A&M refused to flinch. Radford buried his fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the game in the first 10 minutes, as the Aggies had climbed to a 20-point lead.
But the Tigers' rally eventually came. Auburn started to build momentum behind Green Jr., who nailed four deep 3s to bring the game within single digits. He scored 12-straight points for the Tigers, all coming off 3s from NBA range.
A neutral site game at Amalie Arena started to feel like an Auburn home game. All of sudden, it was a 60-55 A&M lead with two minutes remaining. But then Jackson came alive for the Aggies.
A vicious dunk from the senior made it a 62-55 lead with 1:54 remaining. Then after turning the ball back over, Jackson soared for a violent block on Zep Jasper that put an exclamation point on the win.
He followed this up with five free throws to close things out. A late attempt at a comeback failed for Auburn, as the Aggies secured the upset.
The Aggies advance to the semifinals on Saturday to face the winner of Friday's LSU-Arkansas matchup.
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