Zhuric Phelps scored 19 points and No. 22 Texas A&M defeated a No. 1 team for the first time in program history with an 83-72 victory over Auburn on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play in College Station, Texas.
Wade Taylor IV added 16 points and Pharrel Payne had 12 points as the Aggies (21-9, 10-7 SEC) snapped a four-game losing streak. Andersson Garcia scored 11 points and Manny Obaseki had 10 for Texas A&M.
Texas A&M had lost nine previous games against top-ranked teams – the most recent at Auburn in 2022.
Tahaad Pettiford made six 3-pointers and scored 19 points for Auburn (27-3, 15-2), which had a six-game winning streak halted. Chad Baker-Mazara scored 15 points and Miles Kelly had 12 points and a career-high five steals.
National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome of the Tigers had just eight points for his second straight single-digit scoring output.
Texas A&M made 43.1 percent of its shots and hit 9 of 25 from 3-point range.
Auburn shot 50 percent — 9 of 22 from behind the arc. Kelly made just 1 of 8 field-goal attempts and missed all four 3-point tries after scoring a season-high 30 points and sinking a career-best nine 3-pointers Saturday in a win over Kentucky.
Texas A&M held a six-point halftime advantage Tuesday and doubled the lead to 51-39 on a trey from Obaseki with 16:17 left.
Pettiford hit three 3-pointers over a 92-second span as the Tigers moved within 57-51 with 13:43 remaining.
The Aggies answered with a three-point play by Taylor and a putback by Payne to take an 11-point lead with 12:35 left.
Texas A&M led 69-56 after Solomon Washington split two free throws with 9:40 remaining.
Broome and Kelly later converted consecutive hoops to bring Auburn within 73-65 with 5:30 left.
Payne’s dunk made it 79-67 with 2:08 remaining.
The Aggies scored the game’s first seven points and led 12-2 after a basket by Hayden Hefner with 16:44 left in the half.
Auburn crept within 28-27 on a hoop by Chris Moore with 3:28 remaining. Garcia answered with a 3-pointer as Texas A&M scored 12 of the next 16 points to take a 40-31 lead.
Baker-Mazara hit a last-second trey to pull Auburn within 40-34 at halftime. Phelps scored 11 in the half for Texas A&M and Baker-Mazara had 10 for the Tigers.
–Field Level Media
