After a successful two-game road trip ended with a victory over South Carolina on Saturday, No. 15 Auburn hosts Texas A&M on Wednesday night looking to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 29 games.
The red-hot Tigers (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) dominated the Gamecocks from start to finish and earned their fifth straight victory behind double-doubles from Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr.
Broome had a season-high 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and the 41st of his career.
Green scored in double-figures for the fifth straight game, finishing with 16 points. He added a season-high 12 assists and became the first Auburn player to have a double-double with points and assists since he accomplished the feat against Georgia one year and two days earlier.
“Green’s passing boosted the whole team’s confidence,” Broome said. “He had 12 assists. Wendell is a special point guard. Everybody knows he can score, but I think his passing is a little bit underrated and he proved that (against South Carolina).”
With Chris Moore (right shoulder) still sidelined, Allen Flanigan made his fourth start of the season and matched a career high with 10 rebounds while scoring eight points. He has pulled down at least seven boards in four of his past five games.
Tigers walk-on Lior Berman has seen his minutes rise off the bench with Moore sidelined and has played well.
Jaylin Williams (10.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists per game) extended his double-digit scoring streak to four games in the win over the Gamecocks by adding 12 points.
Auburn improved to 3-0 with the starting lineup of Green (13.7 ppg, 4.2 apg), Broome (13.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg), Flanigan (8.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Williams and Zep Jasper (3.5 ppg).
Texas A&M (13-6, 5-1) is coming off a 76-67 loss at Kentucky on Saturday afternoon despite getting 22 points from Tyrece Radford.
The Aggies had a 31-29 halftime lead but were outscored 47-36 in the second half primarily due to the Wildcats’ Antonio Reeves, who finished with a season-high 23 points.
Radford (12.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg) scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as Texas A&M dropped its first conference game of the year and saw a seven-game overall winning streak end.
Julius Marble (12 points), Henry Coleman III (10 points, six rebounds) and Dexter Dennis (10 points, six boards) also played well for the Aggies.
One bright spot for the Aggies was their interior defense on last year’s national college player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe, who grabbed 17 rebounds but was limited to just seven points, 9.6 below his season average. But ultimately 18 more shots by Kentucky and offensive rebounding — the Wildcats held a 16-4 advantage — proved to be the difference in the game.
“Mathematically, it’s just hard to overcome when your opponent shoots 18 more shots,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “I would say what has led to the first five wins is what caused the first loss.”
–Field Level Media
