There aren’t many weaknesses with Auburn this season. The Tigers have been near the top of the rankings all season and seemed destined to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But if you listen to Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, things aren’t all peachy, as was the case when the top-ranked Tigers strolled into College Station to face Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
The result was a wire-to-wire 83-72 victory for the Aggies, handing Auburn just its third loss of the season.
‘They physically manhandled us,’ Pearl said. ‘And if this team is going to continue to win, we’re going to run up against teams like Texas A&M or like Florida or like Duke that are big and physical.’
The Tigers were outrebounded 41-25, and 24 offensive rebounds led to 29 second-chance points for A&M.
‘We have no excuses to allow those guys to get 24 offensive rebounds,’ Pearl said. ‘I give Texas A&M all the credit. Our guys were physically dominated. So no, I don’t excuse our guys at all. We’re better than that, but not tonight.’
Auburn’s Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome had just eight points, his second straight game scoring under double figures.
Auburn (27-3, 15-2 SEC) concludes its regular season on Saturday against Alabama and the Aggies (21-9, 10-7) hit the road to take on LSU before the conference tournament starts next week in Nashville.
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
