Auburn stumbles in race for top seed in NCAA Tournament after 83-72 loss to Texas A&M

Auburn had a firm hold on the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, but it might have opened the door on that after suffering its third loss of the season on Tuesday night. Texas A&M handed an 83-72 defeat to the Tigers, keeping them at arm’s length the whole game as the Aggies took the lead on their first possession and never conceded it.

The loss means No. 1 Auburn (27-3 overall, 15-2 SEC) and No. 2 Duke (27-3, 18-1 ACC), who were the top two seeds in that order in Fox Sports’ Mike DeCourcy’s bracket projection, are now tied on overall record. The Blue Devils hold the head-to-head advantage since they beat the Tigers 84-78 on Dec. 4. Auburn still has the stronger resume with a 16-2 record in Quad 1 games to Duke’s 6-3 record.

Johni Broome was held to eight points three days after scoring just nine points against Kentucky. Broome is the odds-on favorite (-240) to win the Wooden Player of the Year award, per Bet MGM. These two down performances may give way to Duke freshman Cooper Flagg to regain traction in the race for this award.

The Tigers had traversed the gauntlet that is the SEC schedule with ease until Tuesday’s game in College Station. Zhuric Phelps scored 19 points off the bench and No. 22 Texas A&M earned its first-ever win over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll. The Aggies ended a six-game winning streak for the Tigers, who clinched the Southeastern Conference title with a win over Kentucky on Saturday.

Texas A&M (21-9, 10-7 SEC) denied Auburn an undefeated conference road record after the Tigers entered the game 9-0 in SEC road games this season.

The Aggies, who snapped a season-long four-game skid, led by double digits for most of the night and were up 12 with about two minutes to go before Tahaad Pettiford made a 3-pointer to get Auburn within 79-70. But Phelps made two free throws to extend the lead.

Pettiford made three 3-pointers in less than two minutes early in the second half to power a run that got the Tigers within six, but Wade Taylor IV had a three-point play that started a 5-0 run which pushed A&M’s advantage to 62-51.

Pettiford led Auburn with 19 points, including six 3-pointers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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