National Basketball Association
Texas A&M 81, Auburn 62
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 18, 2017
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Officials:
# Antinio Petty, # Wil Howard, # Sean Casey
Attendance:
9377
By The Sports Xchange
Freshman forward Robert Williams had 13 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots to fuel Texas A&M's 81-62 rout of Auburn on Saturday at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
Sophomore guard Admon Gilder scored 17 points, and junior center Tonny Trocha-Morelos added 11 points for the Aggies (14-12, 6-8 SEC), who snapped a two-game slide.
Freshman guard Mustapha Heron scored 20 points to lead the Tigers (16-11, 5-9), who lost their third straight game.
Texas A&M got going early, using a 10-0 run to jump out to a 17-5 lead at the 13-minute mark of the first half. The Aggies' lead grew to 19 on a layup from Eric Villa with 3:43 left before halftime. Texas A&M shot 68.0 percent from the field and outrebounded Auburn 18-8 in the first half.
The Tigers found a flicker of momentum right before halftime, with Ronnie Johnson hitting a deep 3-pointer as time expired to cut the Aggies' lead to 41-27.
Texas A&M didn't let up in the second half and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final 20 minutes. Trocha-Morelos' layup push the Aggies' lead to 61-42 with 9:20 to play. The Tigers never mounted a serious challenge.
Texas A&M shot 68.9 percent for the game, using its size advantage to dominate the smaller Tigers in the paint. The Aggies outrebounded Auburn 37-28.
With four regular-season games left, both teams need strong finishes and deep runs in the SEC tournament to have any chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Top Game Performances
Auburn |
|
Texas A&M |
Mustapha Heron 20 |
Scoring |
Admon Gilder 17 |
Jared Harper 4 |
Assists |
Admon Gilder 5 |
Mustapha Heron 5 |
Rebounds |
Robert Williams 9 |
Danjel Purifoy 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Tyler Davis 4 |
Danjel Purifoy 3 |
Steals |
Admon Gilder 3 |
T.J. Dunans 1 |
Blocks |
Robert Williams 6 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Auburn
|
62 |
34.3 |
11-34 |
5-7 |
15 |
24 |
2 |
12 |
12 |
Texas A&M
|
81 |
68.9 |
9-14 |
10-18 |
18 |
36 |
8 |
10 |
19 |