Tuesday, March 4
Bryan-College Station
8:00 PM
Texas A&M
vs
Auburn
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 22 Aggies Host Auburn in Rare Reed Matchup vs. AP No. 1 Team
Mar 03, 2025 | Men's Basketball
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 22 Texas A&M men's basketball team faces off against the top-ranked Auburn Tigers in a rare home matchup against the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Reed Arena.
PROMOTIONS FOR AUBURN VS. TEXAS A&M
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
As of 3/2
LAST 10 GAMES VS. AUBURN
* SEC Tournament, Tampa, Fla.
AGGIES vs. AP No. 1
Texas A&M seeks its first-ever victory over the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 poll vs. top-ranked Auburn.
The highest-ranked win in program history was the 67-61 triumph over No. 2 Alabama on 3/4/23.
An Aggie victory would be the highest ranked win of Buzz Williams' 18-year career with games vs. No. 1 at Marquette (vs. Duke in 2010, at Syracuse in 2012), at Virginia Tech (vs. Duke in 2019 NCAA Tournament) and Texas A&M (at Auburn in 2019).
Texas A&M vs. AP No. 1 History
Bold denotes home game at Reed Arena
* - Wooden Classic, Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)
+ - Big 12 Tournament, Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
NEED-TO-KNOWS
MILESTONES TO WATCH:
ONE OF A KIND: A&M is D1's only team ranked in the top 10 in total rebounds/G (No. 6), offensive rebounds (No. 1) and rebound margin (No. 8).
SUM OF PARTS: Texas A&M is one of three SEC teams averaging more than 40.0 rebounds/G for the full season (No. 3 with 40.8/G), and are doing it without any single player ranked among the league's top 20 (Andersson Garcia ranks No. 22 at 5.8/G)
Among the 14 D1 teams averaging 40+ rebounds/G, Texas A&M and Tennessee State are only schools without a player averaging 6.0+ rebounds/G.
OFFENSIVE GLASS: Texas A&M leads the NCAA with an average of 15.9 offensive rebounds/G for the full season and leads the SEC with 14.9 o-rebounds/G in league games.
DRAWING FOULS: Minnesota transfer Pharrel Payne leads the nation in FTA/G with 4.6/G among all D1 averaging fewer than 20:00 minutes/G (min. 20 games).
TREND BULLETS
TV/RADIO
- It is the fourth time the AP No. 1 team will visit College Station and the first time during the Buzz Williams era at Texas A&M. Other visits by the AP No. 1 were Kansas on 2/15/10 Kentucky on 1/10/15 and Tennessee on 2/2/19.
- In the Buzz Williams era, the Aggies has faced the AP No. 1 once - a 75-58 road loss to Auburn on 2/12/2022.
- A&M leads 15-7 in the all-time series with Auburn, dating back to the first meeting on Dec. 22, 1961 - a 62-50 Aggie win in Houston.
- Auburn won last year's meeting with a 66-55 win on its home court (1/9/24).
- Since Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012-13, the Aggies hold a 12-5 advantage over Auburn, including a 5-2 edge at home.
- In the Buzz Williams era, the Aggies are 5-2 vs. the Tigers, including a 2-0 record at Reed Arena.
PROMOTIONS FOR AUBURN VS. TEXAS A&M
- Senior Night: Pregame recognition of 8 seniors and 3 team managers.
- Aggie Basketball adidas Shirt Giveaway: Available for the first 500 fans to the game in the Fan Zone.
- VetTix: Texas A&M Athletics is working with Vet Tix to provide complimentary tickets to Aggie home athletic events across venues for the 2024-25 academic year. Military personnel can claim free tickets via https://www.vettix.org/
- A&M Student Early Entry: The North AND South entry of Reed Arena will open at 6:30 p.m. for ANY A&M student. All doors will open to all fans at 7 p.m.
- Fan Zone (North Entry): Tent setup with TVs, music, games & more! For ALL fans starting at 7 p.m.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
| Statistic | Auburn | Rank | Texas A&M | Rank |
| Scoring Offense | 85.4 | 4 | 73.8 | T-190 |
| Scoring Defense | 68.8 | 82 | 67.4 | 56 |
| Scoring Margin | 16.7 | 5 | 6.3 | 92 |
| Field Goal % | 48.5 | 21 | 41.8 | 320 |
| Free Throw % | 74.7 | 87 | 69.4 | 269 |
| Free Throws/G | 15.8 | 66 | 17 | 21 |
| FT Attempts/G | 21.1 | 78 | 24.5 | 13 |
| 3-Point % | 37.1 | 38 | 30.6 | 325 |
| 3-Pointers/G | 9.4 | 47 | 6.9 | T-267 |
| 3-Point Attempts/G | 25.3 | 77 | 22.4 | T-184 |
| FG% Defense | 40.4 | 26 | 40.2 | 21 |
| 3-Point % Defense | 29.4 | 9 | 33.2 | 162 |
| Fouls/G | 18.5 | 314 | 17.1 | T-207 |
| Rebound Margin | 5 | 39 | 8.7 | 8 |
| Off. Rebounds/G | 12 | 74 | 15.86 | 1 |
| Def. Rebounds/G | 25.93 | 79 | 24.93 | T-155 |
| Rebounds/G | 37.93 | 55 | 40.79 | 6 |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 1.82 | 4 | 0.97 | 294 |
| Turnovers Forced/G | 12.07 | 177 | 13.72 | 56 |
| Effective FG pct | 0.56 | 25 | 0.476 | 322 |
LAST 10 GAMES VS. AUBURN
| Date | Opponent (RK) | Result | TAMU | Opp |
| 02/18/2017 | Auburn | W | 81 | 62 |
| 02/07/2018 | @Auburn (8) | W | 81 | 80 |
| 01/16/2019 | Auburn (14) | L | 66 | 85 |
| 03/04/2020 | @Auburn (17) | W | 78 | 75 |
| 01/02/2021 | Auburn | W | 68 | 66 |
| 02/12/2022 | @Auburn (1) | L | 58 | 75 |
| 03/11/2022 | *Auburn (4) | W | 67 | 62 |
| 01/25/2023 | @Auburn (15) | W | 79 | 63 |
| 02/07/2023 | Auburn | W | 83 | 78 |
| 01/09/2024 | @Auburn (16) | L | 55 | 66 |
AGGIES vs. AP No. 1
Texas A&M seeks its first-ever victory over the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 poll vs. top-ranked Auburn.
The highest-ranked win in program history was the 67-61 triumph over No. 2 Alabama on 3/4/23.
An Aggie victory would be the highest ranked win of Buzz Williams' 18-year career with games vs. No. 1 at Marquette (vs. Duke in 2010, at Syracuse in 2012), at Virginia Tech (vs. Duke in 2019 NCAA Tournament) and Texas A&M (at Auburn in 2019).
Texas A&M vs. AP No. 1 History
| Date | Opponent (RK) | Result | TAMU | Opp |
| 12/11/1971 | at UCLA (1) | L | 53 | 117 |
| 1/22/1997 | @Kansas (1) | L | 60 | 89 |
| 12/9/2006 | *UCLA (1) | L | 62 | 65 |
| 1/16/2010 | @Texas (1) | L | 67 | 72 |
| 2/15/2010 | Kansas (1) | L | 54 | 59 |
| 3/12/2010 | *Kansas (1) | L | 66 | 79 |
| 1/10/2015 | Kentucky (1) | L | 64 | 70 |
| 2/2/2019 | Tennessee (1) | L | 76 | 93 |
| 2/12/2022 | @Auburn (1) | L | 58 | 75 |
* - Wooden Classic, Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)
+ - Big 12 Tournament, Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
NEED-TO-KNOWS
MILESTONES TO WATCH:
- Wade Taylor IV needs 24 points match 2022 Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bernard King's 22-year old career scoring record of 1,990 set from 1999-2003.
- Henry Coleman III (798) and Andersson Garcia (795) are both within reach of 800 for their full careers, while Pharrel Payne (494) is nearing 500.
- Coleman needs one victory to join the 90-win club at Texas A&M.
- Hayden Hefner's next 3-pointer will be his 100 for his career.
ONE OF A KIND: A&M is D1's only team ranked in the top 10 in total rebounds/G (No. 6), offensive rebounds (No. 1) and rebound margin (No. 8).
SUM OF PARTS: Texas A&M is one of three SEC teams averaging more than 40.0 rebounds/G for the full season (No. 3 with 40.8/G), and are doing it without any single player ranked among the league's top 20 (Andersson Garcia ranks No. 22 at 5.8/G)
Among the 14 D1 teams averaging 40+ rebounds/G, Texas A&M and Tennessee State are only schools without a player averaging 6.0+ rebounds/G.
OFFENSIVE GLASS: Texas A&M leads the NCAA with an average of 15.9 offensive rebounds/G for the full season and leads the SEC with 14.9 o-rebounds/G in league games.
DRAWING FOULS: Minnesota transfer Pharrel Payne leads the nation in FTA/G with 4.6/G among all D1 averaging fewer than 20:00 minutes/G (min. 20 games).
TREND BULLETS
- Despite allowing their last five opponents hit more than 41.0% of their FGA, the Aggies still rank No. 8 in KenPom.com's Adjusted Defensive Efficiency rating at 99.2, which is an estimate of the defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) a team would have against the average D-I offense.
- In more common statistical measures, A&M ranks No. 21 nationally in FG% allowed at .402. The Aggies allow 22.0 FGM/G (No. 18) on 54.8 FGA/G (No. 43).
- The Aggies rank No. 7 in KenPom.com's Adjusted Defensive Efficiency rating at 92.9, which is an estimate of the defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) a team would have against the average D-I offense.
- In more common statistical measures, A&M is one of 19 D1 teams holding opponents to less than 40.0% from the field. Opponents hit just 39.9% of their FGA vs. the Aggies, which is No. 18 nationally. Similarly, the Aggies allow 21.7 FGM/G (No. 11) on 54.4 FGA/G (No. 34).
- The Aggies average 5.4 more shots/game than their opponents in SEC play, which ranks No. 2 among league schools.
- A&M limits its league opponents to just 53.9 FGA/G, which is the lowest average in the conference by 1.0 FGA/G over Vanderbilt (54.9).
- Over his past five games, Nebraska transfer CJ Wilcher is connecting on 50.0% of his 3-point shots. The sharpshooter has hit at least one 3-pointer in 11 of his last 12 games, including last five, while raising his season 3FG% to 42.0%, which is easily the best on the team.
- Among SEC players with at least 75 3FGA, Wilcher's 41.9% ranks No. 8.
- Of Wilcher's 100 FGA as an Aggie, just seven have been inside the 3-point line.
- Wade Taylor IV is averaging 15.8 points over his last five games with three 18+ efforts and four games with at least six assists.
- Taylor ranks fourth in the SEC in 3-point attempts/G at 7.5. His 2.4 treys/G rank No. 13 among SEC players. He has attempted four or more 3-pointers in 57 straight games.
- Taylor has reached 10+ points in 24 of 25 games, and 15 or more 16 times, in 2024-25. He has exactly 100 games with 10+ points.
- A&M pounds the offensive glass for a NCAA-best 15.9 offensive rebounds/G, which allows the Aggies to average 4.9 more FGA than their opponent for the full season. In SEC play, the M&W average 14.9 OR/G and shoot 5.4 more balls than their league opponents.
- Texas A&M hoops has rallied from a 15-point or more deficit to at least a tie six times in the past two seasons, including twice already in 2024-25. (Comeback history on page 4)
- Six of Texas A&M's game results have been decided by three points or less (3-3 record) and 14 games have been within one-possession after the under 4:00 media timeout (9-5). (Tight games history on pg. 4)
- Texas A&M has earned 40+ rebounds in 16 games, while just allowing 40+ opponent rebounds just four times.
- In a bit of an oddity, the Aggies shoot better from beyond the arc away from Reed Arena (32.9% in 134 road/neutral) compared to 28.3% in 15 home games. Even weirder, the Aggies have made 34.4% from deep in nine true road games.
- The Aggies are 15-4 when hitting least 65% of their FTA and 5-5 when connecting on less than 65%. Similarly, the Aggies are 15-6 when they earn 20 or more FTA.
TV/RADIO
- The matchup airs on the Texas A&M Radio Network, locally on 1620 AM/94.5 FM or worldwide on the 12th Man Mobile App with Andrew Monaco and Dr. John Thornton describing the action. It is also available on SiriusXM on channel 106 or 190.
- The game will be broadcast on ESPN with Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes providing the description.
Bucky McMillan's Postgame Locker Room Speech: Houston
Monday, March 23
Houston Postgame: Bucky McMillan, Rashaun Agee, Pop Isaacs
Saturday, March 21
Saint Mary's Postgame: Bucky McMillan, Rashaun Agee, Ruben Dominguez
Thursday, March 19
Highlights: A&M 63, Saint Mary's 50
Thursday, March 19
