Texas A&M
21-9,10-7SEC
Auburn
27-3,15-2SEC
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
No. 22 Aggies Take Down No. 1 Auburn in Wire-to-Wire Victory
Mar 04, 2025 | Men's Basketball
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 22 Texas A&M men's basketball team beat the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in program history with a wire-to-wire 83-72 victory over the top-ranked Auburn Tigers in front of a delirious crowd of 12,257 on Tuesday at Reed Arena.
The Aggies snapped their four-game losing streak with a flourish while also honoring eight seniors or graduates on Senior Night. Players honored in the pregame celebration were Jace Carter, Henry Coleman III, Andersson Garcia, Hayden Hefner, Manny Obaseki, Zhuric Phelps, Wade Taylor IV and CJ Wilcher. After the game, Taylor's #4 jersey was raised to the rafters to honor his impact on the Texas A&M program.
With the win, Texas A&M improved to 21-9 overall and 10-7 in SEC play, while the SEC regular season champion Tigers absorbed just their third loss of the season to fall to 27-3 and 15-2.
It was the Aggies' first win in 10 all-time games against the nation's No. 1 team. The three highest-ranked wins in school history have now come in the Buzz Williams era. The other two victories were over No. 2 Alabama, 67-61, in the 2022-23 regular season finale at Reed Arena and over No. 4 Auburn, 67-62, in the 2022 SEC Tournament in Tampa, Florida.
The Maroon & White used a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures to tame the Tigers. Leading the way was Phelps, who tallied 19 points using an array of long-range shots, mid-range jumpers and acrobatic layups. He earned 10 trips to the free throw line while drawing a game-high six fouls from the Tigers.
Joining Phelps in double figures were Taylor with 16, junior Pharrel Payne with 12, Garcia with 11 and Obaseki with 10. Garcia, the Dominican Dennis Rodman, willed his way to a double-double with 11 rebounds, while also dishing out five assists and blocking two shots. The seniors and graduates combined to score 51 of the Aggies' 83 points and logged 27 of 41 rebounds.
The Aggies earned a 16-rebound advantage on the boards, 41 to 25, and won a 24 to 9 lead on the offensive glass. The 24 offensive rebounds were a season high for an opponent against the Tigers. It was the seventh game with 20+ offensive rebounds for the national leaders in the statistic. The dominance on the offensive glass led to a 29 to 11 bulge in second-chance points for the Aggies.
Postgame Notes
· Head coach Buzz Williams started an all-senior lineup of Hayden Hefner, Wade Taylor IV, Andersson Garcia, Henry Coleman III and Manny Obaseki for the first time this season.
· The Aggies tallied their seventh win of the season over an AP Top 25 opponent, which was already a school record for a single season (previous record was five by the 1978-79 Aggies).
· Wade Taylor IV's 16-point night raised his career point total to 1,982 and he now trails Texas A&M's all-time points leader Bernard King (1,990 from 1999-2003) by just eight.
· Henry Coleman III and Andersson Garcia both eclipsed the 800-rebound plateau with strong efforts on the boards. The fifth-year seniors stand at 806 for Garcia and 805 for Coleman. Junior Pharrel Payne fell just shy of 500 career rebounds and goes into Saturday's regular season finale at LSU with 499 for his career.
· The win by the Aggies gave Coleman the 90th win of his career and increased his school-record total of victories over ranked opponents to 17.
Postgame Quotes
Coach Buzz Williams
On the impact that Wade Taylor IV has had on the team...
"I think the impact on our program that '4' has in his four years has been distinct. Who he is on and off the floor represents all the things that this institution is about. I don't want to negate the other players that have been here with him throughout all four years or their families or their loyalty. I think what took place before the game is just as much a testament to our culture as anything and I'm thankful that '4' was able to be honored that way."
On Coach Bruce Pearl (Auburn Head Coach) complimenting the team's physicality and toughness....
"I appreciate Coach saying that, I think we have to play incredibly physical, and I think we have to do a lot of the things that are not necessarily in the stat sheet for us to win. Two things that we identified this summer in what we call OTAs, that had to be a premium that we held one another accountable to and we began to give language to those things. I do think that at times we have shown great growth. I appreciate Coach Pearl saying that, but our communication and physicality must be the foundation of all of the other things that we're trying to accomplish on both sides of the ball."
Senior Guard Wade Taylor IV
On how important wades parents being there meant to him…
"They put me in this position. They made all the sacrifices, so I was able to let out some real emotions with them. They always talk to me at night, making sure I stay grounded and move on to the next thing, no matter what's going on in the world. Keeping God first and staying true to myself is what matters most."
Senior Forward Andersson Garcia
On Andy's teammates stepping up when his family can't be there…
"It's really tough, but my team has been helping me a lot with that. They are my family. They showed up when I needed them."
Senior Guard Zhuric Phelps
On the newfound level of confidence they brought after breaking the four game losing streak…
"This is just what we do on a daily basis. We know what we're capable of. Like Andy said, this is a family. We stick together through the wins and the losses. The past few weeks haven't gone our way, but staying together as a family has brought us to this moment. I don't necessarily think it was just because it was Senior Night or because of the game plan. This is who we are."
