Aggies aim for a sweep of Auburn
COLLEGE STATION — Guard Andre Gordon had seen enough, so he let his fresherfaced Texas A&M teammates hear about it.
“For me being a senior, you just hold everyone accountable in those situations,” Gordon said of a brief albeit baking chat he offered his fellow Aggies during a time out against Georgia on Saturday. “I was kind of fired up … It was, ‘Come on, what are y’all doing, get your head right!’ The little things matter.”
The Aggies led the Bulldogs by 27 points at the time en route to a stress-free 82-57 A&M victory in Reed Arena.
“Yeah, we were up by (27),” Gordon added, “but you’ve got to play hard the whole time.”
The Aggies (16-7, 8-2 SEC) will try and keep that unyielding approach rolling at 6 p.m. Tuesday when they host Auburn (17-6, 7-3) in A&M’S second consecutive home game. The Tigers under coach Bruce Pearl on Monday dropped out of the Associated Press poll following a school record 32 consecutive weeks among the top 25.
The Aggies were responsible in part for ending the nearly two-year-old streak, after they upset then-no. 15 Auburn 79-63 on Jan. 25 in Auburn’s Neville Arena. The Tigers have lost three of their last four games, starting with dropping the home game to A&M, but nearly upset No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn., before falling to the Volunteers 46-43.
“Texas A&M put 79 on us,” Pearl said Monday as the Tigers prepared to exit Auburn for College Station. “That’s the highest total we’ve given up in league play, (so) it starts with our ability to be able to guard them. Our defense has been good, but it requires a tremendous amount of effort and energy and focus. …
“(And) A&M is probably playing as well as anybody in
the league — (the Aggies) and Alabama are probably playing the best.”
The Aggies have won three of their last four games, with the lone setback 81-70 at Arkansas on Jan. 31. A year ago, when the Aggies narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament with a 9-9 SEC mark, they did not win a league regular-season game by more than 16 points.
This year, in their quest to make the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2018 and first time under fourth-year coach Buzz Williams, the Aggies have won five of their league games against LSU, Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn and Georgia by an average of 22.2 points.
Their two SEC losses have been on the road at Kentucky and Arkansas by an average of 10 points. Still, the Aggies' surge hasn't been enough to propel them into the AP
top 25 following a brief appearance early in the season, primarily because of nonconference losses to Murray State, Colorado, Boise State, Memphis and Wofford, none of whom are ranked.
A&M likely will earn the chance to make its biggest impression on the NCAA selection committee with home games against Tennessee on Feb. 21 and No. 3 Alabama on March 4. The Aggies also know they can't afford to start glancing ahead in trying to make the postseason,
especially after an eight-game losing streak at this time a year ago doomed their chances of an NCAA run.
“We have to continue to do us,” A&M forward Henry Coleman III said. “Just continue to focus on our defensive principles and our offensive principles, and not get too far ahead of ourselves. Just focus on the moment and prepare for it.”