AUBURN, Ala. – Johni Broome and Wendell Green Jr. each scored 16 points but Texas A&M grabbed a big first-half lead and held on to defeat No. 15 Auburn 79-63 Wednesday at Neville Arena, ending the nation's longest home winning streak at 28.
"Texas A&M is a really good team," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "I think they're one of the top four teams in our league. They outplayed us tonight. A veteran, talented, physical team. They're going to have a good year."
Trailing by 15 at the half, Auburn faced a narrow path to a comeback.
Green started the second half with a steal and layup, and the Tigers pulled within single digits at 50-41 on Jaylin Williams' bucket with 15:14 to play.
Five straight missed shots prevented Auburn from getting closer until Williams hit a pair of free throws to cut the Aggies' lead to eight with 3:38 remaining.
Auburn then forced a turnover but the Tigers were unable to capitalize and Texas A&M closed out the game making nine free throws and two last-minute buckets to win by 16.
Broome added seven rebounds and seven blocked shots. Williams paced the Tigers with seven assists while scoring eight points.
Texas A&M's trap bothered Auburn, leading to eight steals, 13 Tiger turnovers and a 16-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
"We worked on it all week long. We knew what they would do," Pearl said. "We turned it over too many times and weren't able to get out of those traps and play make out of space. It was unfortunate that our guards weren't able to handle the double team and make more positive plays to get us better looks."
"Ball pressure bothered us and we can't let that happen," said Chris Moore, who played 12 minutes after missing Auburn's previous three games with a shoulder injury.
It was Auburn's first home loss since Feb. 23, 2021.
Green hit a 3-pointer for Auburn's first bucket, starting a 10-0 run that gave the sold-out crowd an early jolt.
Green made a steal and passed to Allen Flanigan for a transition dunk that put Auburn ahead 10-2 but Texas A&M outscored the Tigers 43-20 the rest of the half.
The Aggies hit six 3-pointers in the first half, hitting seven consecutive shots during a 21-5 run that gave Texas A&M a 10-point lead at the 3:48 mark.
"They came in and made shots," Pearl said. "They played great. You've got to give them credit. We had a hard time staying in front of them."
Green's drive pulled the Tigers within eight but Auburn struggled with turnovers and missed shots down the stretch and the Aggies scored the final seven points of the half to lead 45-30 at intermission.
Tyrece Radford scored 16 in the half and Wade Taylor IV added 11, making all three of his 3-point attempts.
Radford added 14 points in the second half to finish with 30 for the Aggies (14-6, 6-1), adding nine rebounds.
"He's a great player, great athlete," Pearl said. "One of the best athletes in the country. Big, strong and physical."
Auburn (16-4, 6-2) competes in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at West Virginia Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES>> For the fourth straight game, Auburn went with the starting lineup of Wendell Green Jr., Zep Jasper, Allen Flanigan, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome (3-1).
>> Texas A&M won its second straight game in the series with Auburn including last year's win in the quarterfinals of the 2022 SEC Tournament in Tampa, Fla. The Aggies are now 7-2 at Neville Arena since joining the SEC in 2012. Both teams will meet again on Feb. 7 in College Station.
>> Auburn's home-court win streak ends at 28-straight games – the longest in program history from Feb. 27, 2021 to Jan. 25, 2023. The previous long was 24 straight wins from Nov. 13, 1998 to Feb. 19, 2000.
>> Wendell Green Jr. is now on a team-leading six-game double-digit scoring streak with 16 points and five assists against Texas A&M. He also went 7-for-9 from the free throw line in the contest.
>> The Tigers swatted 10 of the Aggies' shots behind seven from Johni Broome, two from Dylan Cardwell and one from Jaylin Williams. It was the fifth time to have 10 or more blocked shots in a ballgame this season – the first in SEC play.
>> Jaylin Williams dished out a season-high seven of the team's 14 assists against Texas A&M. It was one short of his career high.
>> Zep Jasper scored six of his season-high SEC points in the first half of playgoing 2-for-4 from beyond the arc versus Texas A&M.
>>Johni Broome reached double figures for the second straight game with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks against Texas A&M.
>> Chris Moore returned to the lineup after missing the last three SEC games due to an injury.