Despite a midseason dry spell that placed the squad’s tournament dreams in jeopardy, the Aggies hope to add a fifth victory to their four-game winning streak when they travel to Auburn Tuesday.
The No. 20 Texas A&M (22-7, 11-5 SEC) men’s basketball team will look to solidify their SEC tournament spot Tuesday on the road against Auburn, who has lost nine of their last 11 games. This will be the final road game for the Aggies before ending their home schedule with a matchup against Vanderbilt Saturday on senior day.
Aggie senior Jalen Jones took home the most points with 20 attributed to his play against Missouri. Jones’ offense will take the attack into the heart of the Auburn defense by driving for buckets in the paint and exploiting Auburn’s low block average of 4.1 per game, giving them the low rank of 10 out of 14 in the SEC.
The Tigers (11-17, 5-11 SEC) are led on offense by senior Tyler Harris, who can claim an average of 13.7 points per game. Head coach Bruce Pearl has gone through a tough year in his second season at the helm, with top-scorer Kareem Canty announcing midseason that he’s officially declaring for the NBA draft. Canty’s announcement came after Pearl announced his indefinite suspension from the team in early February.
Auburn counts on forward Cinmeon Bowers to gather rebounds, averaging 10 per game. The senior also averages double-digit points with 11 to provide Auburn a nice scoring option close to the net.
Combating Bowers will be freshman center Tyler Davis, who has shot efficiently since the buzzer-beating putback victory against Kentucky. Davis has shot a combined 10-of-14 from the field in the wins over Missouri and Mississippi State with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Senior Alex Caruso achieved a milestone against Missouri, overtaking David Edwards (1991-1994) to sit atop A&M’s all-time assist chart with 606 for his career.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m., and the game may be viewed on ESPNU.
