Williams scores 22 as No. 16 Auburn beats cold-shooting Texas A&M 66-55
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Jaylin Williams scored 22 points and No. 16 Auburn didn’t give up a field goal in the final nine minutes to defeat Texas A&M 66-55 on Tuesday night.
Williams’ 3-pointer from the top of the key beat the shot-clock buzzer with 52 seconds left and sealed an eighth straight win for the Tigers (13-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference).
Texas A&M (9-6, 0-2) missed its last 10 shots and didn’t have a field goal after the 9:15 mark. Auburn scored the final seven points, including two free throws apiece from K.D. Johnson and Tre Donaldson.
Williams shot 8 of 10 and had eight rebounds and three assists for Auburn. Johnson added 14 points off the bench and leading scorer Johni Broome had 10, going 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
Texas A&M leading scorer Wade Taylor IV had a season-low eight points, 10 below his season average. He shot 2 of 16 and missed all eight 3-point attempts.
Henry Coleman III led the Aggies with 17 points and Tyrece Radford scored 14.
Coleman converted three-point plays — a basket and free throw — on three straight field goals as Texas A&M turned a nine-point deficit into a lead midway through the second half on Radford’s 3-pointer.
But then Williams capped an 8-0 Auburn run with a reverse layup for a 54-48 advantage with 5:45 left. Broome had scored six straight points on four free throws and a layup before that.
The Aggies stayed close by making their first 13 free throws of the second half, but they shot 29% (18 of 62) from the floor overall.
Auburn jumped nine spots in the AP Top 25 rankings this week after an 83-51 win at Arkansas, the Razorbacks’ largest defeat at Bud Walton Arena. The Tigers found it much harder to beat the Aggies, who ended Auburn’s nation-leading 28-game home winning streak last season.
BIG PICTURE
Texas A&M: Committed four turnovers in the final 2:54 and fell to 0-3 against ranked teams, including a 70-66 loss to No. 2 Houston and a 96-89 defeat against No. 24 Florida Atlantic. The Aggies are 5-2 against Auburn under coach Buzz Williams.
Auburn: Made 21 of 26 free throws (80.8%) and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Aggies.
REACHING 90
How much experience do the Aggies have? Taylor became the seventh current Texas A&M player to appear in his 90th career Division I game, led by Radford (134).
UP NEXT
Texas A&M hosts No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday.
Auburn hosts LSU on Saturday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball