Shooting slump & season-high in turnovers sink A&M at No. 16 Auburn

Press conference video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.

The effort and tenacity that defines Texas A&M basketball identity was regained, but it wasn’t enough to overcome continued poor shooting and miscues in a 66-55 Southeastern Conference loss at No. 16 Auburn on Tuesday night.

The Aggies (9-6, 0-2) had rallied from a 9-point deficit to take a lead midway through the second half.

But they did not manage a field goal over the last 9:15 to suffer their second consecutive conference loss.

A&M held a 48-46 lead after Henry Coleman III dunked an offensive rebound with 9:15 remaining. However, the Aggies notched only nine free throws the rest of the way.

The Aggies, who struggled with shooting accuracy in an SEC-opening to LSU last Saturday, again had trouble with their aim, especially from the 3-point line.

They shot just 29 percent from the field (18 of 62). They hit only 15.8 percent (3 of 19) from 3-point range.

Coleman scored 17 points and had seven rebounds to lead the Aggies. Tyrece Radford, who had 31 points in a win at Auburn last year, had 14.

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Taylor’s eight points were a season-low for the SEC’s Preseason Player of the Year.

But Wade Taylor IV managed just eight points on 2-of-16 shooting. He missed all eight attempts from behind the arc.

However, the shooting issues weren’t the most alarming aspect of the loss. The Aggies committed a season-high 19 turnovers, which Auburn (13-2, 2-0) parlayed into 17 points.

Auburn seemed to dominate play in the first half, but couldn’t pull away from the stubborn Aggies. The Tigers only held a 30-22 halftime lead.

Auburn’s margin reached nine points, 33-24, after forward Johni Broome hit a free throw with 18:28 to play.

But Coleman converted a trio of conventional three-point plays in a one-minute span to bring the Aggies within 42-41 with 13:09 left.

Then Radford drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 44-42 Aggies lead with 12:29 to play.

A&M maintained the lead for three minutes.

But after Coleman’s dunk for a 48-46 lead at the 9:15 mark, the A&M offense went into a deep freeze.

From there, the Aggies missed its last 10 shots from the field.

Their free-throw shooting — A&M converted 16-of-19 at the foul line — and dogged defense enabled them to remain in contention.

However, forward Jaylin Williams, who led Auburn with 22 points, hit a clutch 3-pointer with 52 seconds left for a 62-55 lead. That started a 7-0 Auburn run to close the scoring.