Head coach Billy Kennedy was often left wondering what his Texas A&M Aggies were doing against Auburn in Thursday’s loss at the SEC tournament. (Associated Press / Mark Humphrey)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Texas A&M figured it was bound for the NCAA Tournament a little less than two weeks ago. It will likely be hello NIT, however, for the stumbling Aggies following three consecutive losses.
The latest came Thursday afternoon, as 13th-seeded Auburn defeated No. 5 seed A&M 66-59 in the second round of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena.
The Aggies (20-11) had earned a bye in the opening round, and Auburn had defeated Mississippi State on Wednesday night. Surprisingly, the Tigers still appeared to own the fresher legs on Thursday, in out-hustling the Aggies throughout the decisive second half.
“For whatever reason our energy level wasn’t where it needed to be,” A&M fourth-year coach Billy Kennedy said “… (Auburn’s) confidence was better than ours.”
A&M led 33-23 at halftime, but with a little more seven minutes remaining, Auburn led 53-43 – a 20-point swing in the span of about 13 minutes. The Aggies finished with 19 turnovers, including a dozen in the second half (with guard Alex Caruso accounting for eight of those in the final 20 minutes, and 10 total).
“Alex is one of our best players,” Kennedy said. “He just had a bad game.”
Should A&M as expected wind up in the National Invitation Tournament, the Aggies will have missed out on the NCAA postseason in each of Kennedy’s four seasons. They had also failed to advance to the NIT in the three previous years, so this season’s showing is a small step forward for a program that had played in the NCAA tournament from 2006-11 under two prior coaching staffs.
It’s also a disappointing step, however, for A&M fans considering the program’s late-season stumble. The Aggies played without their best player, guard Danuel House, in their last two games because of a sprained foot, and his teammates failed to take up the slack in his absence.
“We didn’t handle the magnitude of the game,” Kennedy said. “We had a hard time handling the pressure, when things went bad for us.”
brent.zwerneman@chron.com
2015 SEC tournament: Auburn 66, Texas A&M 59
