All of the lights in Auburn Arena were turned off a few minutes before tipoff Tuesday night.
Spotlights shone only on five framed jerseys on the court, one for each of the five seniors who were honored in a pregame ceremony.
But as soon as the lights were turned back on and the ball was thrown up at center court, it was the four seniors in black Texas A&M uniforms who took center stage.
Auburn’s seniors had their spotlight stolen by the Aggies, who came back from an 11-point deficit in the first half to win, 81-63.
“Texas A&M played like a champion, turned it on in the second half like you knew they would,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “Disappointed that we didn’t come out of the locker room to win that game. We let them continue to physically take it to us.”
Auburn kept the game close in the first half, though the statistics would have indicated otherwise.
Texas A&M out-rebounded Auburn 32 to 12 in the half, and 17 of those rebounds were on the offensive end. Prior to Tuesday night, Auburn had not surrendered more than 23 offensive rebounds in an entire game this season.
Texas A&M turned the extra opportunities into 10 second-chance points and scored 26 of its 33 first-half points in the paint.
“We can’t let that happen ever in a game,” said Auburn forward Tyler Harris, who was one of the seniors honored pregame. “But that’s what they do, and they do it well. That’s just something that we should have been more locked in on.”
Both teams played through various sirens and emergency lights at the end of the first half as a tornado warning was placed on the Auburn area, which Harris described as “kind of weird.”
Auburn built its lead through the distractions, but A&M closed the half on an 8-0 run to tie the game.
The half did nothing to cool the Aggies off.
Texas A&M opened the second with a 12-0 run behind Danuel House and Jalen Jones, two seniors who led the Aggies in scoring with 19 and 16 points, respectively.
Auburn only gave the ball away six times in the second half, but Texas A&M took full advantage.
The Aggies scored 17 points off turnovers in the half, but it wasn’t the turnovers that bothered Pearl.
“They just physically dominated us, and there’s no excuse for that because we’ve got plenty of size, plenty of seniors,” Pearl said. “But they man-handled us, and that was disappointing. … There’s no excuse for 21 offensive rebounds and 20 defensive rebounds. None. There’s no excuse for them getting every 50/50 ball. None.”
With 1:29 left in the game and Auburn trailing by 16, Pearl turned to the end of his bench and signaled to Cole Stockton and Jonathan Walker, two walk-ons who entered the game with a combined 27 minutes played this season.
The seniors trotted onto the court as Harris, having scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his home finale, reluctantly walked off the Auburn Arena hardwood.
The Dix Hills, New York, native plopped down on the bench and hung a towel over his head as reality slowly — and painfully — began to set in.
The reality that his college career is quickly drawing to a close, and the reality that he will never play in front of an orange-and-blue-clad crowd again.
“Being in that environment here, in this arena, the fans have been great each and every game,” Harris said. “The big games that we won and even the games that we lost, they’ve always been here to support us. I thank the fans here so much for just welcoming me into this home and welcoming me here into the Auburn community. … It’s an amazing feeling, and Auburn will always have a place in my heart.”
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