Auburn fans inside Neville Arena erupted Tuesday night when KeShawn Murphy splashed a deep 3 to beat the buzzer and lift Auburn over Texas A&M, 91-90.
The only problem? Murphy’s shot came after the buzzer. After the officiating crew was finally able to cut through the roar of the home crowd and the celebratory light show inside the arena ended, SEC officials waved off the basket.
Ballgame. A&M wins 90-88. It was time for Aggie head coach Bucky McMilan and his team to celebrate as a hush fell over Neville Arena.
Here’s the sequence:
And here’s the scene from inside the arena:
The result dropped Auburn to 9-6 in Steven Pearl’s first season on the bench. The Tigers got 32 points and 12 rebounds from Keyshawn Hall, who knocked down 3 triples and 13 of his 16 free throws, but gave up 13 3s to an A&M team that shot the lights out from the field.
Pop Isaacs paced the Aggie offense with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Jacari Lane scored 17 while Ruben Dominguez and Rashaun Agee each added 14. As a team, A&M shot 52% from the field and 43% from beyond the arc.
Auburn was more effective at getting itself to the free throw line, and the Tigers came away with 19 offensive rebounds to win the rebounding battle, but A&M’s ability to knock down 3s was the equalizer.
Fitting, then, that the game should be decided on a 3 that didn’t count.
Auburn shot 45% from the floor and 27% from 3 (7-of-26).
A&M moved to 12-3 with the win. The Aggies play Oklahoma at home on Saturday.
Auburn, which is 0-2 to begin SEC play for the first time since 2020, hosts No. 15 Arkansas on Saturday.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
