No. 1 Auburn falls to No. 22 Texas A&M

By Canadian Press on March 4, 2025.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Zhuric Phelps scored 19 points off the bench and No. 22 Texas A&M never trailed in a 83-72 win over top-ranked Auburn on Tuesday night.

It’s Texas A&M’s first-ever win over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll and ends a six-game winning streak for the Tigers, who clinched the Southeastern Conference title with a win over Kentucky on Saturday.

Texas A&M (21-9, 10-7 SEC) denied Auburn (27-3, 15-2) an undefeated conference road record after the Tigers entered the game 9-0 in SEC road games this season.

The Aggies, who snapped a season-long four-game skid, led by double digits for most of the night and were up 12 with about two minutes to go before Tahaad Pettiford made a 3-pointer to get Auburn within 79-70. But Phelps made two free throws to extend the lead.

Pettiford made three 3-pointers in less than two minutes early in the second half to power a run that got the Tigers within six, but Wade Taylor IV had a three-point play that started a 5-0 run which pushed A&M’s advantage to 62-51.

Pettiford led Auburn with 19 points, including six 3-pointers.

NO. 23 BYU 89, NO. 10 IOWA ST. 85, 2OT

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Richie Saunders scored 23 points and No. 23 BYU outlasted No. 10 Iowa State 88-85 in double overtime for its seventh consecutive victory.

Dallin Hall had 22 points off the bench for the Cougars (22-8, 13-6 Big 12), who recovered after blowing a 21-point lead. Egor Demin added 12 points and Mawot Mag scored 10.

Joshua Jefferson finished with 19 points for the Cyclones (22-8, 12-7), and Milan Momcilovic had 18. Curtis Jones scored 16 off the bench, Tamin Lipsey added 15 and Keshon Gilbert contributed 13.

NO. 16 MEMPHIS 75, UTSA 70

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Dain Dainja scored 19 points and No. 16 Memphis beat UTSA to clinch at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title.

The Tigers — who won their first regular-season conference title since 2012-13, their final season in Conference USA — will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which begins March 12.

PJ Haggerty added 18 points, going 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 10 seconds for Memphis (25-5, 15-2 American Athletic Conference). Nick Jourdain added 13 points and Colby Rogers scored 10.

Jonnivius Smith led UTSA (11-18, 5-12) with a season-high 18 points. Marcus Millender added 16, Primo Spears finished with 14 points and seven assists and Tai’Reon Joseph scored 12.

NOL 18 PURDUE 100, RUTGERS 71

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith scored 23 points apiece to lead No. 18 Purdue past Rutgers.

Loyer and Smith each made seven 3-pointers as the Boilermakers went 18 of 36 from beyond the arc. Trey Kaufman-Renn added 16 points for Purdue (21-9, 13-6 Big Ten), which has won two in a row following a four-game skid.

Dylan Harper scored 13 points and Ace Bailey had 12 for the Scarlet Knights (14-16, 7-12).

Ten players scored for the Boilermakers.

Purdue shot 56% percent from the field while holding Rutgers to 44%. The Boilermakers also held a 40-26 rebounding edge. Caleb Furst, the lone Purdue senior, led the way with nine rebounds in his final home game and Kaufman-Renn had eight.

NO. 19 KENTUCKY 85, LSU 64

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Otega Oweh scored 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting to lead No. 19 Kentucky to a win over LSU.

Ansley Almonor and Brandon Garrison scored 15 points each and Collin Chandler finished with 11 for Kentucky (20-10, 9-8 Southeastern Conference).

Robert Miller III led LSU (14-16, 3-14) with 15 points, followed by Cam Carter with 14 and Jordan Sears with 13.

Oweh scored 15 points in the first half as the Wildcats took a 50-23 halftime lead.

NO. 24 ARIZONA 113, ARIZONA ST. 100

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Henri Veesaar scored 22 points, Caleb Love added 21 and No. 24 Arizona pulled away for a win over rival Arizona State.

The Wildcats (20-10, 14-5 Big 12) won the first meeting this season in a game that got so testy at the end Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley pulled his players off the floor before the handshake line.

The rematch had far less animosity, and the scrappy Sun Devils (13-17, 4-15) managed to keep it close late despite being down to five scholarship players after starting guard Adam Miller was injured in the first 28 seconds.

Arizona wore down the Sun Devils, shooting 59% with a 52-30 advantage in the paint to earn a bye into the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. KJ Lewis added 21 points.

Alston Mason led Arizona State with 33 points.

TEXAS 87, NO. 25 MISSISSIPPI ST. 82, OT

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Tramon Mark had 24 points and Tre Johnson scored 23 to lead Texas to an overtime win over No. 25 Mississippi State.

Mark and Arthur Kaluma both hit two free throws in the final 21 seconds of overtime to secure the win.

Mark and Johnson were a combined 10 of 15 from 3-point range for the Longhorns (17-13, 6-11 Southeastern Conference).

Josh Hubbard scored all 16 of his points in the second half to lead Mississippi State (20-10, 8-9). RJ Melendez had 15 points for the Bulldogs while KeShawn Murphy finished with 13.

Mississippi State finished the second half on an 11-2 run and sent the game into overtime on Riley Kugel’s layup with nine seconds remaining. Mark missed a deep 3-point attempt for Texas at the regulation buzzer.

The Associated Press