Jan. 9, 2018
By Scott Scroggins
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" For the second straight game, Auburn entered the fourth quarter with a chance to upset a nationally-ranked opponent, as the Tigers trailed No. 19 Texas A&M by only three points at 56-53 entering the final period.
But the Aggies opened the final frame on an 11-2 run to go up by as many as 14. Auburn answered with a 9-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to five, but the Tigers then went nearly four minutes without scoring and Texas A&M hung for an 82-73 victory Sunday at Auburn Arena.
"We can't give them 82 points," Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "That's definitely not the way we play defense, and we'll never win a basketball game allowing a team to score 82 points on us."
Here are three takeaways from Sunday's game.
Auburn's Big 3 leads the wayAuburn has been led all season by the trio of junior Janiah McKay, sophomore Daisa Alexander and freshman Unique Thompson. Sunday was no different, as the group scored 64 of the Tigers' 73 points. It is the sixth time this season all three have scored in double figures in a game.
McKay led the Tigers with 25 points and seven assists. It was her fifth 20-point game of the season and the second time in three league games that she has scored 25 points; the Gainesville, Fla., native scored 25 vs. Florida in the Tigers' win in their SEC opener. McKay is fourth in the SEC averaging 20.0 points per game in league play.
Thompson finished the day with 22 points on 11-of-15 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds against the Aggies, just missing her fifth double-double of her freshman campaign. The Theodore, Ala., native leads all SEC freshmen and is fifth overall in the league in rebounding at 9.1 boards per game and is third among freshmen in the league averaging 11.8 points per game.
Alexander scored in double figures for the 13th time in 15 games this season as she chipped in with 17 points and dished out a career-high six assists against Texas A&M.
Tigers perfect from the free-throw lineAuburn set a new school record for the most made free throws in a game without a miss by going 16-of-16 from the foul line against Texas A&M. McKay became the fourth Tiger in program history to go 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.
The Tigers have made 19 consecutive free throws dating back to their previous game at No. 7 Tennessee. Auburn leads the SEC in league play with an 86.1 free-throw percentage through three conference games.
"We knew when we attacked, we could get to the free-throw line," Williams-Flournoy said. "We went 16-for-16 at the free-throw line."
Auburn set to play its third straight nationally-ranked opponentAfter dropping tight contests at No. 7 Tennessee and against No. 19 Texas A&M in its last two games, Auburn will play its third consecutive game against a ranked opponent when the Tigers travel to defending national champion and ninth-ranked South Carolina Thursday. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT.
"You got No. 7, No. 19, No. 4 (South Carolina was No. 4 prior to losing to Missouri on Sunday), tough stretch," Williams-Flournoy said. "But we've got to keep fighting. And the thing about it, we're right there. We're not getting blown out. We're right there ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" at Tennessee, we're right there, Texas A&M, we're right there. We've just got to keep fighting."