COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The effort was there. The energy was there. And it didn't hurt that the backcourt duo of Bryce Brown and Jared Harper poured in 39 points as No. 14 Auburn beat Texas A&M, 85-66, and picked up a critical SEC road win Wednesday night.
"That (win) will work wonders for us," Brown said. "It's our first true road win, and I feel like it helps us at home because we know if we can get the job done away from our place, we can definitely get it done at our place.
"We just want to keep getting as many road wins as we can because that will be the separator between us and other teams in the SEC. In the SEC, it's hard to win road games."
Brown scored first to put Auburn ahead 2-0 and then the senior guard caught fire with about six minutes to go in the first half, scoring 18 consecutive points in a span of five minutes. The spurt included a 12-0 run in which Brown made four straight 3-point shots. He finished with 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting in the first half to give the Tigers a 48-32 lead at the intermission.
"With 18 in a row, obviously we fed the hot hand," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "That had to be fun for Bryce. It was fun for us. His teammates were really good getting him the ball, and that's what he does. You see it in practice. If he can see it, he can make it."
Brown scored just two points in the second half, but Harper, his backcourt mate, picked up the slack with four 3s and 15 points after the break. The junior point guard finished the night with 17 points and a team-high six assists.
The key, however, for Auburn on Wednesday night started on the defensive end where Brown and Harper helped locked down Texas A&M's TJ Starks. The Aggies' leading scorer shot 3 of 14 and finished with six points and five turnovers.
"We wanted to come in and set the tone on defense," Brown said. "We focused in on Starks. We knew he was going to try and do a lot of play-making for this team, and as long as we had all eyes on him at all time, we knew that would make it difficult."
"We just did not let TJ Starks beat us, and that was the key," added Pearl.
It was that defensive effort that helped Auburn jump out to the big lead as the Tigers forced 13 turnovers in the first half and turned those turnovers into 14 points.
Auburn also dominated on the glass with 50 rebounds to just 33 from Texas A&M. Austin Wiley pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds despite playing only 14 minutes due to foul trouble, and fellow big men Chuma Okeke and Horace Spencer finished with seven rebounds apiece.
Anfernee McLemore came off the bench and provided a spark early for the Tigers with three 3-point shots in the first eight minutes of the game. McLemore, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds, scored in double figures for the second straight game. The bench players for Auburn outscored Texas A&M's bench, 27-5.
Next up for Pearl's team is a matchup with No. 12 Kentucky back home inside Auburn Arena. The Tigers will be looking for their second straight win at home in the series.
"It will be a very exciting game," Brown said. "Like always, every time we play Kentucky at home, the crowd and the fans are just amazing. The atmosphere, the intensity of a game – it will feel much like a rivalry. It's time to step up."
The game is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf
