AUBURN, Ala. – As good as Auburn has been at home the past three seasons, the Tigers have been just as impressive on the road. They are tops in the SEC with a 37-22 (.627) mark since the 2017-18 season, ahead of Tennessee (.611), Kentucky (.571) and Florida (.534).
Auburn will put that record to the test Saturday afternoon at Texas A&M.
It's the first SEC contest away from home for the Tigers who have won two of their last three SEC road openers with wins at Mississippi State (2020) and Tennessee (2018). They also won the last time they played in Bryan-College Station, leaving town with an 85-66 victory in 2018.
Both Auburn and Texas A&M will be searching for their first conference win Saturday after starting 0-1 in league play. But there were some positives for this Auburn team to take away from Wednesday's loss to Arkansas, especially on the offensive end.
"I thought our kids competed," Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said. "If you make 15 3s and shoot 50 percent from the field, you had to do a lot of good things on the offensive end. I thought the guys played with some confidence. I thought they shared the ball really well. We're going have to do that against Texas A&M, as well avoid drawing charges. I like the progress that we've made. We've still got some real weaknesses that we've got to shore up."
The Arkansas game marked the 16th time Auburn has made 15 or more 3s in a game since Pearl took prior to the 2014-15 season, the most of any team in the SEC.
The Tigers will look to stay hot Saturday against Texas A&M. The game will tip off at 2:30 p.m. CT from Reed Arena. Andy Burcham and Sonny Smith will have the radio call on 93.9 Tiger FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the TuneIn app. The game will also be televised on SEC Network with Roy Philpott and Mark Wise on the call.
Player to Watch: Devan Cambridge
When Devan Cambridge gets hot, watch out. The sophomore has produced three careers games where he has hit at least five 3s, including Auburn's last game against Arkansas. In those games, Cambridge shot 22 of 31 (71 percent) from the floor, 18 of 25 (72 percent) from deep and averaged 20.7 points per game.
Inside the Series: Texas A&M
Auburn and Texas A&M will meet for the 17th time in series history Saturday. Texas A&M leads 11-5 all-time and has won four of the last five. However, the series is tied 3-3 in games played in Bryan-College Station all-time.
The Aggies won last year's game in Auburn Arena, 78-75, snapping a 19-game home winning streak for Auburn and ending the Tigers' bid to complete a perfect season at home.
In the last matchup to take place at Texas A&M on Jan. 16, 2019, Bryce Brown caught fire early scoring 20 points in the first half, including 18 straight for Auburn that also included a 12-0 spurt for the Tigers. Jared Harper had 17 points and six assists, while Anfernee McLemore rattled off 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting behind the arc and six rebounds to highlight an 85-66 win.
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is 2-5 in his head coaching career against Texas A&M and 1-1 in his career against current Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams.
Road Warriors
While Auburn has taken care of business at home with a 50-5 record over the last three-plus campaigns, the Tigers have also shown their grit on the road. Auburn owns a 37-22 (.627) mark away from home since the 2017-18 season, which is tops in the league, ahead of Tennessee (33-21, .611), Kentucky (32-23, .571) and Florida (31-27, .534).
One of SEC's Most Improved
With the departure of the five seniors and Isaac Okoro, who went No. 5 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, there was plenty of opportunity for those that returned. Enter Allen Flanigan. The Arkansas native is Auburn's leading scorer at 14.3 points per game after averaging just 3.2 points per contest a season ago. His 11.1 improvement ranks third in the SEC, just behind Mississippi State's Iverson Molinar (12.8) and Vanderbilt's Scottie Pippen Jr. (12.6).
Auburn hits the road for SEC tilt at Texas A&M
