Murphy's buzzer beater waved off, Auburn falls 90-88 to Texas A&M

AUBURN, Ala. – KeShawn Murphy hit a 35-foot shot at the buzzer and Auburn celebrated what it thought was a wild comeback win, but after a video review, the officials waved off the bucket, ruling Murphy did not release the ball in time, giving Texas A&M a 90-88 victory Tuesday at Neville Arena.

“Heartbreaker,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “I thought we played really good basketball for the first 26 minutes. Credit to them. They made plays in pressure and we made some really silly mistakes.”

Trailing by two points with .6 left on the clock, Auburn inbounded to Murphy who caught the ball, spun and fired a high-arcing shot that swished through the net, sending the Jungle into a delirious celebration.

After conferring at the scorer’s table for a couple minutes, the officials determined that the ball was still in Murphy’s hands when the final tenth of a second transpired. 

“I don’t have a clear understanding of what they were going off of,” Pearl said. “From the angles I saw, it looked like the ball was out of his hands on the red light. I would imagine they had a different angle they were looking at.

“Everyone thinks the game’s over. Sure enough, they made a decision that it was on his fingertips. It’s devastating.”

Auburn trailed by eight points with 1:04 to play before Keyshawn Hall scored seven straight points in the final minute to pull within one point. Hall recorded a double-double with 32 points and 12 rebounds.

Leading by 10 at the half, Auburn extended its lead to 16 on a pair of free throws with 13:29 remaining. 

That's when the game turned. 

Taking advantage of three consecutive Auburn turnovers, the Aggies scored 11 unanswered points in 31 seconds with a layup, a pair of 3-pointers and 3-point play, quickly erasing most of the Tigers’ lead to pull within five.

“They did an unbelievable job of executing and converting off those turnovers,” Pearl said. “Fatigue set in a little bit. That was the difference in the game right there. We weren’t able to take care of the ball and they made shots. They made us pay.”

Elyjah Freeman ended the run with a jumper, then Freeman drove the lane and soared for a crowd-pleasing dunk for a 67-63 Auburn lead with 9:33 to play.

Texas A&M’s Pop Isaacs then hit three 3-pointers in the next 1:16 to start a 15-0 run that transformed Auburn’s four-point lead into an 11-point Aggies advantage with 6:49 to play. Isaacs scored a team-high 21 points for Texas A&M (12-3, 2-0).

After being outscored 33-6 in a span of 6 minutes and 14 seconds, Auburn regrouped down the stretch. 

Kevin Overton hit a corner 3-pointer to pull the Tigers within seven with 2:28 remaining. The Aggies made a deep second-chance 3-pointer to go ahead by 88-80 with 1:04 on the clock.

Hall scored Auburn’s last eight points in the final 42 seconds, including a putback and a free throw to trim Texas A&M’s lead to 88-85 with 32 seconds left.

“Really proud of that but we’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” Pearl said. 

Auburn got the ball back down three with the shot clock turned off. Hall grabbed an offensive rebound and made a pair of free throws to trim Texas A&M’s lead to one with 7 seconds left. 

Auburn then fouled the Aggies, who made a pair of free throws to go back up by three with six seconds remaining. 

Texas A&M fouled Hall, who made the first free throw with five seconds left. He missed the second free throw, leading to a held ball that went to the Aggies, who were fouled but missed both free throws with two seconds left, leading to Murphy’s last-second launch after a video review to determine if the second free throw hit the rim.

Auburn ended a back-and-forth first half on a 9-0 run to take a 47-37 halftime lead.

Hall scored 17 points in the first half to help the Tigers overcome an early eight-point deficit. 

Auburn played all but seven minutes without Filip Jovic, who did not return from a first half knee injury. 

“Him not being in was huge because it led to guys having to play a few too many minutes,” Pearl said.

The Tigers (9-6, 0-2) remain at Neville Arena Saturday, hosting No. 15 Arkansas at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN in a Wear Navy game that features free shakers and t-shirts for Auburn University students. 

“Are we going to pout about or are we going to get on to the next one,” Pearl said. “I’m proud of these kids. I’m incredibly proud of their grit and their fight.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer

GAME NOTES

• Auburn used the starting lineup of Kaden Magwood, Kevin Overton, Keyshawn Hall, Sebastian Williams-Adams and KeShawn Murphy. Overton and Hall have started 14 games this season,  Murphy has 12 starts, Williams-Adams has started eight of the first 15 games of his freshman season and Magwood has made the first two starts of his career in the last two contests.
• Auburn is averaging 96.0 points on 52.5 percent shooting in seven home games this season.
• Four Auburn players reached double figures, led by Hall’s sixth double-double of the season with a season-high 32 points and 12 rebounds. Hall was 8-of-15 from the floor, 3-of-5 from long range and 13-of-16 from the free throw line to go with three assists and two blocks in 37 minutes.
• Hall is the first Tiger to record a 30-point, 10-rebound game since Johni Broome had 31 points and 14 rebounds against Georgia last season. He scored a season-high 17 points in the first half, topping his 16 first-half points against Queens. Hall followed that up by scoring 15 points in the second half on 4-of-9 shooting, including one 3-pointer, and 6-of-9 free throws. He is averaging 14.5 points in the second half in two SEC games.
• Hall notched his fourth game of the season with double-digit free throws made. He finished the night with 109 made free throws on the season.
• Overton recorded his fourth straight game in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-16 field goals, 2-of-7 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line. He added three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 35 minutes. He scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 1-of-4 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in the second half. It is his 40th career game in double figures, including 10 this season. Overton is averaging 20.0 points over his last four games.
• Pettiford and Williams-Adams finished with 11 points apiece. Pettiford went 3-of-9 from the floor, including one 3-pointer, and 4-of-5 from the free throw line to go with four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes. It is his 10th game in double figures on the season and the 32nd of his career.
• It is the fourth double-figure scoring game of the season for Williams-Adams, including two of the last three games. He finished 4-of-6 overall, including one 3-point field goal, and added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 30 minutes.
• Auburn falls to 8-1 on the season when leading at the half.