With less than a second left on the clock and his team trailing by 2 points, Auburn big man Keyshawn Murphy netted a half-court shot at the final buzzer, sending a wave of celebrations throughout Neville Arena in Auburn. But after review, the officials waved off Murphy’s bucket, saying he did not release the ball in time, giving Texas A&M a 90-88 win over Auburn on Tuesday night.
“Heartbreaker,” said Auburn head coach Steven Pearl. “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.”
Pearl was a bit perplexed as to what the officials were looking at upon review.
“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.”
Though for Auburn, the game should have never come down to a last-second shot. The Tigers ended the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 47-37 lead into the break, and pushed their advantage to 16 with 13:29 remaining.
Texas A&M then scored 11 points in 31 seconds after a trio of Auburn turnovers to pull within five. The 11-0 Aggies run soon grew to a 33-6 run over the next 6:14.
“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.”
Keyshawn Hall led Auburn with 32 points – his ninth game of 20 or more points this season – and scored the Tigers’ last eight points.
The Tigers, looking to avoid an 0-3 conference start, hope to get back on track against No. 15 Arkansas at Neville Arena on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT
“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.” TG
