Auburn 87-82 Texas (January 7, 2025) Game Summary

AUSTIN, Texas — — Johni Broome had 20 points and 12 rebounds as No. 2 Auburn withstood a late Texas rally for an 87-82 victory Tuesday night to give coach Bruce Pearl the school record for career victories.

Auburn (14-1, 2-0 SEC) led by 21 in the second half and bullied the Longhorns with its size and length for long stretches, only to see Texas fight back behind Arthur Kaluma and Jordan Pope to get within three in the final minute.

Denver Jones and Tahaad Pettiford made four free throws in the final 17 seconds to seal it.

Pearl achieved victory no. 214 in his 11th season at Auburn, pushing him past Joel Eaves, who coached the Tigers from 1949-63.

Kaluma had 34 points for Texas (11-4, 0-2) on 12-of-16 shooting. Pope scored 17 of his 19 in the second half. Kaluma’s 3-pointer with 50 seconds left and Pope’s two free throws pulled Texas within 83-80.

Takeaways

Auburn: The Tigers are in prime position to reach the No. 1 next week after top-ranked Tennessee was routed by Florida 73-43 Tuesday evening.

Texas: The Longhorns were dominated in the paint 48-16 during a 20-point loss to Texas A&M in their previous game. Texas was much tougher around the basket this time, matching Auburn’s 28 points in the paint.

Key moment

Broome put Auburn ahead by 10 on a buzzer-beating jumper with 1:23 left, but then was called for a technical foul. Pope made two free throws and a jumper by Tre Johnson got Texas threatening again.

Key state

Texas had just one assist and no 3-pointers in the first half.

Next

Both teams play on Saturday. Auburn plays at South Carolina and Texas hosts No. 1 in Tennessee.

——

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: and