Kessler blocks 12, gets triple-double, No. 1 Auburn tops A&M

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Walker Kessler had a triple-double with 12 blocked shots, 12 points and 11 rebounds Saturday as No. 1 Auburn bounced back from a loss with a 75-58 victory over Texas A&M.

The 7-foot-1 North Carolina transfer rejected four of the Aggies’ first seven shots and delivered Auburn’s third triple-double and his second of the season. The Tigers (22-3, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) had their 19-game winning streak stopped by Arkansas in overtime earlier in the week.

Kessler got rebound No. 10 with 3:06 remaining after also managing the feat earlier against LSU, when a board was later added after film review. He is the fifth SEC player with multiple career double-doubles, a group led by Shaquille O’Neal’s six, and the only one nationally this season with two.

The Aggies (15-10, 4-8) dropped their eighth straight game and had one of their worst offensive performances of the season.

Allen Flanigan scored 16 points for Auburn while K.D. Johnson added 11 and Devan Cambridge 10. Jabari Smith had nine points and eight rebounds.

Henry Coleman III had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Texas A&M, while Quenton Jackson scored 11. Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV also had 10 points.

The Aggies had been 5-0 at Auburn Arena but trailed by as many as 25 in this one.

Auburn point guard Zep Jasper returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games with a non-COVID-19 illness.

Both teams started off cold, with Auburn missing its first five shots and Texas A&M opening 0 for 7. Johnson’s fast-break layup at the buzzer gave Auburn a 33-18 halftime lead.

BIG PICTURE

Texas A&M just managed to avoid its lowest scoring output of the season, 57 points against Butler on Nov. 23. Made just 7 of 39 shots in the first half