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Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl: Aggies 'Deserve' To Be In NCAA Tournament

Texas A&M advances to Saturday's SEC semifinals against Arkansas

Art Garcia

Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams isn’t sure if the Aggies earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament after Friday’s stunning 67-62 upset of No. 4 Auburn in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

“Is that enough? I don’t know,” Williams said. “The reason I don’t know is I am wise enough to understand that if we would not have won seven of our last eight games, it wouldn’t even be a conversation.

“And so it’s hard for me, okay, it’s happened, now do I respond? I don’t know, because I’ve been so completely immersed in how can we try to win the next game. What does the committee think of that? I don’t know, but I do know that we get to play again tomorrow.”

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Kim Klement, USA Today

Texas A&M vs. Auburn

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Kim Klement, USA Today

Texas A&M vs. Auburn

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Texas A&M vs. Auburn

As for the coach of the top-seeded Tigers, Bruce Pearl doesn’t think it should be a question.

“I hope for Texas A&M and for our conference that that’s enough to get them in the tournament,” he said. “They just beat one of the best teams in the country and beat us from start to finish, and should not leave any doubt as to whether or not they belong.

“They finished fifth in the league, and they finished fifth in the toughest league in the country, and so I’m not sure – I know that whatever coaches have to say doesn’t hold any weight when it comes to tournament time. I’ve just been doing this for 40 years, and I know what teams look like who deserve to be in, and that team does.”

No. 8 seed Texas A&M (22-11) certainly has the committee’s attention after two days in Tampa. The Aggies opened the tournament Thursday by beating ninth-seeded Florida 83-80 in overtime.

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USA Today

Texas A&M vs. Auburn

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Kim Klement, USA Today

Texas A&M vs. Auburn

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Texas A&M vs. Auburn

Texas A&M also scored its first win over an Associated Press top-5 team since winning at No. 5 Texas, 71-69, on Jan. 30, 1982.

The Aggies have won six games in row and will face No. 15 Arkansas in the league semifinals Saturday. The fourth-seeded Razorbacks (25-7) beat LSU 79-67 on Friday.

Texas A&M and Arkansas split games during the regular season, each winning on its home court.

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Art Garcia
ART GARCIA

Art Garcia (@ArtGarcia92) has watched, wondered and written about those fortunate few to play games since the 1990s. Award-winning stops at NBA.com, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and San Antonio Express-News dot a career that includes extensive writing for such outlets as ESPN.com, FOXSports.com, CBSSports.com, The Sporting News, among others. He is a former professor of sports reporting at UT Arlington and continues to work in the communications field. Garcia began covering the Dallas Mavericks right around Mark Cuban purchasing the club in 2000. The Texas A&M grad has also covered the Cowboys, Rangers, TCU, Big 12, Final Fours, countless bowl games, including the National Championship, and just about everything involving a ball in Texas.

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