WATCH: Texas A&M throws down powerful dunk to cap excellent first half vs. Auburn
No. 15 Auburn is on the ropes midway through its game on Wednesday night against Texas A&M, trailing big at halftime. A late, powerful dunk from Andersson Garcia just before half put a stamp on the opening 20 minutes.
Texas A&M led 45-30 at the break, and Garcia’s dunk in transition helped set the tone.
Just outside the 3-point lane on his side of the floor, Garcia saw a lazy pass attempt coming out of a double-team. He jumped the pass and took it downcourt for a thundering two-hand dunk, drawing a foul in the process.
He knocked down the free throw to complete the three-point play just before halftime.
Auburn was still the first team this season to score 30 points on Texas A&M in the first half, but without a better defensive effort in the second half it will be for naught.
Unfortunately Auburn has struggle defensively in the second half of late, and the powerful dunk from Andersson Garcia was reason enough for skepticism.
Second-half defensive woes plagued Auburn recently
By the look of the final score, it appeared that Johni Broome and the Auburn defense had a great game Saturday in their 81-66 victory over South Carolina.
They did — at least in the first half. The Gamecocks shot only 25.8% in the first half on their way to 22 points. The Tigers took a 39-22 lead into the second half.
But the second half was a different story. South Carolina doubled its first half output to the tune of 44 points. One of the big differences was the Gamecocks ability to get to the free throw. South Carolina got to the charity stripe 18 times after only going six times in the first half.
While the victory was cause for celebration, Broome acknowledged the second half defensive struggles were not ideal.
“I feel like we got a little stagnant,” Broome said. “We was a little late to sports. We didn’t jump out and force them to take tougher shots. We fouled a little too much, they shot like 19 free throws in the second half. We need to cut that down. They dealt with their points in the second half so defensively coming out of halftime, we got to be able to get a couple more stops.”