Story by Evan Roberts, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Johnny Davis scored 21 points, Brad Davison added 19 and Wisconsin opened the Maui Invitational with a 69-58 victory over Texas A&M on Monday.
Wisconsin (3-1) started slow and limped to the finish, but used two big runs in between to earn a spot in Tuesday’s semifinals. Texas A&M (4-1) got off to a strong start and shut the Badgers down late, but fell into too big of a hole to mount a comeback.
Quenton Jackson led the Aggies with 15 points. Texas A&M hit Wisconsin with a blitz of 3-pointers at the start. Tyrece Radford hit the first one and Andre Gordon followed with three more as the Aggies opened the game on a 16-4 run.Texas A&M hit 6 of its first 7 from the arc to push the lead to 16, but the Badgers finally found their footing late in the first half.
Ratcheting up the defense to create turnovers, Wisconsin set up good scoring opportunities in transition, hitting three straight 3-pointers during a 15-1 run to close the first half. Davison had 14 points by halftime to give the Badgers a 35-34 lead. Wisconsin kept rolling, using a 15-3 run to stretch the lead to 61-45, but went cold to let Texas A&M chip away.
The Aggies pulled within 65-58 and held the Badgers to one field goal over the final 8:45, but ran out of time to finish off the comeback.
Texas A&M Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Wisconsin 69, Texas A&M 58
Michelob Ultra Arena (Las Vegas)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M fell to 4-1 on the season after falling to Wisconsin, 69-58, in the first round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
- Texas A&M’s all-time record at the Maui Invitational is 1-3.
- The Aggies’ all-time record against Wisconsin moves to 0-2.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies stormed out of the gates taking an early 13-2 in the first 3:14 of the game.
- With the Aggies ahead 18-10, the Maroon & White utilized an 8-0 run over the next 1:33 to take a 16-point lead, 26-10, their largest of the game.
- Texas A&M drained 10 3-pointers, marking the second time this season they have hit 10-or-more threes in a game. The Aggies shot 53.8-percent from beyond the arc in the first half.
- The seven 3-pointers in the first half was the highest this season and most since the Aggies hit seven in the first half at Arkansas on March 6, 2020.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Javonte Brown, Henry Coleman III, Andre Gordon, Tyrece Radford and Marcus Williams for the fourth time this season (4-1).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Quenton Jackson led the team in scoring with 15 points off the bench. Jackson has scored in double figures in the last four games, and is averaging 14.0 points per game over the four-game span.
- Jackson also led the team in rebounding with five and tied for the team lead with two steals with Henry Coleman III.
- Marcus Williams dished out five assists, marking the second team this season and 16th time of his career he has led his team in assists.
- Javonte Brown matched his career high with two blocks.