BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M men’s basketball team used a strong second half to rally past the Vanderbilt Commodores, 72-66, in front of season-high crowd of 12,646 on Saturday evening at Reed Arena.
With the victory, the Aggies improved to 15-6 overall and 7-1 in Southeastern Conference play, while Vanderbilt fell to 10-11 and 3-5 in conference play.
Behind a torrid first half from Myles Stute, the Commodores overcame an early seven-point lead by the Aggies to take a 34-30 lead into halftime. Stute, viewed as the best shooter in the SEC by Aggie head coach Buzz Williams, hit 4-of-5 3-pointers in the first half to fuel the Dores’ upset bid.
But Texas A&M’s stifling defense took its toll in the second half as the Aggies took their first lead at 13:45 for the first time since the midway point of the first period. The Aggies kept the narrow margin for next 11 minutes, but Vanderbilt broke through to grab a 66-65 lead with under three minutes remaining. Down the stretch, however, it was the Aggies that closed out the game with a series of clutch field goals and free throws to score the final seven points of the game for the six-point victory.
Junior forward Henry Coleman III led the Aggies’ offensive attack with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Also tallying double figures were sophomore guard Wade Taylor IV and graduate guard Dexter Dennis with 14 points. Taylor added his career high in rebounds with seven and dished out seven assists.
The Aggies made a season-high 36 trips to the free throw line and hit 23 freebies, with Taylor leading the way with a 7-of-7 night from the line. Texas A&M matched its season low with just nine turnovers, while forcing 11 and scoring 14 points off VU turnovers. Once again, the Aggies enjoyed a rebound advantage, 37-31, including a 21-15 bulge in the second half.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Buzz Williams
On the 12th Man’s energy tonight…
“I think between the community and the students it completely changes the ambiance of the arena. I would say as emotionally drained our team played without the environment and the arena tonight, the result would have been different. We are incredibly grateful for the result, but we are also aware of how it transpired. I think the students in the endzones an hour before the game, all the season ticket holders, and all of those buying single-ticket game we are grateful. It for sure helps us. I think their energy affected our group, particularly in the second half.”
On the variety of plays Vanderbilt had…
“The plethora of plays constantly put stress on your core fundamentals of what you are doing defensively. Vanderbilt did that all night long. We were fine offensively, but defensively this is the first time we have given up more than one point per possession. We did not do a good enough on the glass, we gave them too many second shots. It was the amount of plays they had but when they missed, they got it back too many times.”
Senior Guard Tyrece Radford
On Andersson Garcia’s offensive rebound and put back…
“Lately Andy (Andersson Garcia) has been playing big minutes and has been doing a very good job. I give him praise for that too. As a guy who comes off the bench, he stays prepared any given night to play minutes like that. That was an Andy play.”
On what it meant to “Svihla” on the back of his jersey…
“It meant a lot. I got a text from Luke (Hillin) and Josh (Chambers) to come up to the office and they surprised me with the jersey. It meant a lot to me. I know she (Alise Svihla) was watching. She texted “good luck” before the game. It means a lot. I’m going to sign it and send it to her.”
Junior Forward Henry Coleman III
On the environment…
“Those environments are what you dream for – playing close games, no matter what league you’re in. Those are the environments that every kid in the driveway is shooting for. Playing that game in that environment was special.
Texas A&M Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 72, Vanderbilt 66
Reed Arena (Bryan-College Station, Texas)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores, 72-66, Saturday evening at Reed Arena in front of a season-high 12,646 crowd.
- The Aggies improve to 15-6 on the season, 7-1 in league play and 10-1 at home.
- The all-time series against the Commodores moves to 7-10, snapping a two-game losing streak against Vanderbilt.
- The Aggies won their sixth straight SEC game at Reed Arena dating back to last season.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies finished 45% (22-of-49) from the field, finishing 45% or higher for the third consecutive game.
- The Maroon & White had single-digit turnovers for the second straight game. The Aggies’ nine turnovers matches a season low, done three times previously this season.
- Three players finished in double figures for the sixth time this season.
- Texas A&M forced Vanderbilt to 11 turnovers, scoring 14 points off turnovers.
- The Aggies scored 32 points in the paint.
- The Maroon & White outrebound the Commodores with a 37-31 rebounding advantage. The Aggies outrebounded their opponent for the second straight game.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Henry Coleman III, Dexter Dennis, Julius Marble, Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV for the 12th time this season (10-2).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Henry Coleman III
- Led the team in points for the fourth time this season after finishing with 18 points.
- Finished 6-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
- Scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half.
- Slammed down two dunks to tally a team-high 15 dunks on the season.
- Logged double figures for the 12th time this season and 35th of his career.
- Collected six rebounds.
Dexter Dennis
- Led the team with two blocks, matching his season high.
- Swiped two steals and dished out an assist.
- Scored five points and collected two rebounds.
Andersson Garcia
- Hauled in a season-high eight rebounds.
- Led the team in rebounds for the third time this season and the ninth of his career.
- Recorded five points and had a steal.
Tyrece Radford
- Recorded double-digit points for the third straight game after finishing with 14.
- Registered double figures for the 13th time this season and the 71st of his career.
- Collected four rebounds and dished out two assists.
- Matched his season high in blocks with one.
Wade Taylor IV
- Tallied 14 points and finished a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
- Logged double figures for the 16th time this season and the 31st of his career.
- Dished out a team-high seven assists.
- Led the team in assists for the fifth straight game, the 14th time this season and the 25th of his career.
- Hauled in a career-high seven rebounds.