Credit to 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M men’s basketball team opened a three-game homestand with a hotly-contested 63-57 win over the Missouri Tigers in front of a crowd of 9,623 on Tuesday at Reed Arena.
With the victory, the Aggies improved to 12-7 overall and evened their SEC record to 3-3 with home games against Ole Miss and Florida on the horizon. The Tigers fell to 8-11 and remained winless in SEC play at 0-6.
After falling behind by nine points early in the first half, the Aggies roared back by outscoring the Tigers 21-2 over the next 10 minutes. The Maroon & White took their first lead at the 9:52 mark of the first half and then only lost the lead once for the remainder of the game. Texas A&M basically held the lead for the final 30 minutes of the game but never held a lead of more than eight points in the second half.
Junior Wade Taylor IV paced the Aggies with 19 points, including a trio of 3-pointers and a perfect 6-of-6 night from the free throw line, while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out three assists. The 6-foot Taylor IV grabbed five defensive rebounds to raise his total in SEC play to 27 or an average of 4.5 per game.
Joining Taylor IV in double figures were graduate Tyrece Radford and senior Andersson Garcia with 11 and senior Henry Coleman III with 10. It was Coleman III’s first double-digit game since suffering an injury against Kentucky. Sophomore Solomon Washington came off the bench to post a game-high eight rebounds, including four off the offensive glass. Other Aggies with five or more rebounds were Radford and Garcia with seven, Taylor with six and Coleman III with five.
A key to the Aggies’ victory was their yeoman work on the glass, especially in the second half when the Tigers could muster just a single offensive rebound. For the game, the Aggies enjoyed a 41-35 advantage in total rebounds and a 15-8 lead in offense boards.
Texas A&M had another low turnover performance with nine ,while forcing 15 Tiger miscues that contributed to 15 fast-break points and 21 points off turnovers.
GAME NOTES:
DOUBLE DIGIT DOMINANT: Four in the Maroon & White scored in the double figures for the second straight game in a row – Wade Taylor IV (19), Andersson Garcia (11), Tyrece Radford (11) and Henry Coleman III (10). The last time Texas A&M had four players score double-digit points in two-straight SEC games was in 2022 against Mississippi State (3/5) and Florida (3/10).
GETTING TO THE LINE: The Aggies scored 27 of their 63 points at the free throw line led by the eight made by Coleman and seven by Garcia. This is the second-most free throws made in a game this season.
WADE GOT HIS COOKIES: Taylor IV stole the ball for his 150th career steal. He is the 9th Aggie to have reached this mark. While doing so, the Dallas, Texas native put up 19 points, tied his career high in rebounds (6) and dished out three assists.
GIMME THAT: Texas A&M won the turnover battle 15-to-9 and capitalized by scoring 21 points off turnovers and 15 on the fastbreak to the Tigers five points off turnovers and eight fastbreak points.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Buzz Williams
On getting to the free throw line…“I thought getting to the line was really important and we’ve tried to make it more concerted effort over the last couple of weeks with some of the deficiencies we’ve had. How can we hurry up and get to the bonus. Then I think entering today in SEC we were shooting 68% from the free throw line, we’re doing better at getting to the line over the last week and a half. We need to continue to get to the line, maybe even a little bit more, at a little bit higher rate and then we have to finish that. I think last year we made 75% as a team, in SEC play going into tonight after a five game sample prior to tonight, we were shooting 68%. We’ve got to get that north of 70%.”
On the defensive effort…“We made some changes, we’re not completely there, obviously. I thought we were really good and some of those changes have helped us create some turnovers. It was good for us Saturday in Baton Rouge and it was for sure, good for us tonight. We had 10 steals at half time, and again it’s just how thin the margin is in this league. You’re constantly gathering information as you go through each game, what one thing can you make an adjustment to in a category that might influence and be a by-product that helps you in another way.”
Senior Forward Henry Coleman
On bouncing back from adversity…“Everybody on this team has a story and everybody has gone through adversity within their lifetime and it’s nothing new for everybody on the team, within the coaching staff, within the players. When adversity strikes, I think everybody knows what to do. We go back to our habits, we go back to the hard work that we’ve put in and we just rely back on our good habits that we’ve built since we’ve been here. There’s never a panic within this program, within this team and a close game blowout game. We’re still going to play Texas A&M basketball and credit to all the guys who have responded and the coaching staff who’s been the same each and every day.”
Senior Forward Anderrsson Garcia
On gaining offensive confidence…
“I have had the confidence but by Henry being hurt I’ve been trying to do a little bit more to be able help the team not only by rebounding and defense. Now that Henry is back, I’m just trying go back to my role, but also keep doing what I was doing in the last couple of games coming off that.”