Credit to Brad Marquardt | Assistant Athletics Director for Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
ATHENS – Powered by a double-double from guard Tyrece Radford, the Texas A&M men’s basketball team tallied a 70-56 road win over the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday.
The hard-fought victory snapped the Aggies’ five-game losing streak and pushed the Maroon & White’s record to 16-13 overall and 7-9 in SEC play with two regular season games remaining.
The Aggies came out of halftime with a 6-0 spurt to gain separation from the Bulldogs and methodically built a double-digit lead on their way to victory. Texas A&M never trailed in the second half and led by at least 10 points for the final three minutes of the game. The Aggies matched their season high with nine “turkeys,” which in Aggie hoops vernacular indicates three consecutive defensive stops. After allowing eight Bulldog 3-pointers in the first half, the Aggies limited UGA to 2-of-20 from deep in the second stanza.
Radford, the graduate from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as he posted a double-double for the second straight game. It was the eighth double-double of his career and his fourth 20/10 double-double. “Boots” connected on 7-of-17 shots, including a trio of treys, while grabbing three offensive and seven defensive boards.
Also contributing a double-double was SEC rebounding leader Andersson Garcia with 11 points and 10 rebounds. It was the fourth double-double of the season for the “Dominican Rodman” and candidate for SEC Sixth-Man of the Year honors.
The Aggies got a boost from junior Manny Obaseki, who chipped in 12 points along with five rebounds and four assists. Obaseki earned his first start of the season and it was his first time in the starting lineup since the NIT Championship game vs. Xavier in 2022. Obaseki hit 4-of-10 from the field, including a trey, and made 3-of-4 from the free throw line in a season-high 26 minutes of action.
The Aggies took a 34-32 lead into halftime on the strength of 11 points by Radford, including a pair of 3-pointers, in addition to three or more points from four other players. Texas A&M withstood a barrage of 3-pointers from the Dawgs, who hit eight treys on 21 hoists from deep. The Aggies were active on defense, generating four “turkeys” by the 4:00 media timeout. Garcia and Radford both pulled down four rebounds and Solomon Washington rejected a pair of UGA field goal attempts.
GAME NOTES:
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DUO: Tyrece Radford put together his second consecutive double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. This is the first time in his career that he has posted a double-double in back-to-back games. Andersson Garcia tallied his fourth double-double, third in SEC play, with 11 points and 10 boards.
With his 10 rebounds, Garcia passed Ronnie Peret (267 in 1967-68) and Vernon Smith (269 in 1978-79) to move into seventh place with 275 on the Aggies’ single season rebounds list. He is two behind fifth place Bryan Davis and Robert Williams with 277.
MAKING HIS MARK: Wade Taylor IV now has over 100 rebounds this season after grabbing three boards against the Bulldogs. He is the second player in school history to reach 500 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists and 50 steals in a single season, joining Don Marbury in 1985-86.
MANNY TIME: In Manny Obaseki’s first start of the year he tied his career-high of four assists and collected a season-high five rebounds while playing a season-high of 26 minutes. With his 12 points scored, Obaseki has recorded back-to-back games in double digits for the first time since Dec. 10 when he scored more than 10 against DePaul and Memphis.
BUZZ MATCHES BIBLE: Fifth-year head coach Buzz Williams tallied his 90th win of his Texas A&M career to move into a tie for fifth with D.X. Bible on the school’s coaching wins list. Also a noted football coach, Bible won three Southwest Conference hoops titles from 1920-27.