News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION– Powered by five double-digit scorers and a complete domination of the boards, the No. 13 Texas A&M men’s basketball team earned a season sweep of the Oklahoma Sooners with a 75-68 win on Tuesday at Reed Arena.
The Aggies improved to 16-5 overall and 5-3 in SEC play, while the Sooners fell to 15-5 and 2-5. It was the fourth time in school history that the Aggies have swept the regular season series with the Sooners.
Holding a narrow 31-30 advantage at halftime, the Aggies quickly made it an eight-point advantage by racing to a 7-0 scoring run less than two minutes into the second stanza. The Sooners slowly reeled in the Aggies and even got within a point with 13:28 remaining, but the Aggies began to pull away and matched their largest lead of the game several times between 9:00 and 6:00. The Sooners had one more run in them as they drew within a bucket with just over four minutes remaining, but the Aggies made their free throws down the stretch to earn the seven-point victory.
Zhuric Phelps led the Aggies in scoring with 15 points, including an 8-of-10 effort at the charity stripe, but he had plenty of help with double-figure efforts from Henry Coleman III (14), Wade Taylor IV (12), Pharrel Payne (10) and Manny Obaseki (10). It was the second time this season that the Aggies have had five players with 10 or more points in a game.
Texas A&M dominated the rebounding battle with a 28-board advantage in the category, 47 to 19. The Aggies may have been even more overwhelming on the offensive glass as they pulled down 21 rebounds while limiting the Sooners to just two. The “Dominican Rodman” Andersson Garcia, last year’s SEC rebounding champ, pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, including five offensive caroms, while Payne logged his first double-double as an Aggie with 11 total rebounds and five offensive. The 28-rebound advantage over the Sooners was a season high for the Aggies. It was the team’s 14th game with 40 or more rebounds this season and sixth with 20+ offensive boards.
Reversing a trend in a variety of ways, the Aggies, who earned just 17 total free throws the past two games, connected on 29-of-35 shots from the charity stripe. The Aggies, who were hitting only 63.0% of their free throws in league play, converted at an 82.9% clip against the Sooners. It was the highest free throw percentage in a game with at least 35 attempts since Melvin Watkins’ 2000-01 Aggies hit 31-of-36 free throw attempts in a 107-106 overtime loss to VCU on Dec. 2. 2000 in Richmond, Virginia. Phelps and Coleman III both hit 8-of-10 freebies and Taylor IV (5-5), Payne (2-2) and Obaseki (2-2) were all perfect from the line.
Postgame Notes:
- Wade Taylor IV had three steals to eclipse the 200 steal plateau for his career. He is the fourth Aggie to reach 200 steals, joining Alex Caruso (276), David Edwards (228) and Todd Holloway (208). He is the only Aggie with at least 1,400 points (he has 1,835) and 200+ steals. Additionally, it was Taylor’s 100th career start and 87th career win in 128 games.
- The Aggies improved to 5-0 in games with an 8 p.m. tip and 10-1 in games that started at 7 p.m. or later.
- Pharrel Payne entered the game as the SEC’s most accurate shooter in league games and he connected on 4-of-4 FG attempts against the Sooners to improve his average.
Postgame Quotes
Coach Buzz Williams
On keeping the lead and preventing another comeback…
“Our guys are very accepting of the thin margin that this league is turned into and the preparation that we had in November and December. It’s not always going to have the appropriate result. We failed on Saturday. We were disappointed in ourselves. I think we’ve done good and so we’re thankful for how it transpired tonight for sure.”
On winning both games for the season against OU…
“It’s so hard. Now 67% of your games are one-time games and the preparation required for those 12 games is so critical because the margins are so thin.”
On the absence of Hayden Hefner and Solomon Washington…
“H [Hefner] is a go-get in our program, Solo is a go-get in our program and so how are we going to utilize those eight guys that played meaningful minutes tonight specific to that, because I didn’t think it was going to be the numbers that they were, but I knew without the 45 minutes that those two guys typically give us and what they give us, in addition to rebounding.”
Graduate Forward Henry Coleman III
On the importance the team places on rebounding…
“I think it is [something we take pride in]. Coach [Buzz Williams] always says it bends the needle for us. We’re not the most talented team, and we don’t have a lot of five-star recruits, so we have to find other areas to exploit our opponents and be the best at. I think our defensive rebounding is getting there, but our offensive rebounding the past two and a half years has definitely been our strength.”
Senior Guard Manny Obaseki…
On the love for his teammates and what has led to his consistency…
“I always have to give credit to Jesus Christ for keeping me in it. I talk to him all the time and just pray for courage and strength from within. It’s been a long ride. It’s always up and down, but I know I have to stay consistent with my work. I work every day and try to do what’s best for myself and this team. My brothers such as Henry [Coleman III], Wade [Taylor IV] and Zhuric [Phelps] always pour into me and tell me to keep going and be myself before every game. They mean a lot to me, so it wouldn’t be doing them right just to give up and feel bad for myself when things aren’t going right. I give credit to my family for telling me encouraging words and keeping my spirits high.”