News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
DENVER — For the second straight season, Texas A&M survived the Madness and lives to play another day.
The fourth-seeded Aggies (23-10) powered their way to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a wire-to-wire 80-71 victory over No. 13-seed Yale in the South Region Thursday night inside Ball Arena. A&M now moves on to Saturday and awaits the winner of Thursday’s late game between No. 5-seed Michigan and No. 12-seed UC San Diego.
It was a big night for junior Pharrel Payne, who led the way with a career-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting…an effort that included several monster dunks. Payne also added 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Wade Taylor IV poured in 15 points and dished out five assists, while Jace Carter scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in just nine minutes of action.
The Aggies would finish the game shooting 52 percent the field and scoring a whopping 48 points in the paint. A&M would also hold a dominating 42-16 edge in bench points, fueled largely by the performances of Phelps and Carter.
“Our staff did a great job preparing for a unique scout,” head coach Buzz Williams told TBS following the game. “Our players were prepared for the plan and the adjustments to the plan. I thought we played with great spirit, great competitive character, and I thought our communication and physicality were excellent. They’re a very hard team to beat…Much respect to Coach (James Jones) and their program.”
The Aggies technically didn’t lead for the entire game, but it felt like it. The Bulldogs (22-8) held a brief lead twice early in the first half, but a Manny Obaseki triple at the 16:30 mark gave Texas A&M a lead it would never relinquish.
Beginning the game with one of its hottest starts of the season, A&M raced out to a 27-14 lead with a mix of power dunks, three pointers and transition buckets. The Maroon and White capitalized on six quick Yale turnovers and shot over 60 percent from the floor to build the 13-point advantage.
The Bulldogs were able to then claw back into the game, clipping the Aggie lead to five at 32-27 with just over three minutes to play, but Texas A&M would once again have an answer on the offensive end. Taylor capped a half-ending 8-2 run by sinking a 25-footer with 3.5 seconds left to send A&M into the locker room up 40-29.
The story was much the same in the second half, with A&M’s lead hovering between nine and 12 points for most of the action. Yale got as close as six with 8:30 to play, but Jace Carter drained his first three of the game and then snagged a big rebound and cashed in a putback on the ensuing possession to quickly put Texas A&M back up double figures.