Credit to Brad Marquardt | Assistant Athletics Director for Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV combined to score seven of Texas A&M’s eight points in overtime to push the Texas A&M men’s basketball team past the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats, 97-92, in front of a raucous crowd of 9,540 on Saturday at Reed Arena.
The two teams battled to an 89-89 deadlock after 40 minutes before the Aggies clamped down on Kentucky in the extra period, holding the high-powered Wildcats to no field goals and just three free throws. Radford opened the overtime with a quick layup to give Texas A&M the early advantage and then the trio of Radford, Taylor IV and Andersson Garcia hit 6-of-8 clutch free throws to hold off the Wildcats.
The victory marked the Aggies’ fourth Quad I victory of the season and their first win over an Associated Press Top 25 team in 2023-24. The Aggies improved to 10-6 overall and 1-2 vs. the SEC, while the Wildcats fell to 12-3 and 2-1.
Taylor IV and Radford combined to pour in 59 points, with Taylor hitting for 31 points and Radford adding 28 to power the Aggies’ offensive attack. For Taylor, it was his third 30-point-plus game against AP Top 25 opponents. Six of Taylor’s seven field goals were from deep and he made 11-of-12 shots from the charity stripe, while Radford erupted for his season high while hitting 11-of-22 field goals and a trio of treys.
Coming off a pair of sub-30% shooting efforts in losses against LSU and Auburn, the Aggies connected on 40% of a season-high 82 shots and hit 12 3-pointers to produce the second-highest scoring output of the Buzz Williams era against all teams and the highest point total against a conference school since joining the league in 2012-13.
The Aggies were active on the boards, gaining a 54-46 advantage over the taller Wildcats in total rebounds and logging their fifth 20-plus offensive rebound performance of the season with 25 caroms that led to 21 second-chance points. No Aggie was in double figures in rebounds, but six players chipped in more than five and Radford and sophomore Solomon Washington both gathered a team-high nine boards. On the offensive glass, graduate Wildens Leveque and Radford led the way with five rebounds.
GAME NOTES:
WINNING MENTALITY: Texas A&M earned its first ranked win this season to end a six-game win streak for the Wildcats. It’s the Aggies’ first AP Top 25 win since beating No. Alabama in the regular season final last season. The last time the Aggies secured a win over Kentucky was in 2018 when they won 85-74 at Reed Arena. This was the first win Buzz Williams has had against Kentucky.
THE GUARD TANDEM: Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford combined for 59 of the 92 points scored and nine of the 11 assists. Taylor IV scored 31 points with seven from the field, six threes and 11 free throws. This is the third time he has scored over 30 this season with all three coming against Top 25 foes. Radford racked up a season-high 28 while grabbing nine rebounds.
OWNING THE GLASS: The Aggies owned the boards again outrebounding the Wildcats 54-46, 25 of those offensive rebounds which led to 21 second chance points. Texas A&M has had over 50 rebounds in three games this season. This is the most over-50 rebounding games in a single season since the 2017-18 season where they had four.
FREE BASKETBALL: This is the first time the Aggies have been forced into overtime since March 10, 2022, where they pulled off the win versus Florida, 83-80. Texas A&M is now 43-57 overall in overtime games and 7-9 in overtime games in Reed Arena.
THREE POINT THREAT: The Maroon & White tallied 12 beyond the arc, led by Taylor IV who tied his career-high six three-pointers made. The last time 12 threes were made by Texas A&M against a SEC opponent was Jan. 26, 2021, against LSU.
GET THE OFFENSE ROLLING: The 97 points scored were the second-most points scored in the Buzz Williams era and the most scored against an SEC opponent since joining the SEC.
Quotes
Head Coach Buzz Williams
On Solomon Washington’s presence…
“This is the first time in a long time that we’ve had our [whole] group. I thought Solo [Washington] was probably the player of the game. You can for sure have an argument that Solo [Washington] is our best defender. I would say that’s what he cares the most about. He’s a strong athlete with size who can guard whoever you want him to guard, and he has a distinct presence on the glass on both ends of the floor. I thought his energy was tremendous. His length – he can guard a perimeter player. All of their perimeter players are bigger, faster and stronger than ours but when he [Washington] is on you it’s a push because he’s not going to be overwhelmed by your speed or athleticism or your strength.”
On overachieving…
“I have to do a better job of being the example to our program, and specifically to our guys – even to their parents – about the things that we can’t control and the things that we can control. Pick a person on our staff – for sure me – pick a player on our team, in my opinion all of them; they are overachievers in some sort of way. My resume does not suggest I should be coaching in this league or at this level, and upon arrival most of our players fit that category. We have a bus full of people who have worked incredibly hard to overachieve to have this chance, and I think a portion of the process of overachieving is having to overcome a lot of things that maybe are unfair or things that you are messing up, and I’ve got to do a better job of being an example of that. I thought our guys were a perfect example of that.”
On his relationship with Radford and Taylor…
“I know this sounds condescending, and I’m trying to be very measured in my words, but whether they make a bunch of shots or miss a bunch of shots – I love them. We would be foolish, whether we win or lose, to think that we would even be close to being in this position without what four (Taylor) and Boots (Radford) have done. If four (Taylor) goes 2-16 [from the field] and 0-8 [from three] at Auburn, everybody can say ‘we can’t shoot’, and ‘I can’t coach’, and ‘throw it inside’ and all those things they say when those things happen – I’m never going to betray my relationship with those guys or with their family. And if that means I’m not coaching here I promise you I’m fine with that, because I understand that who those guys are has a direct impact on my children. I want them to make shots, I’m going to try to help them make shots; they work every day at making shots. I understand that today we made shots and that gave us a chance, but whether they make them or miss them that’s not going to change how I coach them and that’s not going to alter my relationship with them.”
Junior Guard Wade Taylor IV
On the team’s mentality…
“It’s only the third game of conference. I think we should look at every game like we did today because every game in this league is a big game. You never know who could be on. I think this is a step in the right direction. I know we hadn’t been shooting well lately so we just wanted to continue to get stops, because we know stops will lead us to offense. I know they scored 90 points, but I felt like we were still together as a team. We told each other to keep shooting and shots are going to fall and we’ll be fine at the end of the day.”
Graduate Guard Tyrece Radford
On Solomon Washington’s energy…
“It’s his [Washington’s] energy man; his energy is everything. It’s just that spark that we need, and I can say with that he leads the team. He’s bringing that energy day in and day out. In times when we’re down, in times when we need it– you don’t need a specific time for him to bring it, he just brings it. That’s the elite part of his game.”