News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 13 Texas A&M men’s basketball team used a dominant second half to overpower the Texas Longhorns, 80-60, in the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown on Saturday at Reed Arena.
It was the eighth straight win for the Aggies, who improved to 12-2 overall and 1-0 in SEC play. The Longhorns fell to 11-3 and 0-1 in conference play.
Senior transfer Zhuric Phelps led all scorers with 18 points, including 15 in the second half to power the Aggies’ surge. In the second stanza alone, Phelps hit 5-of-7 shots and all five free throws while also tallying five rebounds and three assists to push the Aggies to a 43-23 second half points advantage.
With the game tied at 37-37 at halftime, the Aggies came out scorching hot with the first seven points of the second stanza before the Longhorns managed a bucket. The Maroon & White kept its foot on the gas and delivered an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 13 points with 14:38 remaining.
A mini run by the Longhorns whittled the Aggies’ lead to five points with just under eight minutes remaining but Hayden Hefner and Pharrel Payne powered the Aggies to an 11-3 run that put the lead back to 13 points with 4:41 remaining. Texas never got within single digits again as the Aggies continued to extend the lead to the final 20-point margin of victory.
Joining Phelps in double digits were Payne with 15, Wade Taylor IV with 13 and Manny Obaseki with 10. Solomon Washington led the way with 10 rebounds and Phelps added seven boards.
The Aggies were efficient offensively as they hit 47% of his field goal attempts and converted 24-of-32 free throw attempts. They hit 17-of-24 layups which led to a whopping 48 points in the paint. Texas A&M won the rebound battle, 41-31, including 11 offensive rebounds. Texas A&M’s defense stood tall as they limited the high-powered Longhorns to just 18 field goals and 35% from the field. Texas had entered the game hitting over 50% of its shots and averaging over 30 field goals per contest.
The two teams battled to a 37-37 tie after the first 20 minutes as neither team could separate from the other. Taylor was the Aggies’ top scorer with seven points, while Obaseki and Payne chipped in six. The Aggie offense was boosted by earning 17 free throw attempts and making a dozen freebies. Texas A&M shot 50% for the half, but were uncharacteristically on the short end of the rebound battle, 17-16, at the break.
Postgame Quotes
Coach Buzz Williams
On 48 points in the paint …“I think some of it was in a variety of ways. I thought Gochi [Pharrel Payne] was tremendous, but I thought the maturity of our guys to give it to him was good. I thought we had multiple guys that were doing a really good job of getting into the paint and forcing them into rotation. We did a lot better job off the bounce and off the pass.”
On the ceiling of Zhuric Phelps’….“I think he is as tough as they come. I think he has the best smile of any player I’ve ever coached, and he has been as consistent as a human being can be. In the siz months that he’s been here that I’ve ever seen, has a lot of Dexter Dennis in regard to ‘when I arrive, I’m ready to work and when I work I’ll give you my best and when you’re talking, I’m going to listen with both eyes and both ears and I won’t move either lip.’ I thought tonight he was much more consistent at being his best and he’s continuing to improve.”
Graduate Guard Hayden Hefner
On what it means to play well in tight SEC contest…
“It means we’re aware of what we’ve got to do. We’re mature and we’ve got to be able to process that and learn from it., There are still some things that we might have messed up and we just wash the win away and continue to focus on the next thing.”
Junior Forward Pharrel Payne
On what they talked about at halftime…
“We talked about getting back to our habits, getting back to who we are. I feel like we were really able to do that and we made a push. I feel like that stress, that stretch, got our energy going, I’d say that’s what pushed us to keep going.”