No. 15 Texas A&M (2-0) defeated Ohio State (1-1) in a back-and-forth battle with over 15 lead changes before the Aggies closed the game out late for a 73-66 victory. Under fifth-year head coach Buzz Williams, the Aggies hadn’t earned a Quad-1 win in non-conference play until tonight, as a Big 10 road win on any given year deserves recognition come Tournament time.
The Aggies must have felt the effects of the plane ride earlier this week, as they looked sluggish to start the game. Ohio State jumped out to a seven-point lead early in the game before it turned into an extremely tight contest, with the Buckeyes maintaining a three-point lead until the final seconds in the first half.
Texas A&M struggled to score as the Ohio State defense was keying in on the guards. All-SEC guard Wade Taylor IV was held to 1-9 shooting with five points. Tyrece Radford led the team with 11 points, and Henry Coleman III almost a double-double in adding 10 points and nine rebounds. Despite poor shooting (38.7 overall, 27.3 three-point, 63.6 free-throw), they took a 34-33 lead into the locker room.
The second half had a similar pace, with both teams jockeying for the lead. Thankfully for the Aggies, Taylor started to find his rhythm after a rough first 15 minutes of the game. With about three minutes left, the junior preseason SEC Player of the Year hit a left-handed layup off the glass to extend the Aggie lead to 63-57.
Taylor would once again hit another floater late in the second half, pushing the lead to 68-62. the game soon turned into a free throw match while Ohio State attempted to make a runoff of Aggie’s mistakes. However, Henry Coleman, whom the Buckeyes targeted, came to work with his lunch pail going 4-4 from the stripe, not allowing the Buckeyes to gain any ground.
Texas A&M didn’t play the best game by any means, but still earned the victory due to consistent defense and rebounding, so once this squad finds their collective stroke on offense, watch out. Oh, and A&M’s backcourt with Wade Taylor and Tyrece Radford combined for, yes, 42 of the Aggies’ 73 points. Elite stuff.
Below are the Aggie critical contributors from the game:
Wade Taylor IV: 21 points / 4 assists / 2 rebounds
Tyrece Radford: 21 points / 5 rebounds
Henry Coleman: 20 points / 2 assists / 11 rebounds
Andersson Garica: 4 points / 13 rebounds
Texas A&M will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Nov. 14 against SMU in Dallas, Texas at Moody Coliseum.
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