No. 21 Texas A&M (7-2) dropped a heartbreaker to the Memphis Tigers (7-2), snapping their 14-game home winning streak on Sunday afternoon.
The first half started off fast, with both teams getting good looks but not taking advantage, missing multiple open jumpers. The Aggies would go on a 9-2 run to go up three, but Memphis would answer back with a three to tie it at 17 apiece around the ten-minute mark.
Memphis would go on their run thanks to hustling on both ends of the court and numerous A&M missed opportunities to score. While the Tigers started to heat up off the hot hand of David Jones, the Aggies still couldn’t buy a bucket, falling down by eight points.
Shooting was a stark difference from Wednesday’s win over DePaul, with the Aggies shooting a horrendous 3-17 from beyond the arc and 30% overall from the field. Even more troubling is that the Tigers held Wade Taylor IV and Henry Coleman to a combined six points. Meanwhile, Jones lit up the scoreboard for the Tigers with 21 first-half points as the Tigers took a 38-29 lead into halftime.
Feeling the pressure to keep the game close, the Aggies gave Memphis a taste of their own medicine, hounding the ball-hander early, causing a few turnovers. A&M sprinted out to a 10-2 run to start the second half, cutting the lead to 45-43.
Once again, the Tigers answered back with smothering defense and second-chance points for a 12-2 run, pushing their lead back up to 57-45. The game remained in this same flow for the rest of the afternoon. The Maroon & White couldn’t put together and allowed way too many open shots that the Tigers knocked down.
Texas A&M gave a valiant effort near the end of the game, but the combination of David Jones and Jahvon Quinerly was too much to overcome. Jones finished with 29 points and Quinerly with 24 points en route to an 81-75 win over the Aggies.
Below are the Aggie critical contributors from the game:
Manny Obaseki: 21 points
Wade Taylor IV: 9 points / 8 assists
Andersson Garica: 6 points / 14 rebounds
NOTE: Tyrece Radford (8 points / 2 rebounds) returned after missing multiple games.
Texas A&M will return next weekend to take on the No.3 ranked Houston Cougars in the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
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