The Aggies were off to an exciting 2-0 start in the 2022 college basketball season after defeating Louisiana Monroe and Abeline Christian, both by double digits. To top it off, Texas A&M found itself ranked in the AP Top 25 earlier this week for the first time in 5 seasons, as it seemed like momentum was with the maroon and white heading into their trip to face Murray State in the Myrtle Beach Invitational on Thursday afternoon.
Well, that disappeared pretty darn quickly as soon as the 3:00 PM CT tip-off, as Murray State began their scoring fest early, jumping out to a 15-6 lead at the 14-minute mark of the first half while shooting 44% from the field, while the Aggies struggled mightily to gain any consistency, especially inside as the usually reliably steady Henry Coleman III could not buy a shot near the basket, going 1-6 on the afternoon.
As the Racers held on to a 35-28 lead at the half, I myself felt that the extremely poor offensive output for the Aggies would surely improve, and even though players Tyrece Radford (19 points), Wade Taylor IV (16 points), and Manny Obaseki (12 points) began to find their stroke, Murray State continued to score at an even high percentage in the second half at nearly 60%, hitting 10-22 from 3-point land, breaking through every defensive look that Buzz William’s could throw at them.
Not to say the Aggies’ didn’t have a chance in the second half, as both Wade Taylor IV and Manny Obaseki hit back-to-back triples that the 8:24 mark, bringing Texas A&M within two points while trailing 60-58. But again, the brief surge of momentum was short-lived, as a combination of missed shots, fouls, and clutch shooting from Racer’s forward Kenny White Jr. (18 points), Murray State eventually completed the upset, defeating Texas A&M 88-79 in the return of head coach Steve Prohm to the program.
After the loss, Texas A&M will have a chance to rebound as they face the Colorado Buffalos in the consolation bracket which will be played on Friday at 11:00 AM CT. on ESPN U.
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