No. 23 Texas A&M regained its footing with a three-game winning streak and welcomes Southern on Wednesday night in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies (3-1) shrugged off a season-opening loss at UCF and played arguably their best basketball of the season in their most recent outing, a 78-64 win at home over then-No. 21 Ohio State on Friday.
Wade Taylor IV and Manny Obaseki had 15 points apiece to lead Texas A&M, but it was the Aggies’ defense and aggressiveness that stood out as the difference.
Texas A&M took charge with a 12-3 run to open the game and held Ohio State to 21.9 percent shooting from the field in the first half and 33.9 percent for the game while outscoring the visitors by 16 points overall from the free-throw line. The Aggies shot 40 free throws to just 22 for Ohio State.
“The adjustments that our staff made relative to their (Ohio State’s) personnel and talent was tremendous,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “We had six turkeys (three stops in a row) in the first half, and we got two stops to end the first half and one to begin the second half.
“Those first 20 minutes of the game were really good. Analytically, I would say it’s the best 20 minutes we’ve had.”
Zhuric Phelps finished with 14 points for A&M while Henry Coleman III had 12. Texas A&M continues to flash a balanced offensive attack and gritty defense – and doesn’t seem if some view their winning style as “ugly.” Aggies bench players accounted for 40 of the 78 points against the Buckeyes.
“I don’t think we worry too much about what other people think,” Taylor said. “I think us coming out here (against Ohio State) and playing for one another showed what our program is built on. We know we have a deep team. We have a lot of veteran guys ready to step up and make plays, and we did that and will continue to do that.”
The schedule will get more difficult for the Aggies after Wednesday’s game. Texas A&M’s next five contests will be against Power Four teams, beginning with Oregon and No. 14 Creighton Nov. 26 and 27, respectively, in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
Southern (1-3) rolls into the Brazos Valley after a 131-42 home walloping of Ecclesia College on Saturday. Puoch Dobuol and Jayce Depron scored 16 points each and paced eight Jaguars scorers in double figures against their outmatched opponent from the National Christian College Athletic Association.
Jordan Johnson added 14 points for Southern, which led 59-12 at halftime and scored 72 points in the second half. The Jaguars had 26 steals that led to 59 points off turnovers.
“One of the things we do is we try to pick people up (defensively),” Southern coach Kevin Johnson said after his team forced 33 total turnovers. “That’s what we do. I don’t want to come out here and not work on the stuff that we do.”
The win over Ecclesia came after losses at South Dakota, Iowa and East Texas A&M.
