No need for late drama as Aggies tame Tide
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M overcame a 12point deficit in the second half against Alabama on Tuesday night, leaving Crimson Tide coach Avery Johnson speaking cinematically afterward.
“Life is not always perfect,” said Johnson, the former San Antonio Spurs guard and Dallas Mavericks coach. “This is not a Disney movie that has a happy ending every game.”
The Aggies are perhaps past the point of a happy ending to an otherwise forlorn season, but they’re ecstatic with the outcomes of three of their last four games, including Tuesday’s 65-56 comeback victory before 5,459 at Reed Arena.
“We just always have the mentality to keep fighting,” said forward Savion Flagg, who along with guard Wendell Mitchell led the Aggies with 18 points each.
A&M coach Billy Kennedy had said the day before the game that he hoped the outcome didn’t come down to a last-second shot, as the teams’ two prior meetings had. He got his wish, although the Aggies’ victory occurred in a different dramatic fashion this time around.
Lopsided scoring streaks were the story of the second half. The Crimson Tide busted open a 32-32 tie early in the second half by scoring 12 consecutive points before the Aggies went on a 16-1 run of their own to grab a 48-45 lead with about seven minutes remaining.
“Give them credit, they played like a more desperate team in the second half,” Johnson said.
Flagg added a game-high nine rebounds for the Aggies (11-14, 4-9 SEC), who shot 27 percent from the field in the first half but 54 percent in the second half in waylaying Alabama (15-11, 6-7).
“To score 41 points in the second half against Alabama – that’s a good half,” Kennedy said.
The teams were fairly even in plenty of categories, with A&M shooting 41 percent from the field and Alabama 40 percent. They also each had 13 turnovers, and each shot 26 percent from the 3-point line (with each 6 of 23).
A big difference came at the free-throw line, with A&M making 15 of 16. The Crimson Tide made 4 of 7. Meantime Mitchell scored nine of the Aggies’ last 11 points as A&M swept the season series from the Crimson Tide.
“We always look for whoever has the hot hand,” Flagg said.
The Aggies won at Alabama 81-80 on Jan. 12 on a 3pointer that A&M guard TJ Starks banked in at the buzzer. Last year, the Crimson Tide prevailed 71-70 in the SEC tournament on a floater in the lane by guard Collin Sexton, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Aggies go back on the road for their next two games, playing at Arkansas on Saturday and at LSU on Tuesday. A&M’s next two opponents already have won at Reed Arena this season.