Aggies look to continue success against Bulldogs
Texas A&M will look to defeat Georgia for the eighth time in the teams’ past nine meetings in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday night in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies (15-7, 7-2 SEC) ended a two-game winning streak with an 81-70 setback at Arkansas on Tuesday, while Georgia (14-8, 4-5) lost for the fourth time in their past five games with an 94-73 thumping at No. 25 Auburn on Wednesday.
Texas A&M, which has won nine of its past 11 games, trimmed the Razorbacks’ 13-point lead with 7:52 left to 72-67 following Wade Taylor IV’s 3-pointer with 1:27 to play. But Arkansas countered with a 6-0 run — scoring all of its points at the free-throw line — to put the game away.
The Aggies shot only 14of-24 (58.3%) from the freethrow line.
Taylor, who averages a team-high 14.9 points per game, scored 18 against Arkansas. Henry Coleman III, who averages 10.4 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game, added 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Tyrece Radford (13.7 points, 5.4 rebounds per game) chipped in 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
“Henry played so hard. All of them did,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “We didn’t finish at the rim — a coach’s point — at the rate we have to. But it wasn’t because we weren’t attacking.”
Georgia’s recent loss wasn’t nearly as close.
Auburn, after leading 4224 at halftime, put the game away with a 14-5 run midway through the second half to take a 66-41 advantage with 11:35 to go.
Auburn’s pressure defense suffocated the Bulldogs, who committed 13 turnovers that the Tigers converted into 20 points. Georgia scored 10 points off Auburn’s five miscues. The Bulldogs were outrebounded 37-27.
“I thought their pressure from the jump was a factor in not allowing us to really penetrate that 3-point arc, but the biggest issue early on was the way they set the tone on the offensive glass,” Georgia coach Mike White said.
“They had already imposed their will on the offensive glass by the first media timeout, which was a key to the game for us.”
Mardrez McBride, who averages 5.5 points per game, scored a season-high 20 points by shooting 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. Kario Oquendo, who averages 12.9 points per game, added 10 points, while Terry Roberts, who averages a team-high 15 points per game, scored just seven against the Tigers.