Aggies surprise Crimson Tide at home in regular season final

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Wade Taylor took a minute to reflect on his team's journey after No. 24 Texas A&M knocked off No. 2 Alabama on Saturday to wrap up the regular season.

“We've had a bunch of ups and downs,” Taylor said. “On Dec. 20 we were 6-5 and nobody would have thought we'd be in this position we're in today. This team is very resilient.”

Taylor scored 28 points and the Aggies beat Alabama 67-61 , making their late free throws after Crimson Tide star Brandon Miller fouled out.

“In the figurative fights they've learned not to flinch,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said. “Our team has improved with each passing game and I think today was another example.”

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Crimson Tide (26-5, 16-2 Southeastern Conference). Alabama played the last two minutes minus Miller, who fouled out after scoring a team-leading 19 points.

“We just didn't quite have enough,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “They were ready to go and we weren't. We can't keep coming out and getting behind double digits early.”

The Aggies (23-8, 15-3) led by two with 2 minutes left when Miller fouled out chasing down a loose ball. Dexter Dennis made both free throws to make it 61-57.

A basket by Jahvon Quinerly cut the lead to two again with a minute to go, but Taylor made two free throws to make it 63-59 with 30 seconds remaining.

Rylan Griffen missed a 3 for Alabama and the Aggies added two more free throws to pad the lead. Quinerly missed a 3-pointer and A&M made two more free throws with 6 seconds left to seal the victory.

It was another big win for the Aggies, who downed then-no. 11 Tennessee on Feb. 21. They should get a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, which will be their first trip since Williams took over.

Texas A&M'S 15 conference wins are the most in school history, besting the 1979-80 and 1975-76 teams which each won 14.

“We stayed together throughout this whole process and ... we're not done,” Taylor said. “Just to finish up conference with the most wins in conference in school history is the end of chapter of that book we just wrote. So now it's time to start volume two.”

Missouri 82, Ole Miss 77

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Noah Carter and Kobe Brown each scored 17 points and Missouri clinched its first doublebye into the Southeastern Conference