Heading into Wednesday’s bout against the Vanderbilt Commodores, No. 12 Texas A&M men’s basketball team had time to stew over the back-to-back ranked losses it sustained the week before. In what should have been a get right game for the Aggies, the Commodores marched into Reed Arena and handed them their third home loss of the season, 86-84.
The Maroon and White were the fourth-ranked team to fall victim to Vandy this season, but that was almost not the case. A strong push in the last 1:40 of the game led by senior guard Zhuric Phelps pushed the Aggies to within two, but hope and the team would fall short in the end.
“[A&M is] a hard matchup,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “Just the physicality, the guard play. They have an unbelievable culture here, how hard they play and what they stand for.”
Defensive dominance
The matchup saw two defensive giants clash. The Aggies have held their Southeastern Conference opponents to just 52.4% field goal attempts per game, ranking first in the conference. Not far behind them is the Commodores, who rank second and allow 53.7% FG attempts per game. Both teams surpassed their opponents’ season averages.
Coach Buzz Williams, who is often seen enthusiastically gesturing on the sideline in his signature three-piece suit, emphasizes the importance of racking up three defensive stops in a row. In the A&M basketball world, the three stops in a row are called a “turkey,”borrowing the term from when a bowler records three strikes in a row. In the loss they recorded only three turkeys. When the Aggies record five or more turkeys, they are 19-3 on the season with two of their three losses coming in their last two games.
Punches in bunches
The Commodores’ early offensive success came in spurts, most notably in the 15-2 run around the midpoint of the first half. During the run, Vanderbilt junior guard Tyler Nickel sank three 3-pointers to extend its lead to 12.
Graduate G Wade Taylor IV sparked a 16-6 run to close out the half and cut the Commodores’ lead to two. Throughout the run the Dallas native knocked down six free throws to surpass Bernard King’s all-time free throw record at A&M s. King’s record of 488 made free throws was set during his four years in College Station, spanning from 1999-2003.
Graduate G CJ Wilcher continued his successful season from beyond the arc, going 4-for-7 in the contest and 2-of-3 in the run before the half. Heading into the game, Wilcher had shot 48% from 3-point territory and made at least one trey in the last 10 games.
Top performers
Junior forward Pharrel Payne led the way for the Aggies in scoring, recording 23 points and six rebounds in the loss. The Minnesota native tied his career high in points, which was set earlier this season in the loss to Alabama.
In his record-setting night, Taylor put up 21 points, six assists and a rebound. The six-footer nailed two 3-pointers, coming up just one short of tying Josh Carter’s school record for threes made in conference play.
For the Commodores, Nickel hit seven 3-pointers in his 21-point outing.
“He just made shots tonight,” Wilcher said. “He’s a high level shooter, we knew that going into the game. A little bit of it was us, as players, not necessarily executing what we talk about, and also [Nickel] just being a high-level player.”
The Aggies will travel into a hostile environment on Saturday when they attempt to right the ship against No. 3 Florida, in Exactech Arena in Gainesville, Florida. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
