No. 23 Texas A&M men’s basketball hosted the No. 21 Ohio State Buckeyes Friday night at Reed Arena.
The matchup marked the second time a Big Ten team has played in Reed Arena, with the first being Penn State in 2005. A Billy Gillispie-led Aggie squad, with coach Buzz Williams as an assistant coach, took down the Nittany Lions, 60-55. Williams, now the head man, looked to continue his Big Ten success at home and did so with a decisive 78-64 victory
Ohio State got off to a hot start defensively, forcing three turnovers within the first three minutes of the contest. The A&M scoring drought ended with a three-pointer from senior forward Andersson Garcia, sparking a 9-0 run. Buckeye sophomore F Aaron Bradshaw slammed home a statement alley-oop, marking the end of the run.
Now up 22-15, senior guard Manny Obaseki knocked down a corner three, followed by a put-back jumper from graduate G Hayden Hefner before a three-pointer from Buckeye senior G Meechie Johnson Jr. prompted Williams to call a timeout. The Aggies would go on to take a 31-22 lead into halftime.
Defense was the name of the game in the first half. The Aggies hauled in 18 defensive rebounds while the Buckeyes wrangled 15. The two squads combined for 15 turnovers.
“Defensively, we were tremendous in the first half,” Williams said. “Analytically, I would say it’s the best 20 minutes we’ve had.”
With a defensive game comes fouls, and the Aggies made the most of their charity stripe opportunities in the first half, going 15-of-18. Graduate G Wade Taylor IV and Obaseki accounted for 18 of the Maroon and White’s 31 points in the half.
The second half started with a bang as senior SMU transfer G Zhuric Phelps and Taylor both knocked down threes, coercing Ohio State coach Jake Diebler into calling an early timeout.
“[The Aggies] have versatility,” Diebler said. “They can take the paint, they protect the rim, they can switch. … They do a really good job.”
After regrouping during the break, the Buckeyes responded with a three-pointer of their own to cut A&M’s lead to 13.
Junior F Solomon Washington continued the Aggies’ free throw prowess after a flagrant-1 violation called on Buckeye graduate G Micah Parrish. Garcia followed it up by knocking down two more on the next possession.
Down by 18, the Buckeyes knocked down a couple of threes, prompting Williams to take a timeout.
The Fighting Farmers continued to pile on the points coming out of the timeout, sparked by a block from junior Minnesota transfer center Pharrel Payne.
Taylor added three to the Aggies’ score when the Buckeyes were called for a goaltend on a play that he was fouled on. Graduate Nebraska transfer G CJ Wilcher followed it up with a three to extend the lead to 16.
Obaseki knocked in a reverse layup off the glass with a foul, sinking the free throw to move the score to 59-45 in favor of the Aggies. The Allen native set a season-high with his 15 points on the night. Taylor finished the night with 15 of his own, and Phelps had 14.
“Manny has been in the gym everyday,” Taylor said. “He’s most definitely one of the hardest workers in our program. That just speaks to who he is. He’s always ready when his number’s called and tonight showed how much we believe in Manny.”
The Aggies crashed the boards extremely well, out-rebounding the Buckeyes 39-33. The difference was reflected on the scoreboard through A&M’s 16 second chance points. Graduate F Henry Coleman III played a major role in the Aggies’ rebounding game.
“I think Henry is playing the best two weeks he’s played in November since two years ago,” Williams said. “He’s doing a lot of really good things.”
Fouls were a key part in the Maroon and White’s victory, going 32-of-40 from the charity stripe. Williams makes the team shoot 100 free throws after practice as a way to achieve their goal of making more free throws than their opponent attempts, something Obaseki credited for the team’s success.
The Aggies will stay at Reed Arena when the Southern University Jaguars come to town at 7 p.m. Wednesday on SEC Network+.
