Ever since he returned from injury, graduate guard Wade Taylor IV’s shooting has seen better days, including a 0-for-6 three-point performance against then-No. 23 Ole Miss on Jan. 22. However, the heartbeat of No. 13 Texas A&M men’s basketball shook off the rust and left it behind in Columbia, South Carolina en route to a 15 point first half on an efficient 5-for-6 shooting — all from beyond the arc.
Despite a storming second half comeback effort by the Gamecocks, Taylor came back late in the game and picked up where he left off with much-needed threes to finish the game for a season-high 25 points.
While the Dallas native found his groove, here are some key ways on how A&M toughened out a 76-72 win.
Payne in the paint
Though Taylor stole the show, junior forward Pharrel Payne gave yet another stellar performance — especially during the Taylor-less minutes in the second half. The Aggies found themselves in multiple cold spells as shots that went in during the first 20 minutes ended up drawing back iron in the second half, leading to a more erratic style of play. South Carolina pounced on the shift and forced multiple turnovers to rally back to cut the once-13 point lead down to just two points.
While Colonial Life Arena was rocking, coach Buzz Williams took a timeout to settle the team down and went back to what worked for them all season: hard-nosed ball and getting points the hard way. He turned to Payne immediately, and the adjustment paid off as the reliable Minnesota transfer got easy — and not-so-easy — buckets in the paint to give the Maroon and White breathing room.
Payne’s intangibles are also understated, drawing multiple double-teams and yet still finding the open man despite strong defensive help.
On top of that, his paint defense came up clutch for the Aggies as he added a block to the statsheet after staying on the ground and timing a second-chance shot perfectly. His mere presence was enough to disrupt and force a late South Carolina possession.
In what seemed like an experiment of what the Aggies could get away with in the non-Taylor minutes and runs, the successful formula was Payne’s paint play.
South Carolina’s record is an unfair reflection of the team
In a make-or-miss league like the Southeastern Conference — especially one filled with top-dog play and ranked teams — South Carolina has drawn up the latter in all conference games. However, it’s only a matter of time until the Gamecocks secure their first SEC win.
Their schedule has been daunting to begin with, dancing with the likes of No. 1 Auburn, No. 5 Florida and No. 24 Vanderbilt already. The Gamecocks managed to keep up until the final buzzer, losing to the Tigers and Commodores by just three points and a mere one-point loss to the Gators.
Though the Aggies gutted out a win, today was just another indication of how close South Carolina is to putting it all together. The one-two punch of sophomore F Collin Murray-Boyles and senior G Jamarri Thomas helmed a combined 37-point performance, while sophomore G Morris Ugusuk’s four 3-pointers revved up their second half comeback effort.
While the record sheet shows sole Ls in conference play, expect the Garnet and Black to change it to a W sooner or later.
A&M’s tough brand of basketball has turned into a luxury
While the Maroon and White’s bread and butter lies in the gritty side of basketball — hustling, diving after 50/50 balls, etc —- their first half production was unorthodoxly modern. Everyone had the green light to shoot yet again, and though Taylor benefited the most, the team shot 15-for-25 in the first half with just six free throws attempted, leading to a comfortable 44-36 lead after the first 20 minutes.
Though the switch flipped as the Gamecocks started knocking down shots and A&M’s modern-esque scheme of letting everything fly faltered, it went back to what’s been working all season: crashing the offensive boards and being disruptive on defense.
As Payne got to working down low offensively for the Maroon and White, everyone else tightened up defensively everywhere else, and it cultivated into the ultimate Aggie possession where they obtained three offensive rebounds off of tapbacks by senior G Jace Carter and graduate F Andersson Garcia.
As the calendar creeps closer and closer to March Madness, A&M is seemingly putting everything together. From letting threes fly, to attacking the paint, it all stems from its emphasis of doing the dirty work first.
The Aggies will wrap up their quick road trip with another ranked matchup against No. 20 Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 8. It has the makings yet another close game in the cards as the Tigers are coming off of back-to-back ranked wins in the ever-tumultuous league.
