In a blacked-out Reed Arena, No. 7 Texas A&M men’s basketball took the hardwood in black alternate uniforms, looking to secure its first ever top-10 ranked matchup win in College Station against Southeastern Conference titan No. 6 Tennessee.
However, the packed crowd of 12,989 witnessed a first-half scoring explosion by Tennessee graduate guard Chaz Lanier instead. The basket was as wide as the ocean for the Nashville native as he poured in bucket after bucket from everywhere on the court, tallying 22 points in the first 20 minutes on 6-for-7 shooting from downtown.
The early outburst from the bucket-getter proved to be the difference maker as, despite 11 lead changes, the Aggies came up short 77-69.
The 3-point disparity
From a stat sheet perspective and ignoring the 3-point stat line for a second, both teams looked identical: 23 made field goals, 18-for-20 from the line and a turnover count in the double digits from both teams.
The results looked eerily similar to the Aggies’ matchup against Kentucky two years ago: with the same packed crowd and similar field goals, the Wildcats were able to squeak out a 76-67 win as A&M shot just 3-for-16 from deep.
Now, factor in what some call the most important stat in basketball today: 3-point percentage, where Tennessee blew A&M out of the water. The visitors knocked down 13 of their 27 attempts from downtown, a far cry from their usual 8.4 makes a game. Just by himself, Lanier matched the Vols’ season average with eight 3-pointers — tying the most ever in Tennessee history — and it was something the Aggies couldn’t match.
Even graduate G Zakai Zeigler got in on the action late. Despite a 2-for-6 shooting performance, he knocked down a dagger three coming out of a Tennessee timeout that stamped out the Aggies’ comeback attempt.
Unfortunately for the Maroon and White, usual 3-point savant and offensive spark graduate G Wade Taylor IV just could not get it going from deep, missing all nine of his attempts. Though he found other ways to impact the game — taking it to the hole for runners and dishing out nine assists — he wasn’t alone in struggling from 3-point land.
Junior forward Solomon Washington missed all four of his attempts, while senior G Jace Carter and graduate G CJ Wilcher had multiple looks that found everywhere but the bottom of the net.
The only remedying player was surprise sharpshooter-of-the-day graduate F Anderrson Garcia, who matched his season high of two 3-pointers as he poured in 14 total points. However, if any of the Aggies had at least one or two shots from deep go in, they would’ve secured the coveted top-10 win in Reed Arena.
Tennessee’s daunting paint defense
Coming into the matchup ranked fourth in the country in defense and boasting the best in the conference, the Volunteers came out and proved why.
Usual motor force junior F Pharrel Payne was unable to get going as Tennessee swarmed the big man every time he even thought about making a move, sending doubles when he put the ball on the floor and forcing the Aggies to take deep shots.
Though senior G Zhuric Phelps’s bread and butter is getting downhill and getting to the line, the Volunteers forced the ball handler to instead take more shots. While he got going with clean looks from the midrange, his 3-point shooting left a lot to be desired.
Only Garcia and graduate F Henry Coleman III found success down low, but in today’s game, threes are worth more than twos.
The Reed Arena energy in full force
Despite the poor shooting, Reed Arena was rocking from start to finish. Its synergy with the Aggie defense early heralded a quick wave of first-half momentum that softened the Lanier blows. If it weren’t for the raucous crowd, the game would’ve slipped away in a blink of an eye.
With impact plays, the 12th Man breathed life back into the Aggies and helped keep them within reach despite Tennessee’s best efforts of pulling away in the game’s final minutes.
