No. 8 Texas A&M looks to continue climbing the standings and building on its position for the NCAA Tournament when it faces No. 22 Mississippi State on Tuesday in a Southeastern Conference dustup in Starkville, Miss.
The Aggies (20-5, 9-3 SEC) have captured five straight games, most recently a gritty 69-61 home decision over Arkansas on Saturday. Wade Taylor IV led Texas A&M with 18 points and keyed a winning surge in the final eight minutes.
Zhuric Phelps added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for Texas A&M and Andersson Garcia had 11 points. The Aggies held Arkansas to just 41.7 percent shooting from the floor, and forced the Razorbacks into 17 turnovers.
“We were a bit slow in the beginning, so we tried to let our defense do the work,” Phelps said. “If we are not scoring, then we know that we have to still do our part on defense. Getting those stops, we knew that our offense would come later in the game. Guarding and sticking to our foundation allowed us to get our offense going.”
Garcia was a standout against Arkansas, especially in the final minutes. He assisted on Taylor’s late 3-pointer and then converted at the basket twice during Texas A&M’s pivotal 9-0 surge that produced the win.
“Sometimes, even if I have an open layup and I see one of my teammates at the 3-point line, wide open, I’m probably going to pass the ball to them,” Garcia said. “I’m not saying that I’m bad at shooting layups, but I trust them a lot to make those shots.”
Texas A&M was listed as the sixth overall seed in the first NCAA Tournament bracket preview released Saturday morning. The Aggies’ remaining regular-season schedule features four games against teams currently listed in the Top 25, including home contests against No. 5 Tennessee and top-ranked Auburn.
The Bulldogs (18-7, 6-6 SEC) are expected to move up in the AP rankings after an 81-71 win at rival No. 19 Ole Miss on Saturday. Mississippi State secured the season-sweep of the Rebels thanks to RJ Melendez’s 17 points that led a balanced scoring effort and allowed the Bulldogs to win for the second time in their past three outings.
Josh Hubbard added 14 points, Riley Kugel scored 11 and Claudell Harris Jr. and KeShawn Murphy had 10 apiece for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs held Ole Miss to 38.3 percent shooting from the floor and secured a 40-30 edge in rebounding.
“We handled the runs and our kids just stuck together and found a way to get it done on the road,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said after the win. “Our guys had connectivity — they worked together. Getting off to a decent start certainly helped.
“We have been criticized, and rightly so, for our defense and we were better with that (against Ole Miss),” Jans added. “I’m just super proud of the guys and how they played and how they responded in a tough environment against a good team.”
After playing Texas A&M, the Bulldogs have only one more ranked team on the schedule — at No. 2 Alabama on Feb. 25.
–Field Level Media
