Texas A&M
12-6, 1-5SEC
Ole Miss
3-310-8; SEC
Davis, Williams Power Aggies Past Ole Miss
Jan 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Tyler Davis scored 20 points, including Texas A&M's final basket, and the Aggies defeated Mississippi 71-69 on Tuesday night for A&M's first victory in Southeastern Conference play this season.
With the scored tied at 69, Davis missed a short jumper but grabbed the rebound for the putback and a 71-69 A&M lead with 22.7 seconds remaining. The Rebels' Breein Tyree missed a 3-point attempt at the other end that rattled in and out as time expired, and the Aggies could finally celebrate an SEC victory.
Aggies get the win!#DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/fwPD1yXriN
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 17, 2018
Home W mood: #DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/fZSkm9fapE
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 17, 2018
A&M (12-6, 1-5 SEC) led 64-62 with 3:19 left after Robert Williams collected an alley-oop pass from Duane Wilson and slammed the ball home. On the other end, Williams blocked a shot following a Rebels offensive rebound, and D.J. Hogg caused one of the loudest roars of the night when he drained a 3-pointer from the far right corner to lift A&M to a 69-62 lead with 2:51 left.
That wasn't enough to stave off the Rebels, however, and the Aggies needed Davis and decent defense to finally close it out. The Rebels (10-8, 3-3) have never won in College Station, falling to 0-3.
The teams played before a good crowd of 10,578 in the 13,000-seat arena considering A&M was closed on Tuesday because of an ice storm that had enveloped the region starting early that morning. On Tuesday afternoon the university offered free parking for all comers and free admission for all A&M students to try and create a home-court advantage.
Watch him work. @rob_williamsIII night:
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 17, 2018
?? 18 pts
?? 9 rebs
?? 3 blocks - Putting him at 110 for his career, 6th in school history.#DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/W3pj92n5t9
A force to be reckoned with. Quick look at Tyler's night.
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 17, 2018
?? 20 pts ?? 12 rebs ?? 17th in school history w/ 590 career boards. #DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/9RR2PzwuvB
Ended the 1st half on a 9-3 run.
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) January 17, 2018
Here was the exclamation point courtesy of a @__hvmble slam.#DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/yURpBZMPbS
Texas A&M Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 71, Ole Miss 69 Jan. 16, 2018
Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
RECORDS / SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M snapped its five-game losing skid Tuesday night at Reed Arena, defeating Ole Miss, 71-69 … the Aggies' season ledger now stands at 12-6 on the season with a 1-5 record in league play.
- The Aggies posted their third straight win over Ole Miss and improved its lead in the all-time series to 6-2.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M shot the ball well from the floor, shooting 50.9 percent, their highest average against a conference foe this season ... the Aggies were 29-for-57 on the night against the Rebels, while the Rebels were 27-for-59 from the floor against the Aggies.
- A&M's big men flexed their muscle on the night, helping the Aggies to a 46-32 advantage on points in the paint … meanwhile, the A&M fast break led to 11 points against just two easy points for the Rebels on the night.
- The Aggies led for an impressive 26:16 on the night, against just 9:04 off the clock while the Rebels led … the match up features 10 lead changes with 4:40 of time tied on the night.
- A 7-0 run to close the opening half, sent the Aggies to the intermission with a 45-37 advantage.
- A&M used the starting lineup combination of Duane Wilson, Admon Gilder, DJ Hogg, Robert Williams and Tyler Davis for the fifth time this season (3-1).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Junior Tyler Davis notched his 12th career double-double (fifth this season), finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds … his 12 boards gave him 590 for his three-year career and moved him into sole possession of 17th place on Texas A&M's all-time rebounding list, passing David Loubeau (581 rebounds from 2008-12) … 10th career game of 20 or more point.
- Sophomore Robert Williams contributed 18 points 8-of-9 shooting ... Williams also added three blocks to jump him from seventh to a tie for fifth on A&M's all-time list, passing David Harris and drawing even with Calvin Davis with 110 career swats ... the Oil City, La., native added nine boards to fall one short of his 15th career double-double.
- Junior Admon Gilder reached double figures in scoring for his fifth consecutive game … Gilder had a pair of steals and assists to go along with his 10 points.
- Aggie head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 127-91 during his seven-year tenure at Texas A&M and 338-270 in 20 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
- The Aggies continue their two-game home stand at Reed Arena by hosting Missouri on Saturday ... The game will tip off at 3 p.m. (CT) be televised on SEC Network.
Postgame Quotes
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement..."Obviously it was good to see we got a break. I thought we did a lot of good things. We are fortunate that the ball bounced out, just like LSU was fortunate. Ole Miss did a good job at executing at the end."
On the final shot … "I was praying that it would bounce out. God blessed us with a good bounce, the right bounce. That's how good this league is. Every game is going to come down to making free throws and tough plays at the end."
On change toward the end of game... "We started taking care of the ball. We came out at the start of the second half and we got loose again. We had some turnovers and missed opportunities to score. We got sloppy and I thought down the stretch we did a better job of executing and getting the ball in the paint, whether it was off the drive or Tyler (David) and Rob (Williams) doing a good job getting the ball off the glass."
On Robert Williams' performance… "I thought the second half he was really good at the rim. He was going to glass on both ends of the floor and blocking shots. For whatever reason, the first half he couldn't get anything going."
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR CENTER Tyler Davis
On what this game will do for team in future… "It was a fight and that was a tough game. Credit to Ole Miss for playing well too but a fight like that and then coming out on top is always good. As long as we keep playing hard and our effort is great then we have a chance to win even close games."
On feeling of last shot of the game… "I mean just thank god. It was a tough shot. They got a good look but you know in and out. It was a tough shot."
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE FORWARD Robert Williams
On getting first SEC win… "It is a blessing honestly. I have been praying on it a lot. I feel like we are getting our team back and starting to get it back to where it needs to be. We just have to slow it down on the turnovers."
On what changed in last 10 minutes of game… "We (Tyler Davis) try to be the core of the team so we lead by example. We have to step up and we have to stay together and let everyone else follow."
OLE MISS HEAD COACH ANDY KENNEDY
On doing everything that is needed to be done but not being able to finish it... "You know it is funny. Billy Kennedy is a friend of mine; good man, good coach, great program and they are 0-5 because they have been on the back end of some of those. I did not necessarily want three, but I felt as if for us it was probably such a defensive factor. I thought our guys did a good job of executing and making the extra pass. We had a guy with a clean look and unfortunately for us it just didn't go in."
