Texas A&M
16-10,5-8SEC
Florida
16-10,6-7SEC
Taylor IV's Late Free Throws Lift Aggies Over Florida, 56-55
Feb 15, 2022 | Men's Basketball
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Quenton Jackson scored 16 points and Wade Taylor IV sank three foul shots with 19 seconds left and Texas A&M ended its eight-game losing streak by beating Florida 56-55 on Tuesday night.
Florida's Phlandrous Fleming Jr. missed a jump shot with three seconds remaining, the Gators lost control on an offensive rebound attempt with 0.8 seconds left and the Aggies (16-10, 5-8 Southeastern Conference) killed the clock.
The Aggies led 43-31 on Javonte Brown's layup with 11:02 remaining before Florida launched its comeback. The Gators outscored Texas A&M 16-2 over the next six minutes and a pair of Niels Lane foul shots gave Florida a 47-45 lead, its first lead since 4-2 with almost three minutes gone by.
Tyree Appleby sank a 3 and Fleming buried another with 1:44 left and Florida led 55-51. Jackson buried a jumper with 1:30 to go and the final points of the game came on Taylor's foul shots.
Jackson was the only player to score in double digits for Texas A&M, which finished 19-for-56 shooting (33.9%) including 16 missed shots on 18 attempts from beyond the arc.
Despite the Gators going 7:24 in the first half without scoring, Texas A&M went to halftime with just a 27-20 lead. Florida shot 21.9% (7 for 32) including a paltry 13.3% (2 for 15) from beyond the 3-point line. Texas A&M fared only slightly better shooting 32.1% (9 for 28) and 10% (1 for 10) from beyond the arc.
Colin Castleton scored 15 points and had 15 rebounds - one away from tying his career high - for Florida. Myreon Jones scored 10 for the Gators (16-10, 6-7), which leads the series 9-5.
Florida hosts No. 2 Auburn on Saturday while Texas A&M hits the road to take on Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Texas A&M Men's Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 56, Florida 55
Reed Arena (Bryan-College Station, Texas)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M got back in to the win column as it defeated Florida, 56-55, Tuesday night inside Reed Arena.
- The Aggies move to 16-10 (5-8 SEC) on the season.
- The win over Florida marked the first over the Gators since 2016 in which the Aggies won, 72-66, at the SEC Tournament.
TEAM NOTES
- A&M was a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line, marking the first time it has shot 100% from the charity stripe (min. 10 attempts) since going 20-for-20 against Florida A&M on Dec. 15, 2008.
- The Aggies outscored the Gators, 30-22, in the paint. Texas A&M is now 11-4 when leading their opponent in points from the paint.
- Entering the game as the nation's 10th-best team in forcing turnovers, Texas A&M forced 14 Gator turnovers and converted those in to 17 points.
- Nine Aggies saw at least 10 minutes of action, led by Tyrece Radford and Quenton Jackson's 32 and 29 minutes, respectively.
- The Aggies used a new starting lineup of Marcus Williams, Quenton Jackson, Henry Coleman III, Tyrece Radford and Javonte Brown for the first time this season (1-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Quenton Jackson led the team in scoring, notching 16 points and hauled in eight rebounds. Jackson has scored in double figures in each of the last eight games.
- Javonte Brown set a career high in rebounds with seven, including five offensive, and matched his career high with six points, while playing in a career-high 20 minutes.
- Andre Gordon registered a career-high seven rebounds, and matched career high in steals with four.
- Wade Taylor IV came off the bench to score eight points and nailed all three of his free-throws to give the Aggies a 56-55 lead.
- Hassan Diarra and Taylor recorded a team-high three assists.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M travels to compete against Vanderbilt inside Memorial Gym on Saturday at 5 p.m.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Buzz Williams
Opening Statement…
"I've been a college coach 28 years and have never been through what we've been through in the last 30 days. The resilience and the character of our guys, if you came to practice or came to the film room, you'd have no idea that we had lost eight games in a row and four of those had been one or two possession games. Even tonight when it became a one-possession game, I thought the character and the togetherness that they continued to fight with was incredible. It's a thin line between winning and losing. Very thankful for the win not because we won but because I think our guys deserve it, relative to how hard they've worked, including the staff over the last month through all that's transpired."
On the last possession of the game…
"I think we used two timeouts on the last possession. All the different adjectives you would use to fight to be in that position after losing eight in a row, that takes a lot. Very thankful for how it worked out the way it did."
Guard Quenton Jackson
On how this game was different…
"I think we put together a complete game today. You could say we had a stretch where they went on a run and they came back but I think everyone played hard from start to finish and we were able to come out with a win. It for sure felt different, it felt good to get out of that hole."
On bouncing back...
"You just got to hit them. You shoot every one to make it. I really couldn't tell you, there's no secret to it. It's just a test of the work we've continued to put in regardless of the numbers or percentages. We've just got to keep working and that's what we've been doing. It paid off tonight."
Forward Javonte Brown
On starting and defending Florida's 6'11'' player…
"Coach just told me to hit 12 (Colin Castleton) every time on the defensive boards and he told me to play hard. Everyone has their days, thank God today was my day. He set me up to perform and I did what I had to do.
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
