Aggies Top Mississippi State, 67-64, to Win Fourth Straight

Saturday, March 5

Bryan-College Station

7:30 PM

Texas A&M

20-11,9-9SEC

Mississippi State

17-14,8-10SEC

Mississippi St.

Texas A&M

Mar 05, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Texas A&M 67, Mississippi State 64 Box (PDF)2022 SEC Basketball Tournament Bracket Photo Gallery

By: Evan Roberts, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Quenton Jackson scored 18 points and Texas A&M fended off a late Mississippi State rally to earn a 67-64 victory in a regular season finale Saturday night.

Texas A&M took a nine-point lead into intermission and led by 15 with under eight minutes to play after Wade Taylor IV's 3-pointer. But the Bulldogs clawed back.

Shakeel Moore hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to start a 9-0 run that cut the deficit to six, 56-50. After Henry Coleman III scored at the basket for the Aggies, Andersson Garcia hit two free throws and threw down a dunk to make it 58-54 with 3:37 left. Tolu Smith cut the Mississippi State deficit to three twice in the final minute, but A&M hit four straight free throws to hold off the rally.

Coleman finished with 12 points for Texas A&M (19-11, 8-9 SEC). Tyrece Radford had 11 points and Taylor added 10.

Smith finished with 18 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Mississippi State (17-13, 8-9). Iverson Molinar scored 15 points and dished four assists and Garcia added 14 points off the bench.

Texas A&M Men's Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 67, Mississippi State 64
Reed Arena (Bryan-College Station, Texas)

RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

Texas A&M won its fourth-consecutive game as it defeated Mississippi State, 67-64, Saturday night inside Reed Arena.
The Aggies move to 20-11 (9-9 SEC) on the season, and will be the eight seed in next week's SEC Tournament in Tampa, Florida.
A&M has eclipsed the 20-win mark for the first time since 2017-18.
The Aggies lead the series 9-8 against the Bulldogs.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Quenton Jackson led in the team in scoring for the 15^th time this season, registering 18 points while shooting 6-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Jackson has scored in double figures in each of the last 13 games and is averaging 21.2 points per game over the last six games.
Defensively, Q also recorded four steals and leads the team with 51 on the season.
Tyrece Radford registered 11 points and hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. Boots has scored in double figures in each of the last five games and is averaging 6.6 rebounds in that span.
Henry Coleman III scored 12 points including two clutch free throws to give the Aggies a five-point lead with under 30 seconds to go. Coleman has scored in double digits in eight out of the last 11 games.
Hayden Hefner scored nine points while recording a career-high three steals and one block.

UP NEXT
Texas A&M squares off against ninth-seeded Florida at 11 a.m. in the second round of play at the SEC Tournament.

POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Buzz Williams

Opening Statement…
"I think if you do research on Power 5 teams throughout the history of college basketball, if you research teams that have lost 8 games in a row that would be a very small number. Whatever the number of those teams is, do research of what transpired after the eight-game losing streak. I don't know it for sure because I haven't had the time but I do want to take away attention from what we had to do but I do think that what transpired over the last three weeks is historical. We started 4-0. That took two weeks, we lost 8 in a row. That took 4 weeks. That's 12 games. There are only six games left which is three weeks in SEC play and to close down and win four in a row with the middle two on the road. To go from first place in the first two weeks to 12th place six weeks later and then to finish tied for fifth speaks to the character and the fabric of who our guys are. I think it speaks to the resilience and the relationships that they have amongst one another and with our staff. I'm incredibly thankful for who they are and the lessons I've learned from watching them throughout all that I just mentioned."

On if teams should fear Texas A&M heading in to the SEC Tournament…
"No, I don't think so. I just think it's such a thin line. It sounds right and then technically I guess it's true. We finished in fifth place but so did a bunch of other teams. I just think that the value of possession is so monumental, and we have played really well the last three weeks. We did not play well at Vanderbilt, we had 20 turnovers and Q [Quenton Jackson] had four offensive fouls. But we've played really well and we've completely changed what we do offensively. Over the past month, our personnel has changed, how we utilize our personnel has changed. I do think we were in a good groove. We'll be off tomorrow which is needed. Then we'll get to work on Tuesday. Our guys are tired mentally and emotionally. We tell them and we're transparent with them what's been at stake over the last three weeks and now it's a new season and we'd like to play as long as we can and see if it turns into something more than Tampa."

Sophomore Guard Hayden Hefner
On bouncing back…
"I think it's the connection we all have together. It's a major family. We all knew what we were doing during that losing stretch wasn't good. We all knew the steps we needed to take to turn it around and I think that's the prime example of what's going on. We all bought into what everybody was saying. We knew weren't doing good enough and we didn't complain. We could've easily just sat down and gave up, but we really turned it around and stuck together."