Garcia's Energy Gives Aggies Second Chance to Put Vandy Away

Seldom is a player with five points on the score sheet called the ‘Most Valuable Player’ of a game.

Following Texas A&M’s 72-66 victory Saturday night against Vanderbilt, the Commodores head coach Jerry Stackhouse bestowed that moniker on Andersson Garcia.

“Andersson Garcia only finished with five points tonight,” Stackhouse said, “but he was probably the MVP of this game, having six offensive rebounds. He kept balls alive for them and gave them second chance opportunities. You can’t afford to give teams, especially on the road, those second chance opportunities and that was the difference of the game.”

Garcia’s biggest offensive rebound came with just over a minute remaining in the contest. Tied 66-66, Wade Taylor IV missed short on a driving jumper on the left side of the key. Garcia outjumped Vandy’s Myles Stute and converted on an immediate putback for the go-ahead basket.

It was an ‘Andy Play.’

“That was an Andy Play,” Tyrece Radford said. “The more you see him play the more you will see plays like that. He’s a wonderful player.”

Midway through the second half it looked like Garcia’s late game heroics wouldn’t be necessary. A 17-4 run gave the Maroon & White a 64-51 lead at the 8:29 mark. 

What sparked the run?

Garcia snared an offensive rebound on the opposite side of the hoop from a missed Taylor corner 3-point shot. He whipped the ball out to Dexter Dennis and the Aggies reversed the ball through Radford back to Taylor who was dead-eye on his second attempt and the Aggies would own the next three minutes of action.

Vanderbilt went on a run of its own, eventually taking a 66-65 lead at the 2:59 mark to set up the late drama.

With Julius Marble in foul trouble for much of the game, Garcia ended the contest playing 22 minutes. He registered eight total rebounds and added a steal.

“Lately Andy has been playing big minutes and has been doing a very good job,” Radford said. “I give him praise for that too. As a guy who comes off the bench, he stays prepared any given night to play minutes like that.”

In the Aggies’ current rotation, Garcia and Andre Gordon are the first players off the bench. 

“I think the job that Andy and Dre have done, particularly this week, but even throughout the first eight games (of SEC play), has been, without question, a needle mover whether the box score shows it or not,” A&M head coach Buzz Williams said.

Garcia averages 14.3 minutes a game, registering 2.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. His ‘Per 40’ rebound clip of 10.8 leads the squad.

Saturday’s efforts came on the heels of his season-high 26 minutes of action in Wednesday’s 79-63 upset of No. 15 Auburn. The Moca, Dominican Republic, native tallied seven points and six rebounds in the takedown of the Tigers.

“Tonight was the third game that Solo (Solomon Washington) has missed,” Williams said. “So those minutes, that production and some of the foul trouble that we’ve had in that three-game span – what Andy has brought has been so good. I know against Florida he had the block and there were good things that he’s done before that, but this week he has been phenomenal.”

Garcia is playing his first season at Texas A&M after two years at Mississippi State. He played in 44 games for the Bulldogs, averaging 4.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest last season. In his short stint in Aggieland, he’s become a beloved figure.

“I would say he’s probably the most beloved player in the program,” Williams said. “... Henry (Coleman) didn’t play his normal second-half minutes at Auburn because Andy was playing so well. Henry was the loudest person on the bench. He was so engaged in helping Andy. That’s rare when your peers are giving you that level of confidence and love particularly when you’ve been here five months.”

Coach Williams expects Garcia’s production to continue to have a huge impact.

“Sometimes I think his self-confidence is lower than you expect,” Williams said. “But I think because he’s been so accepted here, I think his confidence level is higher.”