No. 23 Texas A&M surges past Southern after shaky first half

Field Level Media|published: Wed 20th November, 22:22 2024

Nov 20, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies forward Henry Coleman III (15) drives between Southern University Jaguars forward AJ Barnes, left, and guard Andre Nunley, right, during the first half at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Wade Taylor IV scored 17 points and helped spur a huge Texas A&M second half turnaround as the 23rd-ranked Aggies came from behind to beat Southern 71-54 on Wednesday in College Station, Texas.

Texas A&M (4-1) trailed by 16 points in the first half and entered the second half down 39-25 before mounting a rousing comeback over the final 15 minutes. The Aggies held Southern scoreless for more than nine minutes and turned a 10-point deficit into a 53-44 advantage when Manny Obaseki hit a layup with 7:25 to play.

The hosts never looked back, holding Southern to 21.7 percent shooting after halftime and outscoring the Jaguars 46-15 in the second half.

Zhuric Phelps added 16 points for Texas A&M, while Henry Coleman III hit for 11 points and Solomon Washington grabbed 11 rebounds.

Jordan Johnson had a game-high 19 points for the Jaguars (1-4). He was the only Southern player in double figures.

Southern roared in front with a 17-3 run capped by a tip-in layup by Joe Manning that gave the Jaguars a 21-11 lead at the 10:58 mark of the first half. Texas A&M cut its deficit to five points when Coleman hammered home a dunk with 8:28 to play.

Southern then ran off a 10-1 spurt to build a 31-17 lead after a 3-pointer by Johnson with 3:41 remaining in the half. The Jaguars pushed their lead to as many as 16 points after AJ Barnes' layup with 1:32 left and carried a 14-point cushion into the break.

Johnson led all scorers with 12 points before halftime as the Jaguars outshot Texas A&M 51.6 percent to 22.9 percent over the first 20 minutes.

Taylor led the anemic Aggies offense with just six points in the first half as A&M went just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc and were outscored 22-8 in the paint.

Texas A&M turned around the game in the middle of the second half after Barnes' 3-pointer gave Southern a 44-34 lead with 15:16 left. The Aggies ripped off the next 19 points and engineered another 8-0 run after Jayce Depron scored five straight points for Southern.

The Jaguars went 2-of-15 from the floor over the first 12 minutes of the second half and never recovered.

--Field Level Media