Strong second half pushes No. 22 Texas A&M past LSU

Wade Taylor IV scored 17 points and No. 22 Texas A&M dominated the second half in a 66-52 victory over LSU in the Southeastern Conference regular-season finale Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.

Henry Coleman III had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Andersson Garcia added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies (22-9, 11-7 SEC), who started the second half with a 23-5 run on their way to their second consecutive victory after a four-game losing streak.

Jordan Sears scored 21, but just five after halftime, to lead the Tigers (14-17, 3-15), who played without leading rebounder Corey Chest (foot) and third-leading scorer Vyctorius Miller (ankle) and lost their fifth straight game.

Texas A&M, which defeated visiting LSU 68-57 on Jan. 18, dominated inside, finishing with a 42-27 rebounding edge and outscoring LSU in second-chance points (17-9) and points in the paint (34-12).

Coleman scored the Aggies' first six points of the second half, starting a 12-2 run that turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 42-34 lead.

Texas A&M expanded the lead to 16 as LSU went nearly 11 minutes without making a field goal.

Sears made a 3-pointer to end the drought and Cam Carter, the team's leading scorer who shot just 2-of-12 from the floor while scoring seven points, followed with another 3-pointer to get the Tigers within 10. They got within 10 three more times, but didn't get any closer.

Taylor made three 3-pointers and totaled 11 points to help the Aggies race to a 19-9 lead. Four Tigers combined for nine points and Sears followed with eight straight as LSU used a 17-0 run to take a 26-19 lead.

Solomon Washington made a free throw to end Texas A&M's scoring drought of more than six minutes, but Daimion Collins answered with a 3-pointer.

Garcia made a layup for the Aggies' first field goal in seven minutes and they got within 32-30 at halftime after the Tigers made just one field goal in the final 5:38.

--Field Level Media