Texas A&M crushes No. 6 Tennessee

Field Level Media|published: Sat 10th February, 22:59 2024

Feb 7, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams reacts during the second half against the Missouri Tigers at Mizzou Arena. credits: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Tyrece Radford recorded 27 points, five rebounds and five assists to help Texas A&M thrash No. 6 Tennessee 85-69 on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play at College Station, Texas.

Wade Taylor IV made five 3-pointers and had 25 points and seven assists for the Aggies (15-8, 6-4 SEC), who have won five of their past six games. Andersson Garcia collected 17 rebounds to help Texas A&M hold a 43-35 edge on the boards.

Dalton Knecht had 22 points and seven rebounds for the Volunteers (17-6, 7-3), who lost for just the second time in the past eight games. Zakai Zeigler added 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals for Tennessee.

The Aggies shot 46.7 percent from the field, including 11 of 28 from 3-point range.

Tennessee made just 37.1 percent of its attempts and was only 8 of 29 from behind the arc. Knecht made six 3-pointers but scored under 25 points for just the second time in the last nine games.

Texas A&M led by 14 at halftime and then held Tennessee scoreless for the first 4:32 of the second half.

A jumper by Taylor pushed the lead to 48-28 with 15:33 left in the game.

The Volunteers finally scored on their sixth shot of the half, a 3-pointer by Santiago Vescovi with 15:28 remaining.

Radford answered with a layup and 3-pointer as Texas A&M grew its lead to 53-31 with 13:48 left.

Zeigler converted a three-point play to bring the Volunteers within 64-48 with 8:12 left, but Taylor answered with a layup 24 seconds later.

Tennessee made another run to move within 12 with 6:37 left but Jase Carter drained a 3-pointer to give the Aggies a 69-54 lead with 6:07 to play.

Solomon Washington slammed home a dunk off a pass from Radford to make it 83-66 with 2:02 left as Texas A&M finished off the victory.

Taylor scored 15 first-half points on five 3-pointers and Radford added 12 points as the Aggies led 42-28 at the break. Knecht had 10 points in the half for Tennessee.

Taylor knocked down two treys during an 8-0 run that saw the Aggies take a 16-8 advantage with 13:38 left in the first half. Texas A&M wouldn't relinquish the lead.

—Field Level Media