Wade Taylor IV helps No. 13 Texas A&M rout Abilene Christian

Field Level Media|published: Sat 28th December, 18:42 2024

Dec 28, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies forward Henry Coleman III (15) shoots over Abilene Christian Wildcats forward Ma'Shy Hill (11) during the first half at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Wade Taylor IV scored 15 points and dished out 10 assists and C.J. Wilcher added 14 points as No. 13 Texas A&M throttled Abilene Christian 92-54 on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas.

The Aggies (11-2) were in charge from the jump, forging a 19-point lead at halftime and never looking back. Texas A&M scored the first points of the second half, was up by 28 with 13:23 to play and cruised to the finish line while winning its seventh straight game.

Taylor's output moved him into second place in the Aggies all-time scoring list. His 1,779 points are now behind only Bernard King, who had 1,990 from 1999-2003.

Andersson Garcia and Zhuric Phelps added 12 points each for Texas A&M, which appears to be hitting on all cylinders heading into its Southeastern Conference opener at home against rival Texas on Jan. 4. Phelps added 10 rebounds for the Aggies.

Quion Williams led the Wildcats (8-6) with 14 points. Abilene Christian missed its final six shots and went the last 5:24 of the game without a point.

The Aggies made a statement in the early going by scoring the game's first nine points over the initial 3 1/2 minutes, with seven of those coming from Coleman. Abilene Christian fought back to within 16-12 after Dontrez Williams' layup with 12:12 left in the half. But A&M swung back, producing a 14-0 run capped by Garcia's layup with 8:51 to play in the half to pull away to a 30-12 advantage.

The Wildcats again cut into their deficit, pulling to 30-19 when Cade Hornecker hit a layup with 6:26 to play until halftime. A&M boosted the lead back to 17 points after a pair of free throws by Taylor and got two more from the charity stripe to take a 48-29 edge to the break.

Wilcher led all scorers in the half with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc while Garcia hit for 10 points for A&M while making all four of his shots from the floor. The Aggies outshot Abilene Christian 61.5 percent to 40.7 percent before halftime.

Quion Williams and Leonardo Bettiol paced the Wildcats with seven points each in the first half.

--Field Level Media