Tyrece Radford hit for 21 points, 16 in the first half, as No. 13 Texas A&M remained undefeated with a gritty 79-66 win over host SMU in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday.
Texas A&M (3-0) led by seven at halftime and by 10 nine minutes into the second half. Up by just 54-50 with 8:58 to play, the Aggies created some separation with an 11-2 run, capped by a free throw by Wade Taylor IV with 3:48 remaining, more than enough to get them to the finish line.
Taylor had 15 points and Henry Coleman III added 13 points and 15 rebounds points for Texas A&M. Jace Carter chipped in 10 points. The Aggies outscored SMU 28-22 in the paint and scored 20 points off 16 SMU turnovers.
Chuck Harris paced the Mustangs (3-1) with 21 points. Zhuric Phelps added 13 and Emory Lanier 10.
The teams combined to miss their first 11 shots over the game’s initial 2:11 before layups by Radford at the 17:49 mark and Samuell Williamson a minute later got both teams on the scoreboard.
After the Aggies went up by as many as five points, SMU forged a 6-2 run capped by a free throw by Williamson to tie the contest at 13.
Layups by Coleman and Jace Carter gave A&M a 17-13 edge, but the Mustangs answered with an 8-0 run, culminated by a 3-pointer by Smith and a 21-17 advantage with 6:51 to play in the half.
Texas A&M leapfrogged to the lead on Taylor’s basket with 4:53 remaining and pushed the margin to 39-32 on Radford’s 3-pointer at the buzzer to grant the Aggies a 39-32 lead.
Harris led the Mustangs with 13 points at the break. Texas A&M forged an 18-6 edge in points in the paint.
The Aggies pushed their lead to 10 points on a handful of occasions in the second half, including on Coleman’s layup with 11:14 to play, but SMU battled back, clawing to within 54-50 on a three-point play by Tyreek Smith at the 8:58 mark.
–Field Level Media
