Quenton Jackson scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half and the Texas A&M defense did the rest in a 75-60 win over Oregon on Saturday in a National Invitation Tournament second-round game in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies advance to play the winner of the VCU-Wake Forest game in the quarterfinals on March 22 or 23.
Making a case that it was snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, Texas A&M (25-12) led by nine points at the half and never allowed the Ducks to get closer than eight points in the second half.
Oregon got within 50-42 on De’Vion Harmon’s layup with 13:05 to play but the Aggies answered with a 9-2 run and picked up momentum. From there, Texas A&M cruised to the finish and led by 18 with 3:50 to play.
Manny Obaseki added 11 points for the Aggies, with Wade Taylor IV and Henry Coleman III hitting for 10 apiece. The Aggies, one of the tournament’s top-four seeds, have won nine of their past 10 games.
N’faly Dante and Eric Williams Jr. led the Ducks (20-15) with 13 points each while Harmon had 12 points in the loss.
The Aggies slowly pulled away from Oregon, turning a two-point lead at the 14:21 mark into a 27-14 advantage after a tough basket by Andre Gordon with 6:55 to play in the half. Texas A&M was up 35-23 with 3:20 left before the Ducks cut their deficit to seven points via a three-point play by Dante and a pair of free throws by Williams.
The Aggies carried a 37-28 lead into the break on the strength of a 53.3 percent to 35.7 percent advantage in shooting from the floor, a 19-14 edge in rebounding and 22 points from their bench over the first 20 minutes.
Jackson led all players with 13 points before halftime while Harmon and Williams had seven points each to top the Ducks’ scorers.
–Field Level Media
