Texas A&M Postgame
USC Postgame
Texas A&M Basketball
Late comeback attempt fails as Aggies fall to South Carolina, 81-78
Just two weeks ago Texas A&M was playing great defense, making clutch plays and boasting a two-game lead in the Southeastern Conference basketball race.
That seems like a long time ago now.
The Aggies, who were torched from three-point range for the second straight game, could not make the pivotal clutch play in the final seconds and fell, 81-78, to South Carolina on Saturday afternoon to the disappointment of 11,240 at Reed Arena.
It was the first home court loss for the eighth-ranked Aggies (18-5, 7-3 SEC), who have now lost three consecutive conference games.
Danuel House and Alex Caruso each scored 16 points for the Aggies. Jalen Jones contributed 14, but played only 23 minutes because of foul trouble.
South Carolina, which previously had problems with shooting accuracy on the road, was led by Sindarius Thornwell with 25 points and Michael Carrera with 20.
They combined for nine three-point goals.
Two days after allowing Vanderbilt to hit 13 three-pointers in a 77-60 loss in Nashville, the Aggies allowed South Carolina (20-3, 7-3) to hit a dozen treys and shoot 55.2 percent from the field.
A&M has allowed 54 three-point goals in its five losses.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Despite their defensive struggles, Billy Kennedy's Aggies had a chance to tie the game twice in the final 16 seconds ... and came up short.
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“Our game plan was to guard the dribble and make them beat us from the arc,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “To their credit, they came in and seemed like every single one of them shot it and didn’t hesitate.
“I would like to tell you we didn’t play very well, but we shot the ball well. We had 12 threes, but we’ve got to do a better job defensively.”
Despite all that, the Aggies actually had a chance to finish off a remarkable rally and force overtime.
South Carolina held a 79-70 lead with 2:24 to play, but in a game that featured 23 lead changes and was tied five times, the Gamecocks had to stave off a final A&M rally.
“What an adventure. It’s hard to close out a team that’s real good on the road,” South Carolina coach Frank Martin said. “We got some empty possessions on offense. That’s hard to overcome, but the last defensive possessions helped us.”
A&M’s final push started in earnest when House hit a layup with 1:01 to play to bring the Aggies within 79-73. Things began to get interesting when Tonny Trocha-Morelos followed with a layup.
After South Carolina’s P.J. Dozier hit a free throw, Caruso converted a three-point play to bring the Aggies within 80-78 with 20 seconds left.
Carrera was then fouled and hit one of two free throws. That left open the possibility of forcing overtime.
House missed a deep three-point attempt and the rebound went out of bounds to South Carolina.
However, the Gamecocks threw away the inbounds pass to give the Aggies another chance with four seconds to go.
Unfortunately, Caruso’s throw-in was deflected away.
“We were trying to run Danuel and D.J. (Hogg) off screens,” Kennedy said. “They put a big guy on the ball did a good job taking away the vision. I didn’t see the deflection. We had four three-point shooters in the the game. They did a good job defending it.
“We had made so many right plays to get in that position. We needed to make one more.”
That seems like a long time ago now.
The Aggies, who were torched from three-point range for the second straight game, could not make the pivotal clutch play in the final seconds and fell, 81-78, to South Carolina on Saturday afternoon to the disappointment of 11,240 at Reed Arena.
It was the first home court loss for the eighth-ranked Aggies (18-5, 7-3 SEC), who have now lost three consecutive conference games.
Danuel House and Alex Caruso each scored 16 points for the Aggies. Jalen Jones contributed 14, but played only 23 minutes because of foul trouble.
South Carolina, which previously had problems with shooting accuracy on the road, was led by Sindarius Thornwell with 25 points and Michael Carrera with 20.
They combined for nine three-point goals.
Two days after allowing Vanderbilt to hit 13 three-pointers in a 77-60 loss in Nashville, the Aggies allowed South Carolina (20-3, 7-3) to hit a dozen treys and shoot 55.2 percent from the field.
A&M has allowed 54 three-point goals in its five losses.
Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Despite their defensive struggles, Billy Kennedy's Aggies had a chance to tie the game twice in the final 16 seconds ... and came up short.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Despite their defensive struggles, Billy Kennedy\u0027s Aggies had a chance to tie the game twice in the final 16 seconds ... and came up short.","MediaItemID":65742}
“I would like to tell you we didn’t play very well, but we shot the ball well. We had 12 threes, but we’ve got to do a better job defensively.”
Despite all that, the Aggies actually had a chance to finish off a remarkable rally and force overtime.
South Carolina held a 79-70 lead with 2:24 to play, but in a game that featured 23 lead changes and was tied five times, the Gamecocks had to stave off a final A&M rally.
“What an adventure. It’s hard to close out a team that’s real good on the road,” South Carolina coach Frank Martin said. “We got some empty possessions on offense. That’s hard to overcome, but the last defensive possessions helped us.”
A&M’s final push started in earnest when House hit a layup with 1:01 to play to bring the Aggies within 79-73. Things began to get interesting when Tonny Trocha-Morelos followed with a layup.
After South Carolina’s P.J. Dozier hit a free throw, Caruso converted a three-point play to bring the Aggies within 80-78 with 20 seconds left.
Carrera was then fouled and hit one of two free throws. That left open the possibility of forcing overtime.
House missed a deep three-point attempt and the rebound went out of bounds to South Carolina.
However, the Gamecocks threw away the inbounds pass to give the Aggies another chance with four seconds to go.
Unfortunately, Caruso’s throw-in was deflected away.
“We were trying to run Danuel and D.J. (Hogg) off screens,” Kennedy said. “They put a big guy on the ball did a good job taking away the vision. I didn’t see the deflection. We had four three-point shooters in the the game. They did a good job defending it.
“We had made so many right plays to get in that position. We needed to make one more.”
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