Won't Black Down: No. 25 A&M knocks off No. 11 Vols at blacked out Reed

Some recipes are just too good to change.

No. 25 Texas A&M (21-7, 13-2) again followed its usual winning recipe — as tried and true as that of grandma’s pot roast — to post a delicious 68-63 Southeastern Conference basketball victory over No. 11 Tennessee (20-8, 9-6) on Tuesday night at Reed Arena.

And perhaps like grandma’s recipe, the victory was finished in a pressure cooker.

The Aggies (21-7, 13-2), as usual, played strong defense, attacked the rim and converted free throws, especially in the last three minutes.


In crunch time, the Aggies got several key stops to protect a precarious one-point lead. Sophomore guard Wade Taylor had a clutch steal and converted four consecutive free throws to clinch A&M’s sixth straight victory and send the crowd of 12,989 into a frenzy.

“I think that over time what’s happened is because (A&M players) are so familiar with our identity and the recipe that we have to play with, they hold one another accountable to those things that are not in the stats in a very sincere way,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said.

A pair of Julius Marble free throws gave the Aggies a 62-58 lead with just three minutes to go.

Yet, Tennessee answered with a 3-pointer by diminutive guard Zakai Zeigler, who was especially problematic in the waning moments.

Zeigler then forced a turnover, but could not finish on a running jumper.

Marble, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, was fouled on the rebound. He nailed the ensuing free throws for a 64-61 lead.

But Zeigler again cut the margin to one on a driving layup with 25 seconds remaining.

Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi then stole a Tyrece “Boots” Radford pass, but Taylor quickly snatched the ball right back and was fouled.

“It was kind of like a tie-up with Boots,” Taylor said of his big steal. “I think No. 25 (Vescovi) tipped it out. I was just being my brother’s keeper. Just went over to help. (Vescovi) tried to pass and I just deflected it and caught it.”

Taylor then hit two free throws for a 66-63 lead.

In desperate need of a 3-pointer, the Volunteers looked to the 5-foot-9 Zeigler. But he couldn’t get an accurate shot over A&M’s 6-foot-5 Dexter Dennis.

Taylor rebounded the errant shot, was fouled and then added two final free throws to close out the victory.

Taylor led A&M with 25 points, 16 of which came at the free throw line.

Marble scored nine of his points at the free throw line, too.

In following their recipe, the Aggies played strong defense. They held Tennessee to 40 percent shooting, including 35.7 percent (10-of-28) in the second half.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

With tonight’s win, the No. 25 Aggies are now 3-0 against ranked opponents. 

A&M also relentlessly attacked the rim to get layups and/or draw fouls. The Aggies hit nine layups and converted 28-of-34 free throws.

“I just feel like attacking the basket,” Taylor said. "They were giving us a lot of angles. With Ju (Marble) having a tremendous game, the lane was wide open, so just going in there trying to get fouled. Throwing him the ball to get him fouled.”

Williams added:

“We want to try to get in the bonus, which we did when we began to attack. We started running actions to try to get those guys in position to make a play for themselves or make a play for someone else and/or get fouled.”

Tennessee opened hot and got out to a 9-0 lead. However, with Taylor leading the charge, the Aggies fought back to forge a 31-31 halftime tie.

A&M launched a 10-0 run midway through the second half to take a 50-41 lead. But the Volunteers retaliated with a trio of 3-pointers — two by Vescovi — to get back within 57-54 with 7:31 showing.

The competition was fierce the rest of the way. Tennessee pulled within one point four times.

But each time the Aggies would not relinquish the lead.

“Coaching staff prepares us for situations like this where you’ve got to get a stop,” Marble said. “We call it turkeys (three consecutive stops). If you get a turkey in the last minute or two, we win the game.

“That’s what we echoed throughout the team. We practice that all the time. We were pretty poised in that situation.”