Aggies erase 13-point halftime deficit, advance to SEC semifinals, 67-61

NASHVILLE — A troubadour wandering across the street from the honky tonks on Broadway into Bridgestone Arena on Friday night might have been inspired to write a song.

It would be a tune about avoiding heartbreak, overcoming hard times and moving on.

Or, maybe, it would just be about barbecuing pork.

Second-seeded Texas A&M (24-8) did all of the above in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference postseason basketball tournament.

Wade Taylor IV and Henry Coleman III combined for 28 points in an incredible second-half charge to a 67-61 come-from-behind victory over No. 10 seed Arkansas (20-13).

The Aggies advance to the Saturday semifinals to face No. 6 seed Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. CT.

On frequent occasions this season, A&M coach Buzz Williams has said his tough-minded team doesn’t flinch in pressure situations. This time, they took their resilience to an extreme.

If there was ever a time for the Aggies to flinch, it was in a dismal first half.

Taylor picked up two quick fouls, A&M committed two Flagrant 1 fouls, committed nine turnovers, had nine shots blocked and allowed Arkansas to make more than half its shots, including five from 3-point range.

The last triple was banked in at the buzzer to provide the Razorbacks a 38-25 halftime lead.

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In addition to a game-high 18 points, Taylor IV also had three assists.

“We were not very good in the first half,” Williams said. “That's a credit to Arkansas. IV (Taylor) being in foul trouble is a little unsettling. We tried to play him offense for defense as best we could. Nine turnovers is not good. Nine blocked shots is not good. The reason they shot 55 percent is 18 times we gave them the ball and never got our defense set.

“The compound effect of that is we're playing in a broken floor defensively. They're going to shoot and score at a high percentage, so now all of a sudden, without IV playing, we have to play slower.”

There was nothing slow about the Aggies’ transformation from first-half Dr. Jekyll to second-half Mr. Hyde.

In particular, Coleman — who had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds — came out as a raging beast. He scored 11 points in the first seven-and-a-half minutes as A&M erased the double-digit deficit.

“I would say none of the guys on the team panicked,” Coleman said. “Our leaders stepped up and said the right things. Coach came in and prepared us for the second half. We weren't really playing Texas A&M basketball in the first half. I thought our ability to get downhill, control the free-throw line, control the glass was a huge key.”

The Aggies finally took a 46-45 lead on a Dexter Dennis layup with 10:26 left.

However, it was a Julius Marble II three-point play with 7:42 remaining that gave A&M a 53-51 lead it would never give up.

Taylor, who scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, played a huge role in maintaining the advantage. He picked the pocket of Arkansas forward Jordan Walsh and turned the steal into a coast-to-coast layup for a 58-53 lead.

“I switched off on one of the bigger guys, one of their post guys,” Taylor said. “I just tried to hold my ground. They shot it and got it back. I just kind of tried to be a gnat, try to get it out. I got it.”

The Aggies eventually extended the margin to 65-57 on Solomon Washington’s dunk off Tyrece Radford’s alley-oop pass with 46 seconds to go.

Arkansas fought back to pull within 65-61, but Taylor — as he’s done so often — hit a pair of clutch free throws with 14.5 seconds remaining to clinch the victory.

According to hogstats.com, it was the first time in 78 games that Arkansas has lost after holding at least a 13-point lead at halftime.

A major factor in breaking that streak was the Aggies converting 16-of-22 free throws in the second half after shooting just two in the first half.

They also dominated the boards with 43 rebounds, including 17 on the offensive end. Arkansas had 26 rebounds.

A&M was even better defensively as they limited Arkansas to 30 percent shooting (9-30) in the second half. The Razorbacks missed all eight attempts from 3-point range after intermission.

Also, guard Nick Smith — who led Arkansas with 16 points — scored just three in the second half while making only one of 10 shots.

“I thought our defense was locked in the second half,” Coleman said. “Guys were playing in passing lanes, willing to take charges, stay in the drive, do stuff that Texas A&M is known for, that we practice every day.”

Boosted by that defensive effort, the Aggies overcame a deficit of at least eight points for the seventh time in their last 13 SEC games.

Or, as a troubadour might say, it was the same song, seventh verse.