Obaseki's outburst pummels Ole Miss, provides necessary optimism

The Aggies’ shooting could have topped the Scoville scale on Saturday.

Texas A&M (18-13, 9-9) came out boiling, went to broiling and finished blazing in an 86-60 Southeastern Conference basketball victory over Ole Miss (20-11, 7-11) in Oxford.

A&M’s third straight win ensures the Aggies have the No. 7 seed in the SEC Tournament next week. The Quadrant 2 win also figures to boost their NCAA Tournament resume.

“To be able to close down the regular season and go into the next season with momentum,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “Momentum is so hard to get and it’s harder to keep. When you don’t have it you’re trying anything you can to grasp it.”

The Aggies grasped momentum immediately and never really let it go.

Manny Obaseki scored a career-high 25 points while Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV each had 19 and Solomon Washington 10.

Andersson Garcia also had 13 rebounds to lead an assault on the boards. The Aggies outrebounded Ole Miss 50-21. They had 18 offensive boards, which led to 20 second-chance points.

Yet, the board work wasn’t as impressive as the torrid shooting display.

Though struggling from the 3-point line most of the season, A&M converted 13-of-26 attempts behind the arc.

That’s their most 3-pointers since they hit 11 in an 85-69 dismantling of Tennessee on Feb. 10 at Reed Arena.

The Aggies also shot 50 percent from the field (32-of-64).

In contrast, Ole Miss shot just 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the field and 28.6 percent on 3s (8-of-28).

A&M roared out of the gate to score the first 14 points of the game. The Aggies opened up a 23-5 lead after consecutive 3-pointers by Obaseki.

Ole Miss fought back to get within 28-22 on a pair of Jaemyn Brakefield free throws with 6:16 left in the half, but never got closer.

The Aggies answered emphatically. They outscored Ole Miss 14-7 over the final 6:07 to take a 42-29 halftime lead.

Radford hit twice from behind the arc and scored a short jumper in that span. Taylor also hit a 3 and drilled a 15-foot jumper with 1:44 left, which proved to be the final points of the half.

Obaseki had 15 points in the half. Radford had 12.

The Aggies hit seven times from 3-point range in the half. They also shot 46.9 percent from the field.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

With the win, the Aggies officially close the regular season 9-9 in conference play.

A&M came out even hotter in the second half.

The Aggies shot 81.8 percent (9-of-11) in the first eight minutes. They held a 63-42 lead after Obaseki scored a layup with 12:49 to play.

The margin swelled to 33 points as Henry Coleman III hit a free throw with 2:58 left.

Ole Miss was never closer than 13 points in the second half.

The lopsided win, which avenged an earlier loss to Ole Miss, continues an impressive rebound from a five-game losing streak.

“(I’m) Very grateful for the character of everyone in the group,” Williams said. “Lose five in a row and all the things that transpired amidst that.

“For that group to continue to fight and stay together. And believe and continue to work. And not complain and not blame, not point fingers and not splinter. I think that’s rare in any industry. I think it’s rare on any team.

“We’re thankful for the result, but I think the result is a byproduct of their ability to hang in there across a two-and-a-half week span when they didn’t have to.”