No. 13 Aggies dispatch East Texas A&M in Friday's home opener, 87-55
The issues that perplexed No. 13 Texas A&M at Central Florida did not extend to East Texas.
Apparently solving many problems from their basketball season-opening loss earlier this week, the Aggies (1-1) strolled to an easy 87-55 victory over East Texas A&M (0-3) on Friday night at Reed Arena.
“We’ve got a lot of experience,” Aggie head coach Buzz Williams said. “From experience, typically, there is wisdom.
“We’ve got to use that to our advantage. I thought some of the things we practiced, that we’ve shown and that we’ve talked about since Monday night was much more prominent tonight, which is a positive thing.”
Everything seemingly was positive for the Aggies. They took control immediately. They had the victory well in hand by halftime. Really, even before that.
Unlike a 64-61 loss at Central Florida, there was never any drama. The Aggies never trailed, never faltered and never looked back.
A&M roared out to a quick 10-2 lead. Then, Hayden Hefner drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 15:39 showing to launch a 19-2 run.
That gave the Aggies a 31-9 lead. The margin eventually swelled to 35 points, 66-31, on a Manny Obaseki free throw with 12:34 to play.
The Aggies never trailed. They shot 56 percent from the field, limited East Texas A&M to 38 percent shooting, forced 18 turnovers, outscored the Lions 54-26 in the paint and held a 41-24 advantage on the boards.
SMU transfer Zhuric Phelps converted 8-of-13 field goal attempts en route to a game-high 18 points. Obaseki and Henry Coleman III scored 14 each, Hefner had 13, Wade Taylor IV had 10, and Pharrel Payne had eight.
“There’s a lot of good players on this team,” Obaseki said. “I don’t really find it surprising when I see five, six guys in double-figures. Wade having a big night. Z (Phelps) is going to have multiple big nights. Me, Solo (Solomon Washington), Henry, Andy (Garcia), Pharrel … you’re going to see a lot of him.”
The Aggies didn’t see much from Hefner in the opener. He went scoreless. This time, he had eight points in the first five minutes.
They also didn’t see much from Obaseki. He only managed two points vs. UCF. But this time, he made five of his 10 field goal attempts. That included finishing a fast break with a dunk off an assist from Taylor.
“I don’t let one bad game, one bad night kind of determine the type of player I am,” Obaseki said. “I told myself a long time ago I’m not going to look back. I’m just going to keep going forward.
“I’ve got Z (Phelps) here. He’s been a big help to me. He’s been speaking a lot of positive things to me. Him and I go a little bit back, so I’m glad he’s here with me.”
The Aggies were glad to have Phelps on the court. He did not play against UCF because of a hand injury. He demonstrated that he could’ve made a difference in that outcome with aggressive moves to the basket.
“It felt really good just playing with these guys,” Phelps said. “Getting here in the summer. Grinding with them during the offseason. Being able to play at Reed for a game was amazing.”
Phelps showed a little rust with four turnovers and four missed free throws, but overall stood out while playing in front of his parents and against his younger brother Evan, a guard for East Texas.
“He’s a really talented player,” Williams said. “If you know his game, you saw some of that tonight. You also saw a lot of what he can bring to us on both ends of the floor.
“I thought he was just OK. I think he would say that. I don’t think he’s missed four free throws in his life. He’s not going to play with a four turnover rate in 17 minutes, but we are glad he was out there.”
Yeah, more challenging opponents are coming up, but a player like Phelps can help solve a lot of problems.
