COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Texas A&M took care of any concerns about a hangover from a tough loss to at Arkansas quickly Saturday night as they dispatched visiting Georgia 82-57 before 12,640 at Reed Arena.
Henry Coleman and Boots Radford each scored 15 points for the Aggies (16-7, 8-2 SEC) while Dexter Dennis added 12 more. The Aggies overwhelmed the Bulldogs on both ends of the floor early on to put the game out of reach quickly.
“We have to protect our home,” guard Andre Gordon (4 points, 2 assists) said. “The energy was what helped us.”
The Bulldogs (14-9, 4-6 SEC) took a 2-1 lead, then saw A&M go on a 14-0 run over the next 4 minutes as the Aggies took control. The run was highlighted by a layup by Coleman after a spin move around a Georgia defender on the fast break.
After Georgia scored 6 in a row, A&M went on a 13-0 run to make the score 28-7. The Aggies were scoring from everywhere, with Wade Taylor hitting a pair of 3-pointers and Radford scoring from 3 and adding a layup. The runs were highlighted by a dunk by Julius Marble on a slick pass from Gordon and a tomahawk slam by Dennis off a steal from Taylor to make it 25-7.
"There was great connectivity, cohesiveness, symmetry, whatever word you want to use ... not only offensively, but defensively," coach Buzz Williams said.
The Aggies were up 38-22 at the half, hitting 48% of their shots. Georgia, on the other hand, was struggling to draw iron on anything, including their free throws. The Bulldogs shot just 29% for the half, making only 7 of 29 attempts.
Georgia was missing their leading scorer, guard Terry Roberts (15 PPG), which Williams said clearly affected their offense.
"They were a little out of sorts," he said. "I think they were trying to figure out if they were going to still run the same stuff."
Georgia’s evening on offense could be summed up by forward Jailyn Ingram, who missed all 7 of his shots on the night. Ingram was serenaded with chants of “airball” after completely missing on a 3-pointer in the first half, then followed it up by drawing air again on a second half 3.
The Aggies, on the other hand, continued to have the hot hand after halftime. Marble started the half making a hook shot in the lane, then followed up with a dunk on a no look pass from Radford to Coleman, who then positioned Marble perfectly with a sharp bounce pass of his own.
After a 3-pointer by Radford and a dunk by Coleman off a no-look behind the back pass from Taylor, the Aggies were up 53-31 and the rout was on.
The Aggies would push their lead to 27 with 10:51 in the game when they went up 66-33 after a 3-point play by Radford. A&M started to pull its starters a short time later, but freshman Solomon Washington (7 points) helped keep the scoring going.
The near-capacity crowd at Reed, which was loud all night, exploded with 5:02 left when forward Hayden Hefner drove the baseline for a two-handed slam that gave A&M a 72-50 lead.
A&M would push their lead to as much as 29 late in the game before a brief Georgia run cut the final margin to 25.
Georgia would shoot 30% for the game, while the Aggies shot 50%, hitting 30 of their 60 shots.
“We played together well,” Gordon said. “Everyone is comfortable with each other’s game.”
A&M's 8-2 conference mark is their best through 10 games since entering the SEC.
Game notes
A&M hit 9 of their 24 3-point attempts (38%); Georgia hit 5 of 31 (16%).
A&M out-rebounded Georgia 43-30, and led in points in the paint 38-20.
A&M had 22 assists, led by Taylor’s 6; Georgia had 7 assists total.
A&M’s bench outscored Georgia’s 25-23, with guard Erik Pratt adding a pair of 3-pointers and Andersson Garcia adding 4 points to go with his 8 rebounds.
