Texas A&M outclasses South Carolina 83-60

What a week.

After a disastrous stretch that left A&M sitting at 2-6 in SEC, the squad was staring at a pair of home games that simply had to be won. They replied in kind, dispatching of Arkansas on Tuesday night and South Carolina today, both by double digits.

The next two weeks are perilous, containing three road trips and a home game against Kentucky, but for the first time in over a month it looks like we’re truly up for the fight.

Let’s break it down.

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Perfect from the word go

This wasn’t like Arkansas, where we had to grow into the game before eventually pulling away in the second half. We smashed the Gamecocks right in the nose, stole their wallet, and then forced them to play more basketball when all they really wanted to do was go home and cancel their credit cards.

Leads of 6-0, 11-2, 20-5, and 35-15 ensured that this was going to be a delightful afternoon of A&M Basketball.

Halftime Score: Texas A&M 49, South Carolina 27

No surrender

Often times in games like this, the trailing team will at least make one run to single digits at some point. It rarely sticks, but it usually provides at least some measure of comfort to the losing squad.

Y’all, we didn’t even allow that courtesy.

The second half was an exercise in complete futility for Frank Martin and the Gamecocks, as they never even cut the lead under 20. Savion Flagg sent us all home with something to remember, and the celebration was on.

Final Score: Texas A&M 83, South Carolina 60

Box Score

Individual Notes

This section is going to be fun.

• Our veteran guard play was great. Hogg, Wilson, and Gilder combined for 28 points on 9-14 from the field, with 11 assists and only 2 turnovers.
• Robert Williams played a dang near perfect game. He had 11 points (5-5 FG), 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks. He’s now working on three straight weeks of All-SEC level basketball.
• The Aggies had 11 steals and 11 blocks, and only committed 11 turnovers.
• Our three point shooting (35%) and free throw shooting (75%) were passable, but our overall shot selection and percentage from the field (53%) were stellar. This number was well over 60% in the first half, and remained in the high 50’s until the backups were playing out the string.

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Today was a really fun reminder of what Texas A&M Basketball can be. Now we have to prove it away from Reed Arena, where we’ll play three of our next four (@Auburn; Kentucky; @Mizzou; @Arkansas).

I’m proud of the way we responded this week, and I’m excited that we have an opportunity to play meaningful basketball down the stretch. And you’d better believe that this A&M squad is capable of winning at first place Auburn on Wednesday night.

BTHO Auburn