First, Wade Taylor IV sat down. Then he stood up.
Taylor made a big 3-pointer and two clutch free throws late in Texas A&M’s key 73-69 Southeastern Conference basketball win over LSU in Baton Rouge on Saturday.
The win marked the first time in history that A&M recorded back-to-back winning seasons over LSU.
Earning revenge against LSU on Jan. 6, Taylor scored all 19 of his points in the second half to lead the Aggies (11-7, 2-3). Tyrese Radford had 15 points, Jace Carter had 13 points and Anderson Garcia had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“We don’t know how good we are, but we know we have the best chance if we follow the recipe,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “Coming into today, we had played 160 minutes (in SEC play), and 50 of those minutes we weren’t doing that. Today, we were able to create different stories in the first half and second half. Despite the fact that we followed the recipe, I thought we followed it.”
The main ingredient in that recipe is offensive rebounding. The Aggies were once again outstanding offensively. A&M grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, which turned into 27 second-chance points.
LSU (11-7, 3-2) had just six offensive rebounds and zero second-chance points.
“Coming into today, we had played 160 minutes (in SEC play), and 50 of those minutes we weren’t doing that. Today, we were able to create different stories in the first half and second half. Despite this, I thought we were following the recipe.”
– A&M Head Coach Buzz Williams
Taylor took an inbounds pass from Radford and made a 3-pointer from the corner to give A&M a 70-67 lead with 2:56 left.
The Aggie defense tightened things up from there. LSU has only made one of its last eight field goal attempts. The Tigers also missed their final seven 3-pointers.
Still, LSU took a narrow lead, 70-69, on a layup by forward Jalen Reed with 1:04 left. But Taylor made two free throws with 43 seconds left.
Then, guards Jalen Cook and Jordan Wright, who led LSU with 15 points, missed back-to-back 3-pointers.
Solomon Washington was fouled after rebounding his second miss. He added a free throw to contribute to the final score.
The Aggies had a remarkable rally, and it’s starting to become a routine. They got off to a slow start again, missing their first seven field goal attempts and falling to a 9-0 deficit.
Complicating matters, Taylor picked up two quick fouls. He was banished to the bench for all but six minutes of the first half. As a result, he was scoreless until half-time.
But others stepped up.
Manny Obaseki, Hayden Hefner, Garcia, Carter and Radford all made at least one 3-pointer to keep the Aggies in contention.
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Jace Carter, who dropped 13 points on Saturday, was one point shy of his season-high of 14 points (DePaul).
Radford’s triple gave the Aggies a 29-28 lead with 3:39 left in the first half. LSU quickly regained the lead, but was unable to increase the lead beyond four points.
Wildens Rebeck made two free throws with 12 seconds left to pull the Aggies within 35-33 at halftime.
They could have taken the lead, but they only made 5 of 11 shots from the foul line.
However, there were no complaints. Without Taylor, the Aggies trailed by just two points at halftime.
Immediately after the break, he went on a 9-0 run with seven points and one assist. That gave the Aggies a 47-41 lead on Carter’s layup (assisted by Taylor) with 15:21 remaining.
LSU responded with an 8-0 run. A&M fought back with a 7-0 run. LSU then responded with a 6-0 run, taking a 65-63 lead on Wright’s 3-pointer with 6:27 left.
Radford followed with back-to-back baskets, but LSU’s Tyrell Ward hit a layup to tie the game at 67-67 with 4:09 left.
A little more than a minute later, Taylor made his fourth 3-pointer for a 70-67 lead.
The Aggies then made a key play to earn a big win.