Hefner scores 19 as No. 12 A&M overpowers HCU in Friday matinee
Texas A&M’s fourth shot on Friday afternoon reinforced the narrative that Houston Christian had no shot.
Three offensive rebounds on the first possession led to a Henry Coleman III layup that launched the No. 12 Aggies (10-2) to an easy 77-45 college basketball victory overmatched, outmanned Houston Christian (4-8) at Reed Arena.
That four-shot possession set the tone for what was to come. The Aggies snatched 20 offensive rebounds, which led to 23 second-chance points. Many of those second-chance points were scored via the 17 layups A&M converted.
Hayden Hefner scored a game-high 19 points, while Manny Obaseki had 13, and Pharrel Payne and Zhuric Phelps both had 10 in leading the Aggies to their sixth consecutive victory.
Yet, what stood out most was who didn’t play. Top-scoring senior guard Wade Taylor IV sat out for undisclosed reasons. Forward Andersson Garcia was limited to just seven minutes.
It was the first time in Taylor’s career he missed a game, which admittedly made coach Buzz Williams uncomfortable, even against an inferior opponent.
“He’s never missed a practice,” Williams said of Taylor. “I didn’t like it at all. Very uncomfortable. We’re very reliant on his talent, for sure. His leadership is as good as I’ve been around in my career.
“Even practice without him was different. There’s a lot of valuable reps for some guys that had different responsibilities today. Hopefully, that will come to light at some point, I anticipate. But playing without (Taylor) is … well, we’ve never done it.”
Even though in the first half, A&M trailed for only 19 seconds, led by as many as 16 points and limited Houston Christian to just 11.1 percent shooting (1-of-9) from 3-point range, the Aggies didn’t play well in building a 35-23 halftime lead.
Taylor’s absence may have been a contributing factor.
“To be honest, we came out a little flat,” Obaseki said. “Kind of played down to the competition. We knew that. The team knew that Buzz wasn’t happy with how we were playing.
“It speaks to our maturity to how we responded in the second half just coming out there strong, playing hard and playing together.”
Indeed, the Aggies played like one of the best teams in the country in the second half. They shot 54.8 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from 3-point range and grabbed 26 rebounds.
They opened the second half with a 9-0 run. From there, the lead never dipped below 16 points and swelled to as much as 33.
The easy victory was especially welcome considering earlier in the winning streak, A&M had previously battled for close, hard-fought victories over Creighton, Rutgers, Texas Tech and Purdue.
This victory allows the Aggies to go into a break for Christmas on a high note.
Williams said that’s also most welcome. He remembered two years ago, the Aggies went into the Christmas break off a shocking upset loss to Wofford.
“I remember that Christmas not being a lot of fun,” Williams said. “I was, for sure, the Grinch at my house. I’m not going to be this year.”
