A&M fails to overcome Gamecocks' second-half surge, drops fourth straight
In his analysis of basketball performance, Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams often emphasizes figures, statistics and percentages.
Williams only needed to note two figures on Saturday night.
Behind by double digits late in the game, the Aggies hoped to rally behind shooters converting just 20 percent from 3-point range.
Those mathematics added up to a fourth consecutive Southeastern Conference loss as Texas A&M (15-6, 4-4) was toppled 74-63 by South Carolina (13-7, 4-4) before 7,301 frustrated fans at Reed Arena.
The visiting Gamecocks hit four 3-pointers in a 17-1 run midway through the second half to take a 54-43 lead.
The erratic-shooting Aggies, who held a 31-27 lead at halftime, could not answer.
“The most important priority for us in this game was to stop them in transition, 1-A. And 1-B then to contest those quick shots and then the game would be decided on the rise of the shot,” Buzz Williams said. “In the first half, (South Carolina scored) 12 points in transition, nine points on offensive rebounds, three free throws. That was 24 of their 27.
“Then, in the second half, I thought we guarded the ball better, but we were late in our rotation to contest those shots, particularly the 3s. We were really good on the glass. But for the game, we only contested 21 percent of their 3s, and that was just being late on the rotation.”
South Carolina converted 9-of-19 attempts from 3-point range, with 7-of-11 coming in the second half. Conversely, A&M hit just three of its first 20 attempts behind the arc before finishing 5-of-25.
That adds up to an alarming 6-of-47 (12.7 percent) on 3-pointers in the Aggies’ last two home games. They converted just 1-of-22 attempts from behind the arc in a 64-58 loss to Kentucky on Jan. 19.
Andre Gordon hit a trio of treys to lead the Aggies with 14 points. Quenton Jackson had 12. Inside, Henry Coleman III had a double-double with ten points and 15 rebounds, while Ethan Henderson had nine points and eight boards.
But A&M was betrayed by its backcourt. Jackson and fellow guards Marcus Williams, Wade Taylor IV and Hassan Diarra combined to hit 6-of-35 (17.1) percent from the field and 2-of-17 (11.7) percent from 3-point range.
“I think guys are putting up shots every day,” Coleman said. “Shooters keep shooting. I think they will fall, hopefully. We’ve just got to keep shooting the ball.
“I have full confidence in all the guys shooting the ball every time they put one up. We’ll get it back.”
The Aggies looked like they might get back into the win column when they took a 31-27 halftime lead. They maintained a 42-37 advantage when Gordon turned a steal into a dunk with 15:05 to play.
But South Carolina’s Erik Stevenson, Jermaine Couisnard and James Reese combined for four 3-pointers in a 17-1 run that staked the Gamecocks to a 54-43 lead with 9:46 to play.
The run appeared to leave the Aggies rattled on the offensive end. A&M committed three turnovers and missed three shots in the run, which spanned four minutes and seven seconds.
Buzz Williams disagreed, though.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that we got rattled,” he said. “We didn’t shoot a high percentage, but I wouldn’t necessarily say they were shots we didn’t want to shoot.”
Perhaps not. But A&M shot just 36.7 percent in the second half and never got closer than six points after South Carolina’s pivotal run.