No. 13 Aggies corral Mustangs behind dominant defense, 79-66

DALLAS — Defense travels.

That cliche rang true for No. 13 Texas A&M in a 79-66 victory over Southern Methodist in front of a rowdy 6,852 fans at Moody Coliseum on Tuesday night.

"I thought it was a great atmosphere," A&M head coach Buzz Williams said. "I think they have a really good team.

"I've never played here, and I thought the ambiance and environment were tremendous. It was really cool."

In a renewal of an old Southwest Conference rivalry, SMU came to play and held a four-point edge after 14 minutes of play.

Yet, as it typically does with Williams' teams, defense came to the forefront.

A&M forced 16 turnovers, which the Aggies parlayed into 20 points.

"We just wanted to slow it down with our half-court press and full-court press," Wade Taylor IV said. "I think we did pretty good."

SMU made 10 total 3-pointers, six of which came in the first half.

A&M made only seven triples, the biggest of which was Tyrece Radford's buzzer-beater to end the first half.

"It changed the game," Taylor said. "It was a momentum swing for sure going into halftime. Him hitting that big shot gave us a lot more confidence. That kind of took us over the top."

Radford and SMU's Chuck Harris finished 21 points to pace all scorers.

That game-changing 3-pointer gave the Aggies a 39-32 advantage at the break and ultimately spurred what looked to be a comfortable win.

In the first half, it was SMU's speed and athleticism that made A&M's life in the lane laborious.

While the Aggies scored 28 points in the paint, much of that came from their 20 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds.

"Everybody on this team has a job within rebounding," Henry Coleman III explained. "I think everybody on this team has a job and knows their job. It just came down to rebounding and boxing out. I thought we did a pretty decent job within the glass."

Trailing by seven at halftime, SMU whittled the gap down to four before Coleman's traditional 3-point play put A&M up 57-50 with 8:36 remaining.

A&M never looked back.

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With the rebound battle evenly split at 43, Henry Coleman III led Texas A&M with 15 boards.

"I think the competitive charisma and synergy the last two games has been tremendous," Williams said.

Coleman notched a second consecutive double-double, contributing 13 points and 15 boards.

"We work on finishing around the rim; we work on rebounding," Coleman said. "It comes from our work."

Additionally, Jace Carter reached double figures with 10 on 4-of-7 shooting.

That trio helped make up for another off night from Taylor.

"We say before every game that we're going to have each other's back," Coleman said. "Whether Wade has 30 points or Wade has 15 points, we know we have each other's back."

Finishing with the latter, Taylor was just 4-of-17 from the field with seven made free throws.

Yet, even Taylor shined defensively, taking a second-half charge and forcing multiple errant deep shots in the final 20 minutes.

"He really picked up full-court defense really well," Coleman said of Taylor. "He got some big stops and really pressured their guards. He's a great player. He knows sometimes the shots not falling, but he has a way of impacting the game in other ways."

Tests in Columbus and Dallas are now in the rearview, and the Aggies emerged from this rare early-season road swing with an unblemished record.

They are indeed showing early signs of living up to its top-15 billing.

"I think there is a lot of growth that's happening when they're with us, but I think there is a lot of trust that's being built when they're not with us," Williams said of his team. "You can see it. You can feel it. You can hear it.

"It has been very encouraging this early."

A&M and its defense travel back to Reed Arena to host Oral Roberts on Friday.