A&M follows recipe with second-half rally to split series with LSU

First, Wade Taylor IV sat. Then he stepped up.

Taylor hit a big 3-pointer and a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch to propel Texas A&M to a crucial 73-69 Southeastern Conference basketball victory over LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge.

The victory marked the first time in history A&M has posted wins in consecutive seasons at LSU.

In avenging a loss to LSU on Jan. 6, Taylor scored all his 19 points in the second half to lead the Aggies (11-7, 2-3). Tyrece Radford had 15, Jace Carter 13 and Andersson Garcia posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“I don’t know how good we are, but I know we have our best chance when we follow the recipe,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “Entering today we had played 160 minutes (in SEC play). Fifty of those minutes we had not done that. I thought today, despite all the storylines that could be created in the first and second half, we followed the recipe.”

That recipe’s primary ingredient is offensive rebounds. The Aggies again were exceptional on the offensive boards. A&M grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, which were turned into 27 second-chance points.

LSU (11-7, 3-2) had just six offensive rebounds and no second-chance points.

Taylor took an inbounds pass from Radford and drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to give A&M a 70-67 lead with just 2:56 remaining.

The Aggie defense clamped down from there. LSU converted only one of its last eight field goal attempts. The Tigers also missed their last seven attempts from 3-point range.

Still, LSU trailed just 70-69 after forward Jalen Reed scored a layup with 1:04 to play. But Taylor hit a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left.

Then, guards Jalen Cook and Jordan Wright, who led LSU with 15 points, missed consecutive 3-point attempts.

Solomon Washington was fouled after rebounding the second miss. He added a free throw to account for the final score.

The Aggies had a remarkable rally, which is becoming a routine. They got off to yet another a slow start, missing their first seven field goal attempts to fall into a 9-0 deficit.

Complicating matters, Taylor picked up two quick fouls. He was exiled to the bench for all but six minutes of the first half. Consequently, he was scoreless at halftime.

However, others stepped up.

Manny Obaseki, Hayden Hefner, Garcia, Carter and Radford all hit at least one 3-pointer to keep the Aggies in contention.

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Dropping 13 points on Saturday, Jace Carter was one point shy of matching his season high of 14 (DePaul).

Radford’s triple gave the Aggies a 29-28 lead with 3:39 left in the half. LSU quickly regained the lead, but couldn’t extend the margin to more than four points.

Wildens Leveque hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to draw the Aggies within 35-33 at halftime.

They could’ve had the lead, but converted just 5-of-11 from the foul line.

There was no complaints, though. The Aggies were down by just two points at halftime without Taylor being a factor.

After the break he immediately produced seven points and an assist in a 9-0 run. That enabled the Aggies to take a 47-41 lead on a Carter layup — assisted by Taylor — with 15:21 to play.

LSU responded with an 8-0 run. A&M countered with a 7-0 run. Then, LSU came back with a 6-0 run to take a 65-63 lead on a 3-pointer by Wright with 6:27 left.

Radford followed with back-to-back baskets, but LSU’s Tyrell Ward hit a layup to forge a 67-67 tie with 4:09 to play.

A little over a minute later Taylor nailed his fourth 3-pointer for a 70-67 lead.

Then the Aggies made the pivotal plays to close out the big win.