Saturday, February 22
Bryan-College Station
11:00 AM
Texas A&M
20-7,9-5SEC
69
vs
77
Tennessee
22-5,9-5SEC
1
2
F
Tennessee
36
41
77
Texas A&M
32
37
69
Team Stats
UT
AM
FG%
.426
.390
3FG%
.481
.167
FT%
.900
.900
RB
29
38
TO
10
12
STL
7
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
10
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics
No. 7 Aggies Drop Narrow 77-69 Decision to No. 6 Volunteers
Feb 22, 2025 | Men's Basketball
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The No. 7 Texas A&M men's basketball team dropped a narrow 77-69 decision to the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers in front of a sellout crowd of 12,989 on Saturday at Reed Arena.
The Aggies were within a point after the final media timeout and it was a one-possession game with less than a minute remaining, but the Volunteers were 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the final 4:19 and made 8-of-8 free throws in that span to hold off the Maroon & White. The back-and-forth game saw the score tied eight times and 11 lead changes.
Texas A&M dropped its second straight game against an AP Top 25 opponent while falling to 20-7 overall and 9-5 against the SEC, while the Volunteers improved to 22-5 and 9-5.
Graduate guard Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 18 points, with 10 coming from the free throw line, while also flirting with his career high with nine assists and pulling down four rebounds. Senior transfer Zhuric Phelps tallied his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds (fourth of his career) while also dishing out three assists. Graduate Andersson Garcia chipped in 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from deep, with six rebounds.
The Aggies shined on the boards with an 39-28 advantage in rebounds, including a 14-8 lead on the offensive glass. Texas A&M hit 18-of-20 from the free throw line and produced its fourth straight double-digit assists effort with 16 dishes.
The Volunteers beat back a torrid start by the Aggies to grab a 36-32 halftime advantage on the strength of Chaz Lanier's 22-points and six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Texas A&M opened the game with three straight dunks to take a quick 6-0 lead and led by as many as nine points in the first eight minutes. Garcia carried the scoring load for the Aggies with 10 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Taylor delivered seven of the team's 11 first-half assists.
Postgame Notes
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Buzz Williams
On the loss today and facing an even tougher schedule in the coming weeks...
"Thankful for the students that were here, the people that were here. I thought the environment was tremendous. I thought it was a really good game. We are disappointed with the results, but my feelings do not matter at all. How our organization felt after the loss on Tuesday to start week 8 is a little different than how our organization feels to conclude week 8. That is probably what it's about to be from here on out. In the coming weeks, the fight, the intensity, and the physicality will continue to ramp up."
On the play and praise of UT Guard Chaz Lanier....
"He was so good, particularly in the first half. It was an outlier stat. We changed some of our coverages in the second half because of his prowess in the first half. Thirteen threes are really difficult to overcome by any team, but when one player makes 8 of the 13 that probably means you are going to be upside down somewhere, particularly in the first half, we were."
Zhuric Phelps
On the first back-to-back loss since early January…
"It's very important that as a team we make sure we stick to our foundation. We can't let this affect us, game over. Now we are just preparing ourselves for Vandy. We need to get better move on and learn our lesson."
Andersson Garcia
On Texas A&M's efforts to stop Tennessee's offensive burst last minutes of the game…
"We were trying to play really good defense, but Tennessee has a really good point guard. He knows how to control the game, maintain their foundation, and find their shooters."
The Aggies were within a point after the final media timeout and it was a one-possession game with less than a minute remaining, but the Volunteers were 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the final 4:19 and made 8-of-8 free throws in that span to hold off the Maroon & White. The back-and-forth game saw the score tied eight times and 11 lead changes.
Texas A&M dropped its second straight game against an AP Top 25 opponent while falling to 20-7 overall and 9-5 against the SEC, while the Volunteers improved to 22-5 and 9-5.
Graduate guard Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 18 points, with 10 coming from the free throw line, while also flirting with his career high with nine assists and pulling down four rebounds. Senior transfer Zhuric Phelps tallied his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds (fourth of his career) while also dishing out three assists. Graduate Andersson Garcia chipped in 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from deep, with six rebounds.
The Aggies shined on the boards with an 39-28 advantage in rebounds, including a 14-8 lead on the offensive glass. Texas A&M hit 18-of-20 from the free throw line and produced its fourth straight double-digit assists effort with 16 dishes.
The Volunteers beat back a torrid start by the Aggies to grab a 36-32 halftime advantage on the strength of Chaz Lanier's 22-points and six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Texas A&M opened the game with three straight dunks to take a quick 6-0 lead and led by as many as nine points in the first eight minutes. Garcia carried the scoring load for the Aggies with 10 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Taylor delivered seven of the team's 11 first-half assists.
Postgame Notes
- Wade Taylor IV hit a season-high in free throw makes and attempts with a 10-of-12 effort from the free throw line. The 10 free throws put his at 487 for his career, which is just one behind the school record of 488 by Bernard King from 1999-03.
- Zhuric Phelps' 15-point game pushed him past the 1,500-point plateau for his four-year career at SMU and Texas A&M (1,511).
- The Aggies used the starting lineup of Henry Coleman III, Solomon Washington, Andersson Garcia, Zhuric Phelps and Wade Taylor IV for the first time this season.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Buzz Williams
On the loss today and facing an even tougher schedule in the coming weeks...
"Thankful for the students that were here, the people that were here. I thought the environment was tremendous. I thought it was a really good game. We are disappointed with the results, but my feelings do not matter at all. How our organization felt after the loss on Tuesday to start week 8 is a little different than how our organization feels to conclude week 8. That is probably what it's about to be from here on out. In the coming weeks, the fight, the intensity, and the physicality will continue to ramp up."
On the play and praise of UT Guard Chaz Lanier....
"He was so good, particularly in the first half. It was an outlier stat. We changed some of our coverages in the second half because of his prowess in the first half. Thirteen threes are really difficult to overcome by any team, but when one player makes 8 of the 13 that probably means you are going to be upside down somewhere, particularly in the first half, we were."
Zhuric Phelps
On the first back-to-back loss since early January…
"It's very important that as a team we make sure we stick to our foundation. We can't let this affect us, game over. Now we are just preparing ourselves for Vandy. We need to get better move on and learn our lesson."
Andersson Garcia
On Texas A&M's efforts to stop Tennessee's offensive burst last minutes of the game…
"We were trying to play really good defense, but Tennessee has a really good point guard. He knows how to control the game, maintain their foundation, and find their shooters."
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