Aggies Suffer Wire-to-Wire Loss vs. Boise State in Fort Worth
The Texas A&M Aggies have been inconsistent at finding their footing to begin the 2022-23 season. A short field trip to Fort Worth on Saturday to take on the Boise State Broncos provided a solid opportunity to start December on the right path.
But even in an unofficial home game away from home, the Aggies were unable to take advantage, falling 86-71 to Boise State. A&M remained competitive throughout, but never held a lead in the loss.
A&M (5-3) was led by Wade Taylor IV (16 points, six assists), Henry Coleman (12 points) and Tyrece Radford (11 points, five rebounds).
But the scoring balance hardly made up for A&M's cold shooting, something that felt worse due to a season-best shooting performance from the Broncos.
Boise State (6-2) had a season-high in 3-point makes (11), free throw makes (29) and assists (19). It turned out to be too much for the Aggies to overcome.
The Broncos were paced by their backcourt, as Max Rice (25 points, four rebounds), Marcus Shaver Jr. (20 points, four assists) and Chibuzo Agbo (13 points, 11 rebounds).
Radford came out hot for the Aggies, scoring nine of the first 13 points for A&M in the first fives minutes of the game. However, he scored just two points the rest of the way.
The Broncos, who entered Saturday averaging the third-fewest 3-point makes in the Mountain West conference, started a perfect 5 of 5 from deep, including three quick hits to start the night. The fifth make came from Agbo to give the Broncos a 21-16 lead before the midway point of the half.
He added a third make from deep before Rice continued his similarly perfect 4 for 4 shooting start to help extend Boise State's lead to 31-20.
Staying aggressive, the Aggies relied on 11 of 15 free-throw shooting to stay in the game headed into halftime, as A&M trailed 37-28 at the break after making just one field goal in a seven-minute span before the break.
Two 3-point makes from Taylor IV in the opening stages of the second half sparked a slumping A&M shooting effort.
But the Broncos steadily maintained a comfortable lead behind more outside production from Shaver Jr., who hit three 3s to highlight more uncharacteristically solid shooting for Boise State.
The Aggies continued to make runs, never quite appearing as if they were out of it until Rice nailed what was essentially a dagger 3 to give the Broncos a 73-62 lead with three minutes left.
A&M will now get a week of rest before hosting the Oregon State Beavers (4-4) on Sunday, Dec. 11 at Reed Arena.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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