No. 25 Aggies Men's Hoops Knock Off No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers 68-63: Live Game Log
After earning their second win over the Missouri Tigers, the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies (20-7, 12-2 SEC) will head home to face the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) in their highest-ranked matchup of the season.
In the Aggies' last game against Missouri, the guard duo of Wade Taylor IV and Dexter Dennis had their way, tallying 21 and 17 points, respectively, to keep the Tigers out of the game throughout the entire second half, ultimately earning a strong road victory against an NCAA tournament seeded team.
Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams has praised Dennis all season long, making clear that his contributions on the court are essential to his team's success — leaving no question that the Aggies will be looking once more to him to make things happen offensively, especially against Tennessee.
The Volunteers are entering the game as a 3 seed according to ESPN, but Tennessee has taken a turn for the worse in its last few games, losing three of its last four — though its one victory came against top-ranked Alabama. Despite the Volunteers' recent struggle, however, the Aggies will enter the game hoping for a strong start.
A win for the Aggies would only further their historic SEC performance thus far, adding another statement win to their tournament resume in the process — and the Aggies like their chances at home, so far going undefeated against SEC opponents at Reed Arena. Tipoff will be at 6:00 p.m.
The Aggies win the jump ball but Julius Marble misses the open shot. Jonas Aidoo hit two foul shots then Jahmai Mashack nailed a 3. Aidoo added another jumper for a 7-0 Vols lead, which prompted an Aggies timeout with 17:07 left. The Aggies are 0-4 to start the game. Zakai Zeigler made another layup to increase the Vols lead before Marble made the first bucket of the game for A&M. 15:50 FIRST HALF: Vols 9, Aggies 2
The Aggies are being out-rebounded thus far 6-4 and are just 1-7 from two, shooting 14.3 percent, and 0-1 from 3. Julius Marble made one-of-two foul shots and Zakai Zeigler hit another jumper for an 11-3 Vols lead. Wade Taylor IV finally got in the scoring column for A&M with a 3-pointer, before Aidoo answered with another jumper. Marble hit another jumper off a nice assist by Tyrece Radford. 10:35 FIRST HALF: Vols 13, Aggies 10
Olivier Nkamhoua drained a 3 for the Vols to extend the lead and then Olivier Nkamhoua matched him with another from beyond the arc. Taylor IV answered with a layup. Nkamhoua hit one-of-two foul shots before Taylor IV drained both of his. Tobe Awaka also tipped a miss in for an offensive rebound and a bucket. 7:15 FIRST HALF: Vols 21, Aggies 14
Taylor IV made a jumper and one-of-two free throws, answered by Nkamhoua's layup and free throw. Taylor hit three foul shots after being hacked by Vescovi. Tyreke Key made a 3-pointer for the Vols to extend the lead. 3:57 FIRST HALF: Vols 27, Aggies 21
Andersson Garcia hit a 3 out of the timeout to reduce the deficit to three, then Taylor IV hit two foul shots for a 27-26 lead. Tobe Awaka made a layup and Radford tipped in a miss to answer. The Aggies' Andre Gordon hit a 3 to take a two-point lead for the Aggies. Tobe Awaka hit a layup to tie the game at the half. HALFTIME: Vols 31, Aggies 31
Olivier Nkamhoua made a jumper out of the timeout answered by Henry Coleman III making two foul shots. Zakai Zeigler hit a 3, then Julius Marble hit a layup and a couple of free throws. Tyrece Radford hit a layup and foul shot. SECOND HALF 15:39: Aggies 40, Vols 39
Tobe Awaka hit two free throws that were answered by a Dexter Dennis jumper. Julius Marble slammed home a dunk assisted by Wade Taylor IV. Dennis hit another jumper to put the Ags up by five, causing a Tennessee timeout. SECOND HALF 12:00: Aggies 48, Vols 41
Julius Marble hit a pair of foul shots out of the timeout answered by a Santiago Vescovi 3. Wade Taylor IV made two of three free throws after being fouled behind the arc. Tobe Awaka made two free throws. Olivier Nkamhoua hit two foul shots and Radford hit a layup. SECOND HALF 6:52: Aggies 57, Vols 56
Julius Marble hit a jumper answered by a Santiago Vescovi layup. Wade Taylor IV then hit a mid-range jumper to push the Aggies lead back to three. SECOND HALF 3:04: Aggies 61, Vols 58
Marble made one-of-two free throws, answered by Zakai Zeigler's 3-pointer to reduce the Aggies' lead to one. Marble made two more foul shots with 46 ticks left making the Vols use a timeout down three, but Zeigler made a layup with 25 seconds left and Tennessee called a timeout down one.
Wade Taylor IV hit two free throws to put A&M up three with 17 seconds. Zeigler missed a 3 with nine seconds, rebounded by A&M. Taylor IV made two free throws with three seconds left to ice the game. FINAL: Aggies 68, Vols 63
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