Despite a slow start, No. 23 Texas A&M men’s basketball put on an offensive showcase with a 97-71 win over Lamar on Monday night at Reed Arena. Four players scored double digits as the Aggies got 51 points from their bench.
The game was a final tuneup before A&M plays its second power conference opponent of the season in No. 21 Ohio State on Friday. Here are a few takeaways from the Aggies’ win:
A&M shook off a slow start to take a commanding lead
In contrast to last week’s win against East Texas A&M, the Aggies took some time to get going with just nine points through five minutes of action. But when A&M found its groove, it held on to it for the rest of the night. It took a 50-29 lead into halftime and maintained that intensity through the second half.
“I thought, collectively, we were all on the same page,” coach Buzz Williams, who earned his 350th career win, said. “I thought there was great symmetry on what we’re trying to accomplish on both ends of the floor. … Pleased in many respects, for sure.”
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Senior SMU transfer guard Zhuric Phelps led the team in scoring for the second game in a row with 16 points and didn’t slow down with 11 coming in the final 20 minutes. He added a team-high seven assists in 28 minutes of action. Graduate G Wade Taylor IV posted 15 points on a near-even split between both halves. The Lancaster product hit a trio of three-pointers on 50% shooting from long range.
Texas A&M guard Zhuric Phelps (1) tries to get past Lamar guard Alexis Marmolejos (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in College Station, Texas.(Sam Craft / AP)
“[Zhuric] changes our team,” graduate forward Henry Coleman III said. “Testament to him, he’s the same person every single day, so it’s not a shock to us when, right off an injury, he comes in and just is Zhuric and he’s putting up the numbers he’s putting up.
“His leadership has also helped us a lot. It’s somebody that we really need on the floor, and he makes a huge impact, not just scoring, but in other things as well.”
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The Aggies stayed hot from three-point range
A&M turned up the temperature from beyond the arc and rode it to an insurmountable lead at the break. The Aggies nailed eight of their first 12 three-point attempts and finished the night going 12-of-26 from long range.
Taylor and graduate Nebraska transfer guard CJ Wilcher combined for six three-pointers on a 54.5% clip while senior forward Andersson Garcia and junior F Solomon Washington also found the net from deep. On the opposite end, Lamar hit just one of eight three-point shots in the first half.
“I think those guys that are working to make it part of their game, we call it ‘shooting with Buzz’ shots because it’s the shots that I would shoot,” Williams said. “[Garcia] and [Washington] have improved in that regard.”
After finding most of their scoring in the paint through the first two games of the season, the Aggies showed their versatility on offense from beyond the arc.
“I don’t think we go into a game thinking we’re going to score in the paint or more from three-point,” Coleman said. “I think it’s just the feel of the game. We have really good basketball players out there, so I think guys are always prepared to take the right shot and I think tonight we took the right shot and when people were open they made those shots.”
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The Aggies showcased their depth down the bench
A&M’s offense didn’t end when its starters left the game as it gained 51 bench points, spurred by a career-high 15 from Garcia and 13 from Coleman. Garcia complemented his scoring with a team-high nine rebounds, while Coleman added seven boards, including five on the offensive glass. They each hit five of their seven shots.
Garcia’s previous career high of 14 points ironically came against A&M at Reed Arena in 2022 when he played for Mississippi State.
“It’s been a lot of shots that I’ve been putting up during the summer,” Garcia said. “Shoutout to the ocaches that have been trusting me and giving me the confidence to take those shots.
“I’m not trying to only help the offensive rebounding side, I’m trying to be able to provide this stuff to make good passes, making plays for my teammates and be able to provide scoring and stuff like that.”
Wilcher and senior G Manny Obaseki combined for 17 points despite Obaseki only appearing in the second half. With offensive capabilities throughout the lineup, the Aggies have options to find the basket even if it’s not someone’s night.
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Former Texas Longhorns wide receiver Johntay Cook has found his next home.
And it is with a familiar foe.
According to reports from On3’s Hayes Fawcett, Cook has committed to the Washington Huskies, picking the Big Ten team over pursuit from Florida.
The Longhorns, of course, fell to the Huskies in the 2023 College Football Playoff semi-finals, coming up just short of a national title appearance as a result.
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The 5-foot-11, 175-pound speedster had originally been predicted to stay in the SEC and sign with the Florida Gators. That said, with the Huskies, he should have a tremendous opportunity to be the No. 1 receiver in the program.
Texas Longhorns receiver Johntay Cook II (1) makes a touchdown catch over UTSA safety Elijah Newell (22) during the game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Cook II, a five-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, had just eight catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns this season. He had three catches for 35 yards and two scores in the win over UTSA on Sept. 14.
There was an expectation entering the 2024 season that Cook II would see an increased role after minimal usage as a freshman but has instead become buried on a depth chart that features Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, DeAndre Moore Jr., Silas Bolden, and true freshman standout Ryan Wingo.
Cook ranked as the No. 31 player in the nation, No. 3 wide receiver and No. 5 player in the state of Texas for his class. As a transfer, he ranks as the No. 44 player available in the portal and the No. 14 wide receiver.
Cook ends his Longhorns career with just 16 catches for 273 yards and two touchdowns across two seasons.
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Texas State Bobcats (6-4) at Marshall Thundering Herd (5-6)
Huntington, West Virginia; Sunday, 1 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Marshall will try to keep its four-game home win streak intact when the Thundering Herd face Texas State.
The Thundering Herd have gone 4-2 at home. Marshall ranks ninth in the Sun Belt in team defense, giving up 66.7 points while holding opponents to 39.3% shooting.
The Bobcats are 4-1 on the road. Texas State has a 1-0 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
Marshall averages 71.8 points, 6.1 more per game than the 65.7 Texas State gives up. Texas State averages 3.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 fewer makes per game than Marshall allows.
The matchup Sunday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Aislynn Hayes is averaging 17.7 points for the Thundering Herd.
Jaylin Foster is scoring 10.0 points per game and averaging 7.1 rebounds for the Bobcats.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Biden administration on Friday said it would stop selling off materials slated to be used to build a border wall ahead of the incoming Trump administration, which has promised to bring back tougher efforts to combat illegal immigration.
The Biden administration confirmed to a court that it will agree to a court order preventing it from disposing of any further border wall materials over the next 30 days, allowing President-elect Trump to use those materials, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.
The Biden administration has been auctioning off border wall parts since at least 2023, with parts listed for sale on auction marketplaces, after it abruptly shut down most border wall construction in 2021.
GOP SENATOR MOVES TO BLOCK FEDS FROM DISPOSING OF BORDER WALL MATERIALS AMID AUCTION BACKLASH
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Piles of unused border fence sit at one of the border wall construction staging areas on the Johnson Ranch near Columbus, N.M., on Monday, April 12, 2021. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Trump then urged the Biden Administration to stop. Fox News Digital has reached out to Trump’s representatives.
“We have successfully blocked the Biden Administration from disposing of any further border wall materials before President Trump takes office,” Paxton said.
“This follows our major victory forcing Biden to build the wall, and we will hold his Administration accountable for illegally subverting our Nation’s border security until their very last day in power, especially where their actions are clearly motivated by a desire to thwart President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda,” he added.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas on June 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
In a news release, Paxton’s office said that if the Biden administration disposes of border wall materials purchased with funds subject to an injunction in violation of a court order, “it would constitute unethical and sanctionable conduct and officials could be held in contempt of court.”
Texas has said it intends to do all it can to help the incoming administration build the wall at the southern border when Trump enters office.
The Biden administration abruptly ended border wall construction in January 2021 after 450 miles had been built in the first Trump administration. While border hawks say a wall is a critical tool to stopping illegal immigration, some Democrats have said a wall project is xenophobic and ineffective.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPUBLICANS INVESTIGATING BIDEN ADMIN’S SALE OF BORDER WALL PARTS: ‘WASTE AND ABUSE’
President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall, Tuesday, June 23, 2020, in San Luis, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The auctioning off of border wall parts began in 2023 with parts listed for sale on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Defense Department’s logistics agency told media outlets that the excess material had been turned over for disposition by the Army Corps of Engineers and was now for sale.
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Those auctions have continued, with officials in Arizona telling Fox News Digital that auctions have been occurring weekly for some time. The practice drew attention last week when The Daily Wire published video showing unused wall parts being transported on flatbed trucks in Arizona, even though the materials could be used in the next Trump administration.
Trump previously called Biden’s efforts to sell unused border wall materials at a discounted rate “almost a criminal act.”
Trump said the auctions would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to re-purchase the large steel bollards and concrete. He called on President Biden to “please stop selling the wall” and suggested his team would obtain a restraining order to halt the sales.
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“What they’re doing is really an act, it’s almost a criminal act,” he said. “They know we’re going to use it and if we don’t have it, we’re going to have to rebuild it, and it’ll cost double what it cost years ago, and that’s hundreds of millions of dollars because you’re talking about a lot of, a lot of wall.”
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Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw, Brooke Singman and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
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