Gamecocks Fall at Home to Texas A&M

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Wade Taylor IV knocked down 8 of his 10 shots from the field, with his only misses coming from behind the 3-point arc where he was 4 of 6, and Texas A&M led wire-to-wire in a 94-53 rout of South Carolina on Saturday.

The Aggies exploded out of the gate, racing to a 32-9 lead with 7:30 left in the first half before the Gamecocks could reach double digits and led, 50-18 by intermission. Texas A&M shot 34 of 62 from the field (54.8%) including 9 of 20 from distance and converted 17 of 21 from the line en route to its sixth straight win.

Taylor finished with 20 points to lead Texas A&M. Julius Marble and Dexter Dennis added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Henry Coleman III posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Khalen Robinson chipped in 12 points off the bench. In all, a dozen players figured in the scoring for the Aggies.

Zachary Davis had 13 points to lead South Carolina (8-9, 1-3 Southeastern Conference), which shot 19 of 50 from the field (38%), including 6 of 22 from long range. Meechie Johnson had 11 points and three assists.

Texas A&M snapped a six-game losing streak to South Carolina. The last five losses to the Gamecocks have been by double-digits.

Texas A&M knocked off Florida 66-63 on the road on Jan. 4 for the program’s first-ever win at Gainesville and plays host for the rematch Wednesday in College Station. South Carolina plays host to Ole Miss Tuesday.

KEY STAT

• The Aggies outrebounded South Carolina 48-16 – a +17 margin on the defensive end (28-11) and a +15 margin on the offensive end (20-5).

NOTABLES

• Freshman Zachary Davis made his second career start and led Carolina with 13 points on (4-for-6) shooting. It marks the first time Davis has scored in double figures in his Gamecock career.
• Sophomore Meechie Johnson finished with 11 points and extended his double figure scoring streak to 10 consecutive games. He also led Carolina with three assists.
• The Gamecocks scored 21 points off turnovers, forcing 11 in the game.
• Graduate transfer Hayden Brown missed his first game of the season with a deep thigh bruise sustained in practice on Thursday.

UP NEXT

 The Gamecocks (8-9, 1-3 SEC) remain in Columbia, part of a three-game homestand. Carolina plays Ole Miss (8-9, 0-5 SEC) Tuesday then No. 21/22 Auburn (13-3, 3-1 SEC) on Saturday. Tipoff against the Rebels is slated for 6:30 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network with Mike Morgan (pxp) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst) on the call.

###