A&M’s SEC win streak ends at five
The No. 7 Texas A&M men’s basketball team saw its five-game winning streak end with a 70-54 road loss to No. 21 Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum on Tuesday.
Final – #7 Texas A&M 54, #21 Mississippi State 70 pic.twitter.com/iEmpKyeo2L
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) February 19, 2025
The Aggies could not hold the narrow lead they built going into halftime as they fell to 20-6 overall and 9-4 against SEC opponents, while the Bulldogs logged their second-straight win over a ranked foe to improve to 19-7 overall and 7-6 in league play.
Leading by a point after the first 20 minutes, the Bulldogs eliminated the lead with a quick 3-pointer and built a 10-point lead less than eight minutes into the second half. The Aggies made a run to get within four points with 9:35 remaining and again at 9:04 but that’s as close as the Maroon & White could get as the Bulldogs took control with a barrage of late 3-pointers.
Senior Zhuric Phelps led the Aggies with 13 points and graduate transfer C.J. Wilcher and graduate Wade Taylor IV added 11 points. Other statistical leaders were graduate Andersson Garcia with 10 rebounds, his second double-digit effort in league play, Taylor with four assists and Phelps with two steals.
The Aggies were limited to 35.8% shooting from the field (19-53), their second-lowest effort of the season, and suffered 19 turnovers, which was the second-highest total of the year. The Bulldogs turned the turnovers into 22 points. Mississippi State managed just 43.1 shooting, but did damage at the free throw line as the Bulldogs hit 17-of-20 from the stripe. The Aggies earned a seven-rebound advantage on the boards, 38-31, and had an 11-5 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Aggies took a narrow 31-30 lead into halftime, after fighting off an early seven-point deficit. Wilcher was the catalyst for the rally as he hit all three of his shots from deep and made a pair of free throws to score 11 first-half points. The Bulldogs earned a narrow 17-15 advantage on the boards and made 8-of-8 free throws to keep up with the Aggies.
A&M returns home this Saturday as they host No. 6 Tennessee at 11 a.m. on ESPN.