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Texas A&M Basketball: West Virginia Outlasts the Aggies in Morgantown

By Matthew Bartlett

Jan 28, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Texas A&M Aggies guard Chris Collins (12) and West Virginia Mountaineers guard Tarik Phillip (12) go for a loose ball during the second half at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Texas A&M Aggies guard Chris Collins (12) and West Virginia Mountaineers guard Tarik Phillip (12) go for a loose ball during the second half at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /
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A hot and cold Texas A&M basketball team couldn’t string together enough buckets to overcome a massive scoring slump on the road against West Virginia.

Game Preview: Texas A&M at West Virginia

The Aggies managed just one basket in the final six minutes of the first half on the road against a top 25 team. The results were much like one would expect. West Virginia capitalized on the shell shocked Aggies, going on a 17-2 run to close out the half. The Aggies only points came on a Robert Williams jumper at the halftime buzzer.

Before the Mountaineers mounted their run, Texas A&M had gone toe to toe with the home team and kept the game close throughout. West Virginia was relatively in control, but the Aggies never let them get too far out in front. After Tyler Davis made a layup at the 6:06 mark things started to unravel.

A key factor in the relative collapse was the point guard play. Chris Collins had five turnovers on the day, but two during the Mountaineer run that seemed to make a bad thing worse. He overthrew an open teammate in the front court on a routine pass. He also managed to trip while attempting a crossover, resulting in a travel call and another turnoever.

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Individual Highlights

Admon Gilder and JC Hampton came to play. Gilder’s 24 points set a new career high after he went off for 22 against Ole Miss earlier this week. Hampton’s 21 points, on 5-6 shooting from beyond the arc, tied a Texas A&M season high for the grad transfer.

Tyler Davis and Robert Williams were effective on the glass, grabbing 28 rebounds between them. The Aggies would out rebound the Mountaineers 41-36. They also outshot West Virginia. Two things in particular stuck out that went against the Aggies, turnovers and West Virginia’s three point shooting.

Bob Huggins’ team came into Saturday shooting .358 percent from three. Against Texas A&M they shot 42.3 percent, with those extra few made shots becoming the difference in this game. It wasn’t all their opponents luck. Texas A&M committed 23 turnovers. The Aggies have zero road games this season with fewer than 12.

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The saving grace, if there is any, for the Aggies is that this was not a conference game. A loss to a ranked West Virginia team doesn’t look too bad on your resume, and at this point all you can do is make as much hay as you can in conference play. Texas A&M will return to the court on Tuesday against Vanderbilt. The game is in Nashville and scheduled to tip at 7:00 PM Eastern Time.

***Stats from ESPN and 12thMan.com***