Texas A&M basketball's late offensive drought dooms them in Round of 32
Texas A&M basketball knew they would have much more of a fight on their hands in this March Madness Round of 32 matchup against Michigan— and that intuition bore out in a big way.
For a while, it looked like Texas A&M basketball would control the entire second half. They were up by more than ten points for a good portion of the half, but an offensive drought paired with Michigan catching fire meant the Aggies were all of a sudden down 9 points at the under-four-minute timeout.
With the Aggies in a bunch of trouble, they needed one of their seniors to step up— and the defense to stand tall. But with both Solomon Washington and Pharrell Payne in foul trouble, that latter piece would be a huge issue.
A comeback would have to come piece by piece, if one were to happen. Two free throws by Solomon Washington and a fast break bucket by Zhuric Phelps had the Aggies within five, and they got the ball back after a long review on a Michigan offensive goaltending.
A pair of free throws by Phelps drew the Ags within three, but the Wolverines hit a lucky shot after thirty seconds of stellar defense to go back up five. That would prove to be the Aggies' undoing, in the end.
After that point, you could see the Aggies beginning to press in a major way. The Wolverines began to get every single loose ball, and the Ags were coughing it up time after time.
There were certainly chances in the midst of the downfall. The Aggies needed only to step up on the defensive end in the midst of Michigan's barrage, or stop turning the ball over when they were attempting to make it back after falling behind.
None of that happened, however. The Aggies instead fell further and further behind, and as has too often been the story in A&M losses over the last few years, the Aggies gave away a game that they were once in firm control of.
As the Aggies started the season against UCF, they closed it against Michigan. Both games were marred by unreasonably long offensive droughts that ended up dooming the Aggies. And now, A&M must forge ahead into a future without Wade Taylor and this core group that has given so many years to this program— and how they'll look doing so is a mystery to
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