Wade Taylor's huge 3-pointer puts exclamation point on stellar first half against Yale in March Madness

Wade Taylor's massive three-point basket with seconds to go in first half lift Aggies to 11-point lead in March Madness

Texas A&M basketball is cruising against the Yale Bulldogs at halftime of their March Madness game, outpacing the Bulldogs 40-29 at the moment. Despite a furious attempt by the Bulldogs to seize momentum against the Aggies late in the half, A&M was able to rebuff the attempts of the Ivy League champion thanks to a last-second three-pointer by Wade Taylor.

Taylor has been his usual self: dazzling and infuriating. He has taken some shots that would have fans of any other team throwing their hands up in disgust, but he's made his fair share even of those.

The offensive boards have been huge for the Aggies so far, as usually happens when they're playing their game. They've been able to muscle past the smaller Yale players to pull down the ball off of misses.

Oh, and Hayden Hefner dunked.

What has been most impressive, though, is the high-effort defense by the Aggies. The pressure and athleticism of the Ags has been entirely too much for Yale so far, knocking the Bulldogs way off balance and forcing turnovers.

That's way out of character for Yale, but they haven't faced a lot of teams that are of the caliber of the Aggies on the defensive end. You also have to credit the Ags for bringing a hard-nosed mentality to the game rather than just sitting back on their laurels and thinking that they're the favorite.

No, this Aggie team is playing like underdogs, which is when they're at their best. Keeping that mentality going into the second half will be key to closing this one out.