Wade Taylor IV scores 20, Texas A&M beats Ole Miss 80-71 in SEC Tournament

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- — Wade Taylor IV scored 20 points, Tyrece Radford added 18 and nine rebounds and Andersson Garcia had a double-double to help No. 7 seed Texas A&M beat Mississippi for the second time in five days, 80-71 Thursday night in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

Garcia finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds, Solomon Washington scored 13 with nine boards and Manny Obaseki added 12 points for Texas A&M (19-14), which also beat the Rebels, 86-60, in regular season finale on Saturday.

The Aggies, who have won four games in a row, play ninth-ranked and second-seeded Kentucky in the quarterfinals on Friday. Texas A&M won the only other game this season against the then-No. 6 Wildcats 97-92 in overtime on Jan. 13.

Taylor hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 9-0 run, made two free throws and then capped the spurt with a basket in the lane to make it 29-23 with about 4 minutes left in the first half and Texas A&M never again trailed. Matthew Murrell hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 31-all with 2:47 remaining but Obaseki answered with a layup 7 seconds later to take the lead for good.

Radford hit a 3-pointer that gave Texas A&M its biggest lead of the game at 61-48 with 4:52 to play. Allen Flanigan scored five consecutive points before Murrell hit a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run that made it a one-possession game with 2 minutes remaining but the Aggies hit 17-of-20 free throws from there to seal it.

Jaemyn Brakefield led No. 10 seed Ole Miss (20-11) with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Flanigan scored 17, Murrell 14 and Jaylen Murray 10 points.

Texas A&M shot just 37% (24 of 65) from the field and 24% (5 of 21) from 3-point range but hit 73% from the free-throw line, where the Aggies outscored Ole Miss 27-12.

The Rebels made 25 of 60 (40%) overall, 9 of 31 (29%) from behind the arc and 12 of 21 (57%) from the foul line. Ole Miss was minus-16 rebounding (48-32), gave up 21 offensive rebounds (while grabbing just four) and was minus-17 (21-7) in second-chance points.

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