Phelps leads No. 23 Texas A&M to 97-71 win over Lamar

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- — Zhuric Phelps scored 16 points and Wade Taylor IV and Andersson Garcia each had 15 as No. 23 Texas A&M defeated Lamar 97-71 on Monday night.

Henry Coleman III added 13 points for the Aggies (2-1), who dropped 10 spots in the AP Top 25 poll this week. But they have won consecutive games over Lamar and East Texas A&M after opening the season with a 64-61 loss at UCF.

Alexis Marmolejos led Lamar (1-1) with 23 points.

Phelps is an SMU transfer who has led the Aggies in scoring in their last two games after missing the opener with a hand injury.

Texas A&M shot 55.2% from the floor, including 12 for 26 (46%) from 3-point range, and sixth-year coach Buzz Williams earned his 350th career victory. He is 350-218 over 18 seasons.

Takeaways

Texas A&M: The Aggies will need faster starts in Southeastern Conference play this season. They were still in single digits more than five minutes into this one before finally heating up from the outside against their Southland Conference opponent.

Lamar: The Cardinals’ previous game was a 71-point home victory over Paul Quinn College on Nov. 4, which didn't really prepare Lamar for its road opener at an SEC opponent. After shooting 56.1% from the field against Paul Quinn, the Cardinals finished at 37.5% versus the Aggies.

Key moment

The Aggies led 35-25 with 5:20 remaining in the first half when A&M guard Jace Carter stole an inbounds pass and dribbled the length of the court for a layup. Texas A&M outscored the Cardinals 13-4 the rest of the half to open a 50-29 lead at the break.

Key stat

The hustling Aggies outrebounded the Cardinals 46-31, including 31-17 on the defensive end.

Up next

Lamar hosts Sam Houston on Sunday afternoon.

Texas A&M hosts No. 21 Ohio State on Friday night.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll