Aggies’ Sweet 16 hopes die in Denver
The Texas A&M men’s basketball team’s 2024-25 season ended as the Aggies could not hold off a furious rally by the Michigan Wolverines, falling 91-79 in NCAA Tournament second round action on Saturday inside Ball Arena.
A&M finished the season at 23-11 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
Texas A&M held a 10-point lead with just over 13 minutes remaining, but the Wolverines slowly chipped away at the Aggies’ advantage before grabbing their first lead of the half at 71-70 with 6:08 remaining. A&M went cold just inside of the 8:00 minute mark and didn’t make a field goal for the next six minutes, as the Wolverines took control of the game down the stretch.
The resilient Maroon & White made a rally of their own as a layup and two free throws from Zhuric Phelps drew the Aggies within three with 1:29 remaining, but they could get no closer.
Junior Pharrel Payne posted a career-high for the second straight NCAA Tournament game as he led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting. It matched the A&M scoring record in the NCAA Tournament, set originally by Hall of Famer Acie Law IV in 2007 vs. Louisville and tied by Josh Carter vs. BYU in 2008.
Joining Payne in double figures was all-time leading scorer Wade Taylor IV with 14 points and Andersson Garcia with 11. Zhuric Phelps led the Aggies with seven rebounds off the bench and also dished out six assists.
Taylor finishes his illustrious career with dozens of school standards, most notably for career points with 2,058, career free throws with 536 and career FT percentage at .851 (536-of-630).
Henry Coleman III finished with a school record 364 offensive rebounds and Hayden Hefner played in his school record 143rd game at Texas A&M on Saturday.
Playing their final games in the Maroon & White in addition to Taylor, Coleman and Hefner were Jace Carter, Garcia, Manny Obaseki, Zhuric Phelps and CJ Wilcher. The core senior group led the Aggies to 94 wins, three NCAA Tournament appearances, two NCAA Tournament wins, two SEC Tournament finals, a NIT Championship over the past four seasons.