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A pair of Southeastern Conference teams coming off dramatic finishes will square off on Tuesday, when No. 8 Texas A&M hosts Georgia in College Station, Texas.
The streaking Aggies (18-5, 7-3 SEC) have won three games in a row and five of six, with their last five contests decided by seven points or fewer.
The trend continued on Saturday, as Texas A&M picked up another resume boost with a 67-64 victory at then-No. 15 Missouri. After squandering an early 12-point lead, Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left.
Taylor, who leads Texas A&M with 15.1 points and 4.2 assists per game, has the Aggies primed for their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. That would be the program’s longest postseason streak since appearing in six consecutive tournaments from 2006-11. The senior guard has missed five games due to injury, but he’s the one player that head coach Buzz Williams trusts to take any shot.
“There’s nothing that he will ever do on the court that surprises me,” Williams said of Taylor. “I think there’s value in the fact that everyone in this organization has great faith in him regardless of what his stats are entering the game. He’s fearless with the appropriate amount of humility.”
In Saturday’s win, Pharrel Payne scored 20 points and Zhuric Phelps added 14. Phelps follows Taylor with 14.7 points per game, while Payne chips in 9.4. Texas A&M will look to improve to 11-1 at home this season.
Georgia (16-8, 4-7) has dropped six of eight and is hoping to remain on the right side of the bubble. In this year’s gauntlet of an SEC schedule, the Bulldogs will have plenty of Quad 1 opportunities over the next month to enhance their resume, including Tuesday.
Georgia had a chance to pick up a much-needed win over a ranked opponent on Saturday, but fell at home to No. 22 Mississippi State, 76-75. Trailing by one with two seconds left, Silas Demary Jr. — who led Georgia with 23 points — turned the ball over as the Bulldogs dropped to 3-7 against Top 25 teams.
“We did enough offensively, but our defense let us down tonight,” Georgia head coach Mike White said. “It was a great opportunity, but we didn’t have enough urgency. … I thought it was one of (Demary’s) best games as a Georgia Bulldog. Unfortunately, we came up short.”
With little time before Georgia’s next difficult league matchup, learning on the go will be important for White’s squad.
“We can’t have an hourlong film session on this game, because it’s on to the next one,” White said on Saturday. “We just try to be as efficient and concise as possible. Our guys are great at taking messages and they understand some of the things we could’ve done better. They’re down obviously, but this is a great opportunity for us.”
Asa Newell leads Georgia with 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Demary adds 11.5 points and Dakota Leffew chips in 10.7.
–Field Level Media
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