NEW YORK, NY — Henry Coleman III, Quenton Jackson, and Manny Obaseki led the Texas A&M Aggies (27-12) to their first trip ever to the NIT Championship game after a 72-56 win against the Washington State Cougars (22-15).
The game started off slow, as the Cougars led 12-10 with 10:37 left in the first half. That’s when the Aggies responded with a 16-6 run to take a 26-18 lead over WSU.
The Aggies used their momentum to increase their lead to 11 points.
However, WSU responded with a 5-0 run in the final two minutes of the first half to cut their deficit to six points. The Aggies entered halftime with a 32-26 lead.
After halftime, the Aggies tried to pull away, but WSU continued to cut the game close. TAMU then went on a 17-5 run and had a 54-36 lead over the Cougars with 12:54 left in regulation.
The Aggies then went on another run (12-0) to increase their lead to 25 points. TAMU didn’t look back and ran away with the win.
Texas A&M dominated in the point as they scored a season-high 60 points in the paint.
Quenton Jackson was the Aggies leading scorer with 18 points and six assists. Henry Coleman III was TAMU’s second leading scorer with 16 points and six rebounds.
Manny Obaseki followed with 14 points.
TAMU has now won 27 games which ties their second most wins in their program’s history since the 2006-07 season.
TAMU Defense Controls The Game
The Cougars made a lot of mistakes throughout this game.
WSU had 10 turnovers in the first half and finished the game with 17 turnovers thanks to a stout TAMU defense.
The Cougars also had a difficult time getting a bucket. The Cougars finished the game shooting 19-of-55 (34.5%) from the field, 7-of-29 (24.1%) from deep, and 11-of-20 (55.0%) from the free-throw line.
Michael Flowers also had an off night for the Cougars. Against BYU, he scored 27 points. This game, he scored five points while shooting 2-of-12 (16.7%) from the field and 0-of-5 from deep.
The Cougar’s leading scorer was Tyrell Roberts with 14 points.
Up Next
Texas A&M will face off against the Xavier Musketeers on March 31 at 7 p.m. EST.
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