DENVER — Prolonged scoring droughts have hurt the Texas A&M men’s basketball team this season.
One final drought doomed the Aggies’ season in a 91-79 loss to Michigan in the second round of the NCAA tournament Saturday afternoon at Ball Arena.
Michigan center Vladislav Goldin, right, blocks a shot by Texas A&M forward Henry Coleman III, left, during the first half Saturday in Denver.
A&M led 70-66 with 7:58 to play, but went the next 5 minutes, 51 seconds without a made field goal. The Wolverines willed their way back from as much as a 10-point deficit with 13:17 to go and used the Aggies’ field goal drought to go on a 15-2 run.
Fourth-seeded A&M finished 23-11 overall for the 2024-25 season. Fifth-seeded Michigan (27-9) advanced to the Sweet 16 and will face top-seeded Auburn next Friday in Atlanta.
“We didn't finish at the rim,” A&M head coach Buzz Williams said. “We got them into the bonus too much. We didn't shoot enough balls. And I didn't think that we protected the rim as well as we have. I thought we did a good job relative to the 3s and the prowess that they have, but in that run, we were not getting stops. I think we had three turkeys in the first half and got a turkey to start the first four minutes of the second half. … I don't know that we got another one. It was too often we weren't scoring, but arguably the more important thing, we weren't getting stops.”
The Aggies pulled ahead by as many as 10 points four times in the first seven minutes of the second half and as late as the 13:17 mark at 60-50.
The Wolverines willed their way back into the game by controlling the boards, shooting 51.7% from the field in the second half and taking advantage of the free-throw line. Michigan was 23 of 27 (85.2%) from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes.
“I thought we came up with some loose basketballs, some 50/50 balls we were quicker to,” Michigan head coach Dusty May said. “With L.J. [Cason] getting in the paint and Roddy [Gayle Jr.] getting downhill and Rubin [Jones] getting downhill, and Tre [Donaldson] when he came back in, that breaks the defense down. And we do have two 7-footers. So, we were able to keep some basketballs live.”
Michigan guard Rubin Jones, right, drives past Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV (4) during the second half Saturday in Denver.
Michigan took its first lead of the second half at 71-70 with 6:08 to play and never trailed again. The Wolverines pulled ahead 82-73 with 3:09 to go. A&M clawed within as close as 82-79 with 1:29 to play but missed its final three shots.
“You live and you learn,” A&M graduate guard Wade Taylor IV said. “Thankful for it. I'm thankful for God. He's teaching me something, so I'm forever grateful for the game we played today.”
Michigan made it a one-point game at 67-66 with 8:11 left, but Taylor answered with a 3-pointer at the other end and screamed “I’m here!” multiple times after he sank the shot. The Wolverines responded with the decisive run.
Taylor was scoreless in the first half and was 0 of 4 from the field. He played just eight minutes since he picked up two fouls in the first 10 minutes. Taylor changed his shoes at halftime and the green sneakers seemed to help. The school's all-time scoring leader fouled out in the final minute and finished with 14 points in the final game of his illustrious A&M career.
“I think we were getting good shots, shots that we normally call predictable, shots we call shower shots that we usually make, but they just didn't fall,” Taylor said. “We just tried to continue to get stops, try to stop the lead. But I don't think any of the shots we shot were bad, I just felt like they didn't fall.”
May said Michigan was able to dominate the boards during the final 10 minutes. For the game, the Wolverines outrebounded the Aggies 48-39, including a 22-14 edge in the second half.
“We know they rely on offensive rebounding, and so I just thought we were getting good hits, our guards were digging basketballs out,” May said. “And then I thought we got aggressive against their three-quarter court press. We have good playmakers, and one of the timeouts I simply reminded them that we don't know what defense they're going to be in, but when I look at this group of five, I see four playmakers and who I think is the best big in the country. So, there's no reason for us to stop, let them get organized. Let's break the press and get into concepts. And I think that helped us. I thought that loosened the game up. And then I don't think there's any team in the country when they're scoring, their defensive energy and intensity isn't elevated.”
Michigan center Danny Wolf, center, pulls in a rebound as Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV, left, and forward Andersson Garcia, right, defend during the first half of the NCAA tournament second-round game Saturday in Denver. The Wolverines ended the Aggies' season with a 91-79 victory.
The Aggies knew they would have to go toe-to-toe with Michigan’s center duo of Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, who both stand over 7 feet. The Wolverines’ big men got the best of A&M. Goldin had 23 points on 7 of 14 shooting and collected 12 rebounds. He was 9 of 11 from the free-throw line. Wolf added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. The Wolverines outscored the Aggies in the paint 42-34.
“I would say it’s what we expected,” A&M junior forward Pharrel Payne said. “We expected a tough matchup because they have two 7-footers. I mean, we did the best we could.”
Payne picked up where he left off in Thursday’s first round. He surpassed his career-best scoring output of 25 he dropped on Yale in the first round with 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting. Yet, the Wolverines were able to slow him down the stretch. Payne went without a field goal in the final 10 minutes.
“It's hard to shut someone down completely, but he's obviously a great player and we just decided we would have to make him finish tough shots, we would have to put [pressure] on him every single time and basically hope he's going to miss because sometimes that's all you can do,” Goldin said.
A&M led 39-35 at halftime after a back-and-forth 20 minutes that featured seven lead changes and six ties.
Michigan dominated the paint early with the size of Goldin and Wolf as the Wolverines led by as much as 17:11 with 12:55 to go. The Aggies answered with exceptional defensive intensity and held Michigan without a made field goal for the next 5 minutes, 12 seconds as A&M gained a narrow lead at 23-21.
Payne scored eight straight points for the Aggies to give them as much as a six-point lead at 29-23 with 6:17 left in the half. Michigan managed to take a 35-34 lead with 2:18 to go, but A&M answered by holding the Wolverines scoreless the rest of the way. Payne gave the Aggies the lead back with a jumper at the 42-second mark and A&M graduate guard CJ Wilcher knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer with 29 seconds left.
The Aggies were not able to parlay the strong finish to the first half in the second half to fail to reach their first Sweet 16 berth since 2018.
“It's not the result that we wanted, but just a credit to these guys,” A&M graduate forward Henry Coleman III said. “They just fought all game long.”
Texas A&M forward Solomon Washington reacts as time runs out against Michigan on Saturday in Denver.
Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams looks on against Michigan during the second half of Saturday's NCAA tournament loss in Denver.
Texas A&M forward Solomon Washington, right, blocks a shot by Michigan guard Tre Donaldson during the first half Saturday in Denver.
