Henry Coleman III scored 24 points, Wade Taylor IV had 23 and No. 12 Texas A&M beat Penn State 89-77 in the opening round of the ESPN Events Invitational on Thursday. Tyrece Radford added 14 points for the Aggies (5-0), who lost to the Nittany Lions 76-59 in the first-round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. “We've created a culture, a working culture," said Coleman, who also had six rebounds.
Hayden Hefner scored a career-high 19 points, Wade Taylor IV had 16 and No. 15 Texas A&M opened the season with a 78-46 win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday night. The Aggies were up by 13 early in the second half when they used a 13-2 run to extend the lead to 55-31 with 15 minutes to go. Taylor scored the first five points in that stretch, and he and Hefner made consecutive 3s to cap the key spurt.
Coach Buzz Williams led Texas A&M to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018 last season. The Aggies' ouster in the first round has Williams, who is entering his fifth year in College Station, looking to take another step this season. “We have yet to win a game after spring break,” Williams said.