DENVER (AP) — Texas A&M snuffed out hope of another Ivy League upset Thursday, sending Yale back to class with an 80-71 victory behind a career-high 25 points along with 10 rebounds from big man Pharrel Payne in the NCAA Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Aggies (23-10) were on a lot of “upset watch” lists, thanks mainly to going against a Yale team some thought might be even better than the one that pulled off a first-round shocker last year against Auburn.
But an upper-division team from the best conference in the country, the Southeastern, proved too much for the Yalies.
Coach Buzz Williams earned his second March Madness win in six years at College Station. A&M’s next game is Saturday against Michigan or UC San Diego.
John Poulakidas led 13th-seeded Yale with 23 points.
With no NIL money to spend or scholarships to give, Yale (22-8) probably needed something close to a masterpiece to knock off one of the more athletic and stronger rebounding teams in the country.
When John Townsend made a short turnaround from the paint with 8:36 left, Yale had trimmed its deficit to six and the upset looked in play.
Jace Carter answered with a 3, then Andersson Garcia rejected Casey Simmons’ shot -- one of four A&M blocks on the night. Then Carter got a putback off an offensive rebound — A&M leads the country in that category — to start a 9-0 run that was too steep for the Bulldogs.
For most of the evening, Texas A&M’s defense met the Bulldogs at midcourt with an annoying zone trap, clogging up their offense and making things awkward.
Poulakidas needed 18 shot attempts to get his points, while Bez Mbeng, a 13-point-a-game scorer, finished with two points (also eight rebounds and nine assists) before fouling out.
On the other end, nobody really had an answer for Payne, a transfer from Minnesota, who carved out space in the paint and shot 10 for 12.
His tip-in with 2:29 left led to a three-point play that officially put the game out of reach and helped A&M finish with a 10-6 edge on the offensive glass and a 15-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Taylor for 2(thousand)
Wade Taylor IV's first bucket made him the 28th player in SEC history to crack the 2,000-point mark for his career. He finished with 16 and heads into the second round with 2,015.
Free throw woes
It didn't cost them in this one, but the Aggies poor free-throw shooting came up again. The nation's 266th-ranked team from the line went 12 for 21.
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