A sloppy second half costs No. 20 Aggies

No. 20 Texas A&M couldn’t keep up with Oregon as it suffered an 80-70 loss in the opening game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The Aggies were outplayed in the second half and suffered their second loss of the season, 4-2.

Here are a few takeaways from A&M’s loss in Sin City.

The Aggies couldn’t maintain their double-digit lead in the second half

A&M appeared to be in a good position when senior guard Jace Carter’s layup extended its lead to 10 points with 9:35 to play, but from then on it was all Ducks. Oregon outscored A&M 32-12 by halftime while scoring the final 10 points of the game. The Ducks had four players with 11 or more points, compared to just two for the Aggies.

A&M was allergic to the basket with just four points in the final five minutes. Graduate Nebraska transfer CJ Wilcher’s three-pointer at 4:41 was the final field goal for the Aggies, who made just two of their final 19 shots. Wade Taylor IV’s game-winning free throw was the final point with 2:21 left.

The same offensive problems plagued A&M at the end of the first half, when the team remained scoreless for 3:47. It’s the second time in the young season that the Aggies have fallen apart in the decisive stretch after UCF rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to cruise to a 64-61 victory on opening night.

A&M was beaten on its own at the free throw line

Is there any other similarity between Tuesday’s loss and the Knights’ loss on Nov. 4? The Aggies were overwhelmed at the charity event. A&M’s 15-of-20 clip is nothing to sneeze at, but it pales in comparison to the Ducks’ 23-of-31 rate. Oregon sank seven of its nine free throws before halftime before upping the ante in the final 20 minutes, shooting 16 of 22.

On offense, A&M developed the habit of drawing fouls and making a parade to the free throw line, evidenced by the 32 free throws in the win over then-No. 21 Ohio State on November 15th. This time, Oregon did better than Texas A&M.

After trailing 64-58, the Aggies hit six free throws to tie the game before the Ducks scored eight goals in the final 90 seconds. Senior Villanova transfer G TJ Bamba led Oregon with 18 points while sinking 10 of 12 free throws.

Both teams took advantage of their chances to score

If coach Buzz Williams and A&M can take anything from the loss, they can point to the Aggies’ 25 second-chance points to the Ducks’ six. A&M continued its dominance on offense, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds after the game began, averaging 17.4 per game, good for fourth in the nation. Senior forward Andersson Garcia had five.

Oregon, on the other hand, will be happy with 20 points from A&M’s 13 turnovers, while the Aggies only scored eight points from the Ducks’ nine turnovers. Senior SMU transfer Zhuric Phelps and Taylor outscored A&M with 20 and 15 points, respectively, but added three turnovers and four fouls each.

With the Aggies now averaging 12 turnovers per game, they need to clean up their sloppiness, especially with five straight games against power conference competition. A&M continues the Players Era Festival on Wednesday against No. 21 Creighton at 5:30 p.m.

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