Tyrece Radford led the way with 26 points, including the decisive jumper with 35 seconds left, as Texas A&M stunned Florida 67-66 on Saturday afternoon in a Southeastern Conference thriller at College Station, Texas.
With leading scorer Wade Taylor IV dealing with foul trouble and held to 15 points, five under his season average, Radford came within two points of his season high in going 10-for-16 from the field.
Also in double-figure scoring for the Aggies (13-8, 4-4 SEC) was Solomon Washington with 10 points.
Zyon Pullin led the Gators (15-7, 5-4) with 18 points, but he and Walter Clayton Jr. both missed shots in the final seconds. Clayton finished with eight points, only the fourth time this season he has failed to reach double figures.
The Gators once led by 13 points in the first half, when they went 14-for-27 from the field. They kept the lead for most of the second period despite dipping to 37.9 percent to finish at 44.6 percent for the game. Texas A&M shot 40.7 percent overall.
The two top rebounding teams in the conference finished even on the boards with 36 apiece.
Will Richard opened the second half with two quick 3-pointers to restore Florida’s lead to double digits at 46-34. But the Aggies methodically whittled their deficit and took their first lead since the 6:24 mark of the first half when Taylor’s 3-pointer put them up 57-55 with 8:44 remaining.
The Aggies were up 59-55 before consecutive baskets by Tyrese Samuel knotted things at 59.
The two teams were tied again at 64-64 with 3:25 remaining, and the Gators held a 66-65 advantage entering the final minute.
Both teams scored in spurts in the first half. The Gators had an early 8-0 run that put them up 8-4, and the Aggies responded with an 11-0 burst.
The Gators later completed a 13-0 run that gave them a double-digit cushion, 37-25, with 2:10 left in the opening period.
The Gators were up 40-27 before the Aggies scored the final seven points of the first half with Taylor on the bench with three personal fouls, and Radford’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer got the Aggies to within 40-34 at the break.
–Field Level Media
