Texas A&M beats Washington State to reach NIT title game

NEW YORK — Quenton Jackson scored 18 points and Texas A&M advanced to the NIT championship game Tuesday night with a 72-56 rout of Washington State.

Henry Coleman III had 16 points and Manny Obaseki added 14 for the Aggies (27-12) in the second semifinal at Madison Square Garden. They will play for the title Thursday night against Xavier, an 84-77 winner over St. Bonaventure in the doubleheader opener.

Tyrell Roberts led Washington State (22-15) with 14 points. He was the only Cougars player to score double figures. Efe Abogidi had nine points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes.

Texas A&M got the ball inside and outscored Washington State 40-30 in the second half to pull away. Even through the Aggies missed 12 of 14 attempts from 3-point range, they shot 48.5% (32 for 66) from the field.

Texas A&M held the Cougars to 34.5% shooting (19 for 55), including 24.1% from behind the arc (7 for 29). Washington State was only 11 for 20 at the foul line, too.

Washington State committed 17 turnovers to only eight for Texas A&M.

Jackson added six assists, four rebounds and two steals. He was 7 of 9 from the floor.

Coleman shot 8 for 12 in 23 minutes and pulled down six rebounds.

———

Texas A&M 72, Washington St. 56

WASHINGTON ST. (22-15) — Gueye 1-2 0-2 2, Abogidi 2-2 5-8 9, Bamba 3-8 0-1 8, Flowers 2-12 1-2 5, Roberts 5-14 1-2 14, N.Williams 1-3 3-3 6, Rodman 2-6 0-0 4, D.Jackson 2-2 1-2 5, Jakimovski 1-4 0-0 3, Rapp 0-2 0-0 0, Burghardt 0-0 0-0 0, DeWolf 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 11-20 56.

TEXAS A&M (27-12) — Coleman 8-12 0-0 16, Q.Jackson 7-9 3-3 18, Obaseki 7-14 0-2 14, Radford 3-8 1-3 7, Taylor 2-7 0-0 4, Diarra 2-5 2-3 7, Hefner 1-4 0-0 2, Gordon 0-1 0-1 0, Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Cash 1-3 0-0 2, Brown 1-2 0-1 2, Vaughn 0-0 0-0 0, Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-66 6-13 72.

Halftime—Texas A&M 32-26. 3-Point Goals—Washington St. 7-29 (Roberts 3-9, Bamba 2-3, N.Williams 1-3, Jakimovski 1-4, Rapp 0-2, Rodman 0-3, Flowers 0-5), Texas A&M 2-14 (Diarra 1-2, Q.Jackson 1-2, Gordon 0-1, Hefner 0-2, Obaseki 0-2, Taylor 0-2, Radford 0-3). Rebounds—Washington St. 36 (Abogidi 10), Texas A&M 34 (Radford 7). Assists—Washington St. 11 (Roberts 3), Texas A&M 15 (Q.Jackson 6). Total Fouls—Washington St. 16, Texas A&M 19. A—8,506 (19,812).

Texas A&M 72, Washington St. 56

Related Stories