Yale vs. Texas A&M Box Score, stats, game summary and more ft. Pharrel Payne

No. 4 seed Texas A&M had a tough battle, but managed to hold off a plucky No. 13 seed Yale team 80-71 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M will advance to Saturday to face the winner of Michigan and UC San Diego.

Yale vs. Texas A&M Box Score

Yale

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
B. Mbeng	2	8	9	0	0	4	5	35
J. Poulakidas	23	3	1	1	0	0	2	38
S. Aletan	2	3	0	0	1	0	4	16
C. Simmons	11	5	1	1	0	1	1	32
N. Townsend	15	4	4	3	0	3	4	37
J. Brathwaite	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3
I. Celiscar	12	3	2	0	0	1	1	24
R. Fox	6	1	0	0	0	1	2	6
T. Mullin	0	1	1	0	0	2	1	7
J. Molloy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3

Texas A&M

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
H. Hefner	4	2	0	2	0	1	1	18
W. Taylor IV	16	1	5	2	0	1	2	29
A. Garcia	7	8	3	1	1	0	0	32
H. Coleman III	2	3	0	1	0	0	2	14
M. Obaseki	9	0	1	0	1	3	1	20
J. Carter	10	4	0	1	1	1	2	9
Z. Phelps	5	3	1	1	0	1	1	25
S. Washington	2	4	0	1	1	2	3	22
CJ Wilcher	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6
P. Payne	25	10	1	0	0	1	2	25

Yale vs. Texas A&M Game Summary

Yale jumped to an early 5-4 rule, but A&M then went on a 7-0 run and never trailed again in the game. The Aggies stretched their lead as far as 27-14 in the first half. That edge came on a Jace Carter layup with 8:51 to play in the half. Yale trimmed the edge back to five, but A&M got a 3-pointer from Wade Taylor to end the half and stretch its lead to 40-29.

A&M kept control of the game throughout the second half. Yale trimmed the edge to 58-52 on a Nick Townsend jumper with 8:36 to play. But A&M scored the next nine points and the game wasn't particularly competitive thereafter.

Texas A&M was led by Pharrel Payne's 25 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Wade Taylor IV added 16 points and five assists for the Aggies. Jace Carter chipped in with 10 points off the bench.

Yale was paced by John Poulakidas with 23 points, including four 3-pointers. Nick Townsend added 15 points. Isaac Celiscar had 12 points off the bench and Casey Simmons chipped in 11 points and five boards.

The Aggies will face the winner of Michigan and UC San Diego on Saturday. A potential Sweet 16 matchup with top-seeded Auburn looms for the winner of that game, if the particular seeding matchups hold true to form.

Yale upset SEC standout Auburn a season ago and was noted by many prognosticators as a team likely to pull an upset. But Texas A&M simply played a solid all-around game, shooting 52% overall, and grabbed the win.