Vanderbilt upsets No. 8 Texas A&M 77-60

The No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies will travel to Nashville, Tenn.to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Thursday night.

Texas A&M lost for only the second time in its past 13 games. Through 21 games this season the leading scorer for the Commodores has been Wade Baldwin who is averaging 14.3 points per game and 4.2 assists.

Given the expectations for Vandy this season and the 4-4 start that followed, this was easily the best performance of the season. Tonny Trocha-Morelos and Alex Caruso were both in double figures for the Aggies, and House did manage to finish with 10 himself, but it wasn’t enough to help the Aggies avoid their fourth loss on the season and second in conference play.

Florida has some juice right now, but it’s impossible to feel confidence about any team as the title favorite.

The No. 8 Aggies look to hold on to sole possession of first place in the SEC while the host Commodores try to boost their fading NCAA Tournament hopes Thursday night.

Also watch for a resurgent Danuel House. A step-back Wade Baldwin three as the clock ran down pushed VU to a 40-33 halftime advantage.

The win represents Vanderbilt’s first against a ranked opponent since the 2012 SEC Championship over Kentucky.

Texas A&M responded with a 25-9 run that gave the Aggies as 26-23 lead on Admon Gilder’s 3-pointer with 9:17 left. “Ronni was a monster on the glass, and Ty (Fleming) got all her points (six) and rebounds (five) in the second half, and those blocks (two) were huge”.

Texas A&M’s Jalen Jones missed eight of his first nine shots from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

Jeff Roberson led the way for the Commodores with 20 points in the win.

The Commodores remained hot opening the second half with a 7-0 spurt that caused Aggies coach Billy Kennedy to call a timeout after Luke Kornet’s 3-pointer from the top of the key stretched Vanderbilt’s lead to 47-3 with 18:05 left.

Texas A&M also added Nick Starkel, who threw for more than 3,000 yards with 29 touchdowns at Argyle, Texas, last season.

Myisha Hines-Allen contributed 19 points and 10 rebounds as Louisville (18-5, 10-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) extended its winning streak to 15.

A&M (18-3, 7-1 SEC) has put together its best record through 21 games in program history, sharing that title with teams from 2006-2007 and as far back as 1921-1922.