The Texas A&M men's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament for a third straight year with an 80-71 win over Ole Miss on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

The Aggies, who improved to 19-13 overall, will now face the second-seeded Kentucky Wildcats in a quarterfinal matchup at 6 p.m. on Friday. The two teams met earlier this season with the Aggies tallying 97-92 overtime win at Reed Arena.

Clinging to a narrow four-point lead coming out of the break, the Aggies methodically built their lead to double-digits with just over seven minutes remaining. Texas A&M's biggest lead of the game was 13 points with 4:52 remaining, but Ole Miss battled back to make it a one-score game with just over two minutes remaining. The Aggies, however, showed their mettle by connecting on 14-of-19 free throws over the final two minutes to hold off the Rebels' charge.

Junior Wade Taylor IV finished with a team-high 20 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 worksheet from the free throw line, while graduate Tyrece Radford scored 18 points, including 8-of-10 from the line, and grabbed nine rebounds. Other Aggies in double figures were sophomore Solomon Washington with 13, junior Manny Obaseki with 12 and senior Andersson Garcia with 11 points. The SEC rebounding king, Garcia grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, including an amazing eight off the offensive glass. Washington was just a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.

As they did in the regular season finale against Ole Miss, the Aggies were dominant on the glass with 48 total rebounds, including 21 offensive caroms collected. It was the ninth game this season with 20 or more offensive rebounds for the nation's top offensive rebounding team. The offensive rebound advantage contributed to 36 points in the paint and 21 second-chance points. With the late-game fouling contributing to the total, the Aggies shot 37 free throws while connecting on 73.0% for a crucial advantage.

The Maroon & White took a four-point advantage into the break, led by Taylor's nine points and Obaseki's eight. The two team exchanged the lead 10 times and were tied six time in the first stanza, before the Aggies scored the final two buckets for a 35-31 advantage.

GAME NOTES:
PILING UP Q1+Q2 WINS: The Aggies' win over Ole Miss was a NET Quad 2 victory. Texas A&M has a 12-9 record in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games.

SEC TOURNEY VETERANS: Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford now have registered over 100 points at the SEC Tournament. With 18 points, Radford has 113 total SEC Tournament points and with 20 points Taylor has 111.

DOMINICAN DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Andersson Garcia compiled his fifth double-double of the year with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Garcia now leads the team in most double-doubles this year with five.

SOLO DOLO: Solomon Washington filled the stat sheet scoring in double digits for the third game in a row with 13. This is the first time Washington has put three consecutive games together with 10 or more. Washington also tabbed nine rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist.

ALL OVER AGGIE OFFENSE: For the first time this season, five Aggies recorded a double figure game. Led by Taylor who scored 20, Tyrece Radford with 18, Washington put up 13, Manny Obaseki with 12 to extend his double-digit game streak to five and Garcia with 11.

MO FROM MANNY: The Aggies won their fourth straight game since inserting junior Manny Obaseki into the starting lineup. Against the Rebels, 'MO' scored 12 points in 32 minutes of action. The Aggies' current four-game winning streak is the longest since opening the season with five straight victories.