No. 25 Alabama upset by Texas A&M, falls to eighth unranked team

Quenton Jackson‘s 27 points willed Texas A&M (19-11, 8-9 SEC) over No. 25 Alabama (19-11, 9-8 SEC) 87-71 for their eighth loss to an unranked team this season. Jackson, who averages 14 points per game and is by far the Aggies most prolific scorer, fell four points short of his career-high.

The Aggies led by as many as 16 in the second half, but a failed comeback sent the Crimson Tide packing on Senior Night with a bitter taste in their mouth heading into their season finale on the road against LSU. An 8-0 run while up 9 points beginning with six minutes remaining in regulation ended the game before the final buzzer. Hassan Diarra’s 3-point bomb with under there minutes remaining pushed the lead to 15 and the fans in Tuscaloosa began to prematurely exit Coleman Coliseum.

Tyrece Radford equaled Jackson’s exciting performance with 22 points of his own to go with 8 rebounds. Henry Coleman notched 18 points and 11 rebounds himself as Texas A&M went on to score 50 second-half points. Alabama had three players score in double figures as well. Jaden Shackelford (16), Jahvon Quinerly (14) and Keon Ellis (13) combined for for 43 of the Crimson Tide’s 71 points on the night.

Texas A&M out rebounded Alabama 33-24 on the night and forced Alabama to shoot just 33 percent from the floor (26-54) to go with 19 turnovers. Alabama did out-assist the Aggies 18-13, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the lights-out shooting display the Aggies provided.

Since losing to Auburn on Feb. 12, the Aggies have played their best basketball of the season, going 4-1 in their last five and becoming a dark horse to make a run in a stacked SEC filled with NCAA Tournament teams. A far cry from their 4-8 start to conference play.

For Alabama, the loss will once again knock them out of the AP Top 25 poll heading into conference tournament play. While they’ve lost 11 games, they’re still projected as a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament thanks to their litany of Quadrant 1 victories over teams like Gonzaga and Baylor, among others.

Texas A&M looks to continue to make their claim at a NCAA Tournament bid, now tied in conference play with the No. 25 team in the nation. They’ll round out their regular season at home against the Mississippi State Bulldogs Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network.