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No. 21 Texas A&M rallies for 92-88 victory over Tennessee

Texas A&M Tennessee Basketball

Tennessee guard Devon Baulkman (34) attempts a layup against Texas A&M during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016. (Adam Lau /Knoxville News Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

AP

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Jalen Jones scored 27 points and made a tiebreaking basket with 1:28 left, helping No. 21 Texas A&M erase a 13-point, second-half deficit and beat Tennessee 92-88 on Saturday for its sixth straight victory.

Tennessee (8-7, 1-2 SEC) was up by 10 with just over four minutes left when Texas A&M (13-2, 3-0) ran off 11 straight points.

Texas A&M was clinging to a 90-88 lead in the closing seconds when a shot off a drive by Tennessee’s Kevin Punter went off the rim. The Volunteers kept possession and got the ball to Detrick Mostella, whose 3-point attempt went around and out with about 10 seconds left.

Danuel House scored 23 points and sank two free throws with six seconds to go to seal the victory. Punter scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half.

House came off the bench for Texas A&M after missing the Aggies’ victory over Mississippi State on Wednesday. An athletic department official at the time attributed his absence to personal matter.

Caruso had 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals for Texas A&M. Tyler Davis added 11 points.

Admiral Schofield scored 16 points, Shembari Phillips had a career-high 15, Devon Baulkman and Mostella each added 11 and Robert Hubbs had 10 for Tennessee, which lost at home for the first time this season.

Tennessee led by at least six points for most of the second half and extended the margin to 84-74 on Punter’s two free throws with 4:13 left when the Aggies turned the game around.

Texas A&M converted Caruso’s steal into a Tyler Davis layup with 2:12 left, capping an 11-0 run that gave the Aggies their first lead since the opening minutes. Schofield made one of two free throws to make it 85-all with 1:41 remaining before Jones scored in the paint to put Texas A&M up 87-85 with 1:28 left.

Caruso made one more steal on Tennessee’s next possession, and Anthony Collins sank two free throws to make it 89-85 with 46 seconds left. Punter cut the margin to one on a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left. Caruso made one of two free throws with 24.2 seconds left to set up Tennessee’s last opportunity to regain the lead.

TIP-INS

Texas A&M: The Aggies have the NCAA Division I active career leaders in assists (Collins, 643) and steals (Alex Caruso, 235)

Tennessee: Schofield is averaging 18.3 points in SEC play. He averages 4.8 points in nonconference games.

NEXT UP

Texas A&M: Hosts Florida on Tuesday.

Tennessee: At Georgia on Wednesday.