By james art 
The Texas A&M Aggies entered the 2024-25 men’s basketball season with experience, continuity and talent, but it wasn’t enough to earn a season-opening road win Monday against the UCF Knights.
No. 13 Texas A&M (0-1) led by 11 with 6:24 to play in the second half, but went cold from the field and eventually collapsed as UCF rallied to secure a 64-61 win.
Aggies guard C.J. Wilcher nearly made a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired, but it rebounded. Fans then flooded the court at the Addition Financial Arena.
Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor IV was held in check compared to his usual high-scoring standards, but the veteran remained steady and led the Aggies’ offense en route to a 13-point, seven-assist finish. However, this was not enough. Texas A&M forward Pharrel Payne had a team-best 15 points to go along with six rebounds.
UCF guard Darius Johnson had a game-high 24 points on 5-of-11 from 3-point range, while UTSA transfer guard Jordan Ivey-Curry had 16 points and five rebounds in his Knights debut.
Texas A&M jumped out to a 6-0 lead, which Taylor IV eventually extended to 11-2 after hitting an early 3-pointer. The Aggies eventually went up by double digits 16-6, but UCF responded. Led by Ivey-Curry and Johnson, the Knights hit a series of 3-pointers to take a 28-27 lead with 3:19 to play in the half.
The teams headed into halftime tied at 29 points apiece. The Aggies had eight turnovers in the first half. Payne was A&M’s leading scorer with four points, while Taylor IV was held to just three points in the first 20 minutes.
To start the second half, Taylor IV began to find a rhythm as Johnson picked up where he left off for UCF. The two players traded a pair of 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the half.
Payne then scored six straight points for the Aggies to give Texas A&M a 42-37 lead at the 16:01 mark. A quick 7-0 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer by Wilcher, put the Aggies back up by 10 at 49-39 a few minutes later. A UCF punt allowed Texas A&M to build its biggest lead of 11 at 54-43.
The Knights slowly cut into the lead with five straight free throws, but Taylor IV sucked the momentum out of Addition Financial Arena by hitting a deep three-pointer off the rebound to put the Aggies up 59-50.
But the Knights responded, eventually going on a 12-2 run to take a 62-61 lead with less than a minute to play. The Aggies went more than four minutes without a field goal.
Taylor IV attempted a potential three in the final minute but fell short. He then lost the ball out of bounds on a shot toward the rim with 15.2 seconds left.
The Aggies had three shots to tie the game in the final seconds, but all three attempts from beyond the arc missed.
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