Hefner’s career night powers Aggies past Huskies

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M senior guard Hayden Hefner poured in a career-high 24 points to power the Aggies past the HCU Huskies 79-52 in front of a Fan Appreciation Game crowd of 5,475 on Friday at Reed Arena.

The 27-point victory snapped a two-game losing streak as the Aggies improved to 8-4, while HCU fell to 2-9.

Hefner, from Nederland, Texas, connected on 7-of-14 shots, including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 free throw attempts. Also turning in a huge effort was senior Andersson Garcia, who logged career highs in four statistical categories with nine offensive rebounds, 19 total rebounds, four assists and two blocks. It was the most rebounds by an Aggies since 1990 when David Harris pulled down 19 boards against the Rice Owls. Joining the career high party were sophomore forward Solomon Washington with five assists and junior guard Jace Carter with 12 rebounds.

The Aggies took a commanding 40-21 lead into halftime on the strength of 13 points by Hefner and seven rebounds from Garcia. The two teams were separated just four points at the 6:00 mark, but the Aggies out-scored Huskies 18-3 for the remainder of the half, including the final nine points of the half.