Press conference video courtesy of the NCAA.
Game #33: #10 Texas A&M 63, #7 Saint Mary’s 50
Records: Texas A&M (22-11, 11-7), Saint Mary’s (27-6, 16-2)
Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY — Forty minutes, of course, is required to secure a college basketball victory.
Yet, No. 10 seed Texas A&M (22-11) needed 10 seconds to establish superiority over No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s (27-6) on Thursday night in the NCAA Tournament.
Less than a minute into the game, the Aggies — flying around in the backcourt like killer bees — forced a turnover via a 10-second violation on Saint Mary’s initial possession.
That was an omen of things to come. Thirty-nine minutes later, the Aggies, who never trailed, left the Paycom Center court triumphant with a dominant 63-50 victory.
“It completely set the tone,” A&M forward Rashaun Agee said of the first turnover. “Just being able to come out with that type of defensive effort, I feel like it brings energy to our team and also deflates the energy on the other end, because it's understanding that, I mean, this is going to be our game.”
Agee, reliable as a rooster crowing at dawn, thoroughly outplayed Saint Mary’s much taller posts en route to a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds.
Callie Garner, TexAgs
On 7-for-11 shooting from the field, Rashaun Agee finished one rebound shy of a double-double.
Guard Rubén Dominguez started a 3-point spree that put A&M in control just before halftime.
But it was the defensive effort that truly paved the way for the Aggies to advance to the second round to face Houston (29-6) on Saturday for the second time in three years.
The Aggies forced Saint Mary’s to commit a season-high 18 turnovers. They scored 14 points off those miscues, which was key considering the margin of victory.
Saint Mary’s couldn’t cope with A&M’s relentless press. The Gaels were depressed, oppressed and repressed by the Aggies’ press that…well...impressed.
“I mean, I feel like from the first play of the game, they were not used to that style of play and that rhythm,” Dominguez said. “Basically in the first media (time out) we were like, ‘They're tired. They're not used to this level of contact in every play, pressure.’ And yeah, I feel like that was the point.”
Agee concurred.
“Early on in the game, you can sense that fatigue was going to play a part later in the game, but also, just continuing to pressure the ball, I feel like, helped us continuously,” he said.
“Early on in the game, you can sense that fatigue was going to play a part later in the game, but also, just continuing to pressure the ball, I feel like, helped us continuously.”
- Texas A&M forward Rashaun Agee
That press helped the Aggies jump out to a 9-0 lead. Saint Mary’s pulled within 23-22, but Dominguez hit a trio of 3-pointers, and Zach Clemence added another to boost A&M to a 37-26 halftime lead.
Pop Isaacs opened the second half with another 3-pointer, and the Aggies went on to increase their lead to 20 points.
Saint Mary’s made a mild rally to cut the margin to 52-42 on a 3-pointer by guard Joshua Dent, who led the Gaels with 18 points.
But Agee answered with a 3-pointer. The Aggies' lead never again dipped below 13 points.
“I was proud of our guys,” A&M coach Bucky McMillan said. “Total team effort. I thought, offensively, we were patient enough to get the shots that we wanted. Everything that we discussed in the plan, we put it together, and that was really good.”
The Aggies figured to need to make a dozen 3-pointers. They managed eight. Other than that, they accomplished every goal.
Although the 6-foot-8 Agee was working against a Saint Mary’s front line that included 7-foot-3 Andrew McKeever and 7-foot-1 Harry Wessels, the Aggies outscored the Gaels 28-12 in the paint and fought them to a virtual draw on the boards. Saint Mary’s had 32 rebounds. A&M got 31.
TexAgs
Thursday is the first NCAA Tournament win of Bucky McMillan’s coaching career.
Still, it was the defense in general — and the press in particular — that frustrated the Gaels.
“Guys have to play well. We did not,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. "We did a poor job taking care of the ball, which we know better than that. Did a poor job on the boards, and we did poor offensively. That's too many things. You can't give up those three areas and expect to play well and win.”
Saint Mary’s didn’t play well because A&M wouldn’t allow it.
The Aggies were more athletic, much faster and considerably deeper.
Four Saint Mary’s players were on the court for 27 minutes and 44 seconds or longer.
Agee was the only Aggie to play more than 25 minutes. Ten A&M players had at least 11-and-a-half minutes of playing time.
McMillan knew he had an advantage. He capitalized on it like a maestro conducting a symphony of chaos.
“Total team effort. I thought, offensively, we were patient enough to get the shots that we wanted. Everything that we discussed in the plan, we put it together, and that was really good.”
- Texas A&M head basketball coach Bucky McMillan
“Well, I don't think we had anybody in the game that came in the game not play a good game,” he said. “You know, depth matters, but it doesn't matter when you come in there, and the depth gets outscored by a lot, right?
“That didn't happen in this game. Our depth came in there, and they played really well.”
Indeed, the Aggies arguably played their best game since blowing out Georgia 92-77 on Jan. 31.
“I challenged these guys for the past couple of weeks about when you are lined up across from your guy, you have to start taking the game a little more physical, like, ‘I got him. He's not scoring on me,’” McMillan said. “I think that our guys all took that challenge in this game, and you could see it.
“There was blood in their eyes when they were matched up on defense and when they had an opportunity on offense to finish through contact, to step up, be ready to make an offensive rebound.”
They didn’t let up for any of those 40 minutes.
