Rashaun Agee converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Texas A&M men’s basketball team ahead with 24 seconds left in the third overtime period as the Aggies beat the LSU Tigers, 94-91, in the Maravich Assembly Center Saturday evening.
After the Maroon & White held a brief early lead, the Tigers responded with a 24-7 run to balloon the margin to 26-11 at the 8:52 mark. The Aggies used a 22-9 surge of their own to cut the gap to two points before LSU sank a 3-pointer in the waning moments
of the first half. Griffen’s 13 points, four rebounds and two steals kept the Aggies in the fight.
The Aggies played catchup most of the second half. They cut the deficit to one point on three occasions before breaking through on a Dibba layup to go ahead 61-60 at the 7:25 mark. Texas A&M would eventually pull out to a 70-67 lead on an Agee layup with 1:52 showing. The Bayou Bengals tied the game with a free throw at 1:28 and a layup by MacKinnon with 38 seconds left. From there, it became a back and forth affair with both teams continually doing just enough to keep the game going.
The Aggies fought through a grueling 15 minutes of overtime where neither team ever led by more than one possession and the only three-point cushions were held by the Maroon & White in the final three minutes. The first came when Rubén Dominguez drained his only shot from bonus land at the 2:57 mark of the third overtime, staking the Aggies to a 90-87 lead.
The Aggies recorded a season-high 17 steals as they forced 22 turnovers by LSU (15-16, 3-15 SEC).
Agee and Rylan Griffen combined for 50 points. Agee tied Tyler Davis’ school record with his 12th double-double of the season. He logged a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. Griffen stuffed the stat sheet and notched new career highs with 24 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three blocks.
Pop Isaacs added 18 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Dibba chipped in with 12 points and a career-high five steals.
Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) wrapped up the six seed and a first round bye in the SEC Tournament with Saturday’s victory, and will face the winner of Oklahoma and South Carolina this Thursday. Even more importantly, they are almost certainly off the NCAA Tournament bubble, with Joe Lunardi removing the Aggies from his “last four byes” listing in his latest bracketology projections.
