Simply getting to the NCAA Tournament was undoubtedly a success for Bucky McMillan’s first season as Texas A&M head coach, but his Aggie squad was clearly not satisfied to just be there. 10 seed A&M’s full-court press defense and frenetic movement on offense flustered 7 seed St. Mary’s from the start, and the Ags cruised to a 63-50 win on Thursday night in Oklahoma City to advance to the second round in March Madness.\
A&M began the game on a 9-0 run, and while the Gaels did close that gap over the course of the first half, the Aggies used some streaky three-point shooting to carry an 11-point lead into the half. They then quickly took control quickly in the second half, with the lead ballooning to as much as 20 and never getting back into single digits. The Aggies simply looked like the more athletic and more skilled team for the duration. That was certainly helped by an illness that hindered St. Mary’s Paulius Murauskas. The 6’8” forward, who averages more than 32 minutes and nearly 19 points per game, played only 23 minutes and scored just 4 points. But this did not feel like a game where one player would have made a difference. In a clash of styles, the Aggies’ style proved more effective from the jump (literally from the jump, they won the opening tip), and a size disadvantage that plagued them often throughout the regular season proved to be not much of a problem at all.
As has been a common refrain, Rashaun Agee led the Aggies in scoring, pouring in 22 points, including a trio of three-pointers (always a nice cherry on top) along with nine rebounds and three assists. The Ags also got 11 points from Ruben Dominguez (nine of which came on three-pointers) and nine points from Ali Dibba. Somewhat shockingly, the Ags dominated points in the paint 28-12.
But the real story of the game wasn’t A&M’s scoring. This game was one by rebounding (they actually lost the battle 32-21 but more than held their own), and even more importantly, winning the turnover battle 18-10. A&M’s style was simply something the Gaels did not handle well, and it cost them.
The win on the biggest stage further illustrates the incredible work done by McMillan, his staff and his players over the past 11 months. Building a coaching and roster completely from scratch is rare, even in the NIL era, and at a place like A&M that isn’t a traditional basketball power, it’s a clear overachievement. Now we’ll see if they can take the overachievement even further.
The Aggies will play the winner of 2 seed Houston and 15 seed Idaho (where the Coogs are heavy favorites), who play in OKC Thursday night. Assuming it is Houston, it will be a rematch of an epic overtime game in the second round of the NCAA Tournament two seasons ago, in which Houston came out on top. That game will be played on Saturday, March 21 (time and channel TBD).
