OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Rashaun Agee had 22 points and nine rebounds, and No. 10 seed Texas A&M beat seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s 63-50 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ruben Dominguez added 11 points for the Aggies (22-11), who advanced in the South Region to face No. 2 seed Houston on Saturday.
“I was proud of our guys,” Texas 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.”
Texas A&M had not allowed fewer than 59 points all season, but it forced 18 turnovers, limiting the opportunities for the Gaels’ dangerous shooters. The Aggies forced a 10-second call against Saint Mary’s on its first possession.
“It completely set the tone,” Agee said. “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 … this is going to be our game.”
Texas A&M ran out to a 9-0 lead and held the Gaels scoreless for nearly 4 1/2 minutes at the start. It didn’t get much better for Saint Mary’s, which shot 38.3% for the night.
Joshua Dent scored 18 points and Liam Campbell added 15 for Saint Mary’s (27-6). Paulius Murauskas, who had averaged 18.8 points per game, didn’t start because of an illness and scored just four on 1-for-6 shooting. It was a season-low point total for the Gaels, who hadn’t scored fewer than 70 points since Jan. 31.
This matchup appeared to feature teams heading in opposite directions. The Aggies were coming off a 20-point loss to Oklahoma in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, while the Gaels — regular-season champions of the West Coast Conference — had won eight of nine. It was a mild upset with Saint Mary’s favored by 3 1/2 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
McMillan said the loss to Oklahoma helped the Aggies, who had to re-establish their toughness after the Sooners pushed them around.
“We played our second-worst game of the year in the SEC Tournament,” he said. “For all the Aggies out there, I literally apologize to them. We just weren’t ready to go.”
Zach Clemence banked in a 3-pointer with about a minute remaining in the first half to push Texas A&M’s lead to 37-24, and the Aggies took a 37-26 edge into the break.
Texas A&M led by 20 with 10 minutes remaining and never led by fewer than 12 the rest of the way.
“You got to have more than that in the NCAA Tournament,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “Guys have to play well. We did not. 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.”
Murauskas has a frustrating night
Murauskas played just 23 minutes, and his four-point performance was a season low. The 6-foot-8 guard from Lithuania had only been held to single digits three times this season. He scored 26 points in a WCC Tournament loss to Santa Clara.
A frustrated Murauskas pulled at Rylan Griffen’s jersey in the final minute, sparking a short conversation between the teams.
Saint Mary’s struggles at the line and inside the arc
Saint Mary’s, which led the nation in free-throw shooting at 80.5% heading into the night, made just 4 of 11 against the Aggies. And the Gaels shot just 8 of 24 on 2-pointers.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
