Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball went into Athens and left with a statement, quad 1 victory as they beat the Georgia Bulldogs 92-77. The Aggies improve to 17-4 on the year and 7-1 in SEC play. The Bulldogs will fall to 16-6 overall and 4-5 in SEC conference play.
The Aggies are here, and they're here to play. They started the day off hot building up a 22-2 lead. The Bulldogs wouldn't go away and eventually dwindled the Aggies' lead all the way down to 2 with around 9 minutes to play before the Aggies took over down the stretch and didn't let up.
The Aggies' turnovers kept the Bulldogs in this game, but Georgia couldn't make their shots when they needed them. The Bulldogs only shot 40% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. They also lost the rebounding battle to the Aggies despite the lack of height on the Aggies' squad.
Texas A&M rocks Georgia in Athens with emphatic win
The Aggies continued their scoring distribution with another 5 players putting up 11 or more points. Rashaun Agee led the way with 18 points 15 rebounds, and 7 assists. This was Agee's 10th double-double of the year. The surprise players of the game were Ali Dibba and Marcus Hill who both put up 15 points themselves while Ruben Dominguez and Pop Isaacs followed with 13 and 11 respectively.
The Aggies won this game by winning the rebounding battle, getting to the free throw line (and making them), and continuing their hot shooting overall. Despite their lack of size, they won the rebounding battle by 7, dominating the defensive glass. They got themselves to the free throw line and went 19-20 while Georgia only went 8-10. Overall, they continue to shoot the ball well, going 48% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc.
Defensively, the Aggies were able to defend the 3-point line well, but gave up quite a few points in the paint. If you're scouting the Aggies, you'll want to focus on dominating in the paint and taking advantage of the height advantage like Tennessee did. The Bulldogs did a solid job distributing the scoring with 5 of their own players in double figures, but the missed 3s down the stretch hurt them in the end.
The Aggies made a statement today that they can play with anyone in the conference, and could definitely be a threat come March. They may not be ranked next week, but the upcoming week will show the country just how good this team could be.
They will head to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday before hosting Florida next Saturday. A perfect week could launch them into the national spotlight while an 0-2 week would be a gut check and show the team exactly where they stand. Check back on Tuesday for my full preview of the upcoming matchup against Alabama.