Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball got the win this afternoon against the Oklahoma Sooners 83-76. With the win, the Aggies now move to 13-3 overall and 3-0 in SEC play while the Sooners fall to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
This was a big win for the Aggies and their potential NCAA tournament chances. They came into the day ranked 48th in the NET rankings and were commonly positioned right on the outside of the tournament at-large teams. With the win, they will likely move up slightly in the NET rankings and will most likely be just inside of the NCAA tournament Bubble
This was the third straight down to the wire game for the Aggies as they once again almost game up a multi possession lead in the final 90 seconds. This time, however, the Aggies were able to control the pace, make clutch free throws, and played great team defense in the final minute to close out the game.
Texas A&M takes one more step towards NCAA Tournament with win over Oklahoma
The Aggies once again did an excellent job distributing the ball today. Five players had over 10 points on the day with Rashaun Agee leading the way with 16, followed by Dominguez, Griffen, Isaacs, and Hill. Agee also led the rebounding effort today with 12 rebounds, giving himself yet another double-double on the season. Three-point shooting really lacked today as the Aggies only shot 30% as a team but were able to win this game other ways.
A&M came into the game needing to win the turnover and rebounding battles. Rebounding was unfortunately atrocious with the Sooners dominating them on the glass 43-32, but the Aggies one this game by winning the turnover battle and getting to the free throw line. Oklahoma came into the game averaging only 9.5 turnovers a game (11th best in the country). They had 17 turnovers today while the Aggies only had 8. The Aggies got to the free throw line quite a bit today and did an excellent job going 21-25 from the line while Oklahoma went 13-16.
Defense is still an issue for the Aggies. Nigel Pack went off for 24 points today and Derrion Reid backed him up with 19 points himself. Luckily for the Aggies, those two accounted for about a half of the Sooners shots today while the rest of the team struggled to keep up.
The Aggies will be back on the road this Tuesday as they travel to Knoxville to take on Tennessee in yet another excellent Quad 1 opportunity. Check back on Monday for my full preview of Tuesday night's matchup.