Bucky McMillan and Texas A&M Basketball suffered their third loss of the season today. The Aggies took on the SMU Mustangs in Arlington today where they fell short in overtime, 93-80. With the loss, the Aggies fall to 7-3 on the season while the Mustangs improve to 9-1.
This was a a roller coaster of a game, and a sloppy one at that. The Aggies started 0-9 from beyond the arc as SMU grew a slow but steady 15-point lead into the early parts of the second half. The Aggies finally got some momentum and stormed all the way back to take a 4-point lead in the final minute of the game. Then everything went wrong.
Second-half comeback falls flat in final seconds for Texas A&M basketball
A Pop Isaacs turnover led to a run out that resulted in two free throws cutting the lead to 2. Immediately after, a Marcus Hill turnover leads to an easy layup to tie the game. The Aggies still had the ball twice after the game was tied and couldn't even get a shot off. Once in overtime, it was all SMU from there.
Let's get to the good. Marcus Hill was great with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Rashaun Agee had his third consecutive double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Aggies even won the rebounding battle, dominating on the offensive glass. They even held SMU to 23% 3-point shooting, but it wasn't enough.
That brings us to the the bad. The Aggies had 16 turnovers today while only forcing 11 themselves. Shooting was atrocious as well. For a team that is heavily reliant on shooting 3's, 24% from beyond the arc, 35% from the field, and 65% from the free throw line isn't going to cut it.
In my preview article I keyed in on two SMU players the Aggies would have to focus on - Boopie Miller and Jaron Pierre Jr. The two of them led SMU down the stretch with Miller putting up 19 points and Pierre Jr. with 35. The two of them were unstoppable down the stretch and the Aggies had no answer.
The Aggies will have a break for finals this week and have a much-needed chance to regroup heading into the last stretch before conference play. Their next matchup comes next Sunday against Jacksonville. I will have a full preview on the upcoming matchup later this week.