Texas A&M just got away from what looked for long stretches as though it was going to be the worst loss of the season thus far. The Aggies were down thirteen points to the Ole Miss Rebels in a completely dead Reed Arena until a late-game rally put Texas A&M up one with just over a minute to go.
The Aggies needed this win badly, and though you couldn't see that early on in this game, you certainly saw it late. The Aggies are already down to a ten-seed, but would have fallen to the wrong side of the bubble had they lost in this one.
This one was the definition of a nail-biter. Texas A&M came back bit by bit, and it felt like they always were within striking distance despite a double-digit deficit, but a messy end made things even tougher than they needed to be.
Texas A&M barely escapes Ole Miss in nail-biting win that Aggies desperately needed
The first half was more of what Aggie fans have been complaining about throughout the course of this losing streak: lackadaisical offense and inability to take advantage of Bucky's system. The Aggies were applying pressure, but they got hardly any points off of turnovers— a trademark of McMillan's style of play and something that helped the Aggies a heck of a lot early on in the season.
Ruben Dominguez recaptured his form somewhat throughout the course of the game, getting 13 points, but he still was nowhere near the same kind of player that we saw early on this year. That said, sometimes you break out of a slump just a bit at a time, and maybe this was a first step for him to getting to that point.
Rashaun Agee was making lots of plays, as was Zach Clemence, who has been on a bit of a heater here lately. Those two combined for 31 of the Aggies' 80 points, with Marcus Hill pouring in 14 of his own.
This would have been a catastrophic loss, and this team showed some gumption by stepping up when they were needed. Getting into such a bad position is clearly not great, but they were able to pull it out— credit where it's due.