Texas A&M basketball parlays explosive start into most dominant win of the year

Texas A&M basketball blows out Ole Miss; Manny Obaseki emerging at the right time for the Aggies

It was a perfect start for Texas A&M basketball in the final game of the regular season. The Aggies were playing aggressive, engaged defense from the jump and shooting the basketball well. Their efforts were rewarded with a 14-0 run to open the game and a 23-5 lead not long after. The Ags eventually triumphed 86-60.

Now, you'd be forgiven for feeling, as I did in that moment, that it was just a matter of time before the game became close again. After all, the Aggies came out with guns blazing in a similar way against Mississippi State, and the Bulldogs made things close in the end. It looked like that would indeed be the case here, as well: the Rebels ended up cutting the Aggie lead to 7 in the first half.

But the Aggies found another gear. At halftime, the lead was 13. Then, it was 20. With just under 4 minutes to go, it climbed to 32, and Buzz finally called off the troops. The starters exited with all but Wildens Leveque in double-digits. Manny Obaseki, who has been a revelation for this Aggie team, led the way with 22 points for the game.

This is exactly the way the Aggies wanted to finish down the stretch ahead of the conference tourney. Sitting at 15-13, 6-9 in conference, and on the wrong end of a five-game losing streak, the Aggies knew they needed to make something happen. Three wins later, things are looking much brighter.

While bracketologists may still look unfavorably on the Aggies' resume for now, the cohesion we are seeing out of this team is what all Texas A&M basketball fans have been hoping for ahead of the conference tourney. If the Ags can ride this momentum into Nashville and pick up a couple of good wins up there, they may sneak into the tourney after all.