Texas A&M basketball wins their second contest of the year tonight at home against the Texas Southern Tigers, 104-70. The Aggies were lucky to have a 5-point lead headed into halftime but came alive in the second half with 63 points, and surpassing the century mark for the first time this season. We will discuss the bad, the good, and look ahead to Sunday's contest up in Stillwater.
First off, the bad— and boy, was that first half ugly. The Aggies shot below 50% from the field, below 30% from three, and only 62.5% from the free throw line.
Add to the poor shooting the fact that the Ags got outrebounded 17-12, and it really accentuated that Texas Southern shot 58% from the field and 50% from three. It couldn't get much worse.
Halves like that can't continue to happen if this team wants to compete against tougher P4 and SEC competition. Despite the loss, the Tigers outrebounded the Aggies 33-27, after their own brutal rebounding performance against Gonzaga on Monday.
Texas A&M basketball beats down Texas Southern: Aggies have areas that need improvement, but a win is a win
Now, here comes the good. Even with an abysmal first half, the Aggie offense still recorded 41 points, led by Agee with 9, and Isaacs, Griffen, and Holloway all with 6 points apiece. The relentless hustle was able to force 10 first half turnovers while only turning the ball over 4 times themselves.
The second half was a completely different story. The offense came to life, recording 63 second half points, and shooting above 60% from the field, 45% from three, and 76% from the line. The Tigers stood no chance, and weren't able to continue their hot shooting start.
The Aggies forced 13 more turnovers in the second half bringing their total to 23 on the night. The game ended in similar fashion to Monday with 5 players in double figures and 12 players recording points in total. Agee and Griffen were the leading scorers, with 16 and 14 points respectively.
Holloway and Dominguez both had another game in double figures while Marcus Hill showed off his game by putting up 13 points of his own. Two players - Federiko and Dibba - stepped up their offensive games scoring 9 points apiece.
Overall, despite the Aggies brutal first half and getting outrebounded, the Aggies adjusted at the half and came out and dominated the second half the way they should've all game.
The Aggies' next contest will come on Sunday afternoon against Oklahoma State up in Stillwater. This will be their first out of conference P5 test, as well as their first true road game of the year. After beating Oral Roberts 95-71 on Tuesday night, the Cowboys will be on 4 full days of rest headed into Sunday's contest against the Aggies.
The Cowboys were led by LSU transfer Vyctorius Miller who put up 21 points against Oral Roberts. The Cowboys other leading scorers were UAB transfer Christian Coleman and Oregon State transfer Parsa Fallah, who both recorded 15 points.
If the Aggies want to come out of Stillwater with the victory and show the rest of the conference, and the nation, that they can compete, they will need to greatly improve their rebounding and look to continue to capitalize off of turnovers. A lot of questions about this team may be answered come Sunday evening.