Texas A&M basketball just dispatched the St. Mary's Gaels in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, despite being at a huge height disadvantage. This was a matchup of very different styles between these two teams, but the Aggies were able to work their style to their advantage.
It was the frenetic pace and relentless pressure that the Aggies brought to the game that St. Mary's looked completely confounded by. Texas A&M was ready coming into this game to play their style, and it had the effect that the Aggies were hoping immediately— and the players knew it right away.
Texas A&M's sharpshooter Ruben Dominguez knew immediately that Bucky Ball had St. Mary's in the blender
It was pretty obvious that Texas A&M had the Gaels on the ropes almost from the opening tip with their pace, and reporters asked Ruben Dominguez about it after the game.
"Yeah I feel like from the first play of the game, they were not used to that style of play and that rhythm. Basically, in the first media [timeout], we were like, they're tired and not used to this level of contact every play, pressure— I feel like that was the point."Ruben Dominguez
Very few teams are used to this level of pace, pressure, and contact that the Aggies bring, and that's exactly why Texas A&M can make a deep run in this tournament. It will be hard to keep up this effort level all throughout, but it will be even harder for opponents to handle it from wire to wire.
Dominguez had himself a big game on the offensive end, getting a little more back into form after an extended shooting slump. Texas A&M needs him to be able to hit some good shots, but no matter who the player is for Bucky McMillan, you'll also have to make some plays on defense— and he showed up there as well tonight.