Texas A&M basketball surges past Kentucky 96-85 as Ruben Dominguez hits five 3s and the Aggies strengthen their NCAA Tournament resume.
Texas A&M basketball may have just delivered the win that punches its NCAA Tournament ticket.
The Aggies exploded for a 96-85 victory over Kentucky Tuesday night, using a massive second-half surge and red-hot shooting to keep their March Madness hopes alive.
With the win, Texas A&M improved to 20-10 overall and 10-7 in SEC play, a remarkable turnaround in the first season under head coach Bucky McMillan.
For a team that preseason projections had finishing near the bottom of the SEC standings, the Aggies are now firmly in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
One of the biggest sparks came from sophomore guard Ruben Dominguez, who broke out of a lengthy shooting slump with a clutch performance. Dominguez scored 17 points and drilled five 3-pointers, giving the Aggies a huge boost from the perimeter.
Texas A&M’s offense caught fire after a sluggish start. The Aggies trailed early before unleashing a jaw-dropping run that flipped the game completely. At one point, Texas A&M ripped off a 44-11 stretch that left Kentucky scrambling to recover.
Multiple Aggies contributed throughout the night as the team shot nearly 50 percent from the field and a blistering 46 percent from 3-point range. The offensive explosion was exactly what Texas A&M needed after a frustrating stretch that saw the Aggies drop six of their final eight games in February.
Now the numbers are trending in the right direction again.
Texas A&M currently sits around No. 43 in the NCAA NET rankings and owns five Quad 1 victories, a critical metric for selection committee discussions. Just as important, the Aggies avoided damaging losses to lower-tier opponents, keeping their tournament resume clean.
Bracket projections are also beginning to reflect the momentum. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently lists Texas A&M in the “Last Four Byes,” meaning the Aggies are positioned just outside the most dangerous bubble territory.
Advanced analytics agree that the outlook is strong. According to predictive metrics from BartTorvik, Texas A&M now holds roughly a 94 percent chance of hearing its name called on Selection Sunday.
Next up is a regular-season finale at LSU before the SEC Tournament begins.
For the Aggies, the path is simple: keep winning and let the bracket take care of itself.