Texas A&M basketball bullied Saint Mary’s from the opening tip, forcing turnovers, owning the glass, and riding Rashaun Agee to a statement March Madness win.
Texas A&M basketball looked nothing like the team that stumbled into the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies came out angry, sharp, and fully in control Thursday night, hammering Saint Mary’s 63-50 in a first-round game that felt like a personality test as much as a basketball game.
And from the jump, Bucky McMillan’s team passed it.
The Aggies set the tone immediately with defense, pressure, and flat-out force. They forced 18 turnovers, owned the tempo, and turned one of the country’s steadiest teams into a frustrated, uncomfortable mess.
Texas A&M hadn’t held an opponent under 59 points all season, which made this performance even louder.
“I was proud of our guys,” McMillan said. “Total team effort. I thought offensively we were patient enough to get the shots that we wanted. Everything that we discussed in the plan we put it together, and that was really good.”
Rashaun Agee led the charge with 22 points and nine rebounds, delivering the kind of grown-man performance March demands.
Ruben Dominguez added 11 points, and the Aggies never let Saint Mary’s breathe after that opening punch. A&M raced out to a 9-0 lead, forced a 10-second violation on the Gaels’ first possession, and never let the game drift back to neutral.
Agee said that early sequence mattered.
“It completely set the tone. Just being able to come out with that type of defensive effort, I feel like it brings energy to our team, and also deflates the energy on the other end, because it’s understanding that ... this is going to be our game.”
That edge never left. Saint Mary’s shot just 38.3 percent from the floor, went 4-for-11 at the free-throw line, and got almost nothing from Paulius Murauskas, who scored just four points in a brutal outing.
Gaels coach Randy Bennett didn’t dance around it.
“You got to have more than that in the NCAA Tournament. Guys have to play well. We did not,” Bennett said.
McMillan admitted the ugly SEC Tournament loss to Oklahoma lit a fire.
“We played our second-worst game of the year in the SEC Tournament,” he said. “For all the Aggies out there, I literally apologize to them. We just weren’t ready to go.”
They were ready now. And if this version of Texas A&M basketball sticks around, the Aggies won’t be an easy out for anybody.
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