Game #29: Texas 76, Texas A&M 70
Records: Texas A&M (19-10, 9-7), Texas (18-11, 9-7)
Box Score
Just for the remainder of this basketball season, perhaps Texas A&M should consider altering its mascot.
You know, something along the lines of Texas A&M Agees.
The Aggies have come to rely much too heavily on their workhorse this season. But the strongest workhorse needs a little help.
Rashaun Agee didn’t get nearly enough help on Saturday as A&M (19-10, 9-7) suffered a painful 76-70 Southeastern Conference loss to arch rival Texas (18-11, 9-7) at Reed Arena.
A&M coach Bucky McMillan even acknowledged the Aggies are often relying too heavily on Agee and guard Marcus Hill.
“We need some of our guys to step it up in some ways, and we need some of our perimeter players to step it up a little bit,” McMillan said. “I think that it’s coming. You can’t force that on them.
“But at the end of this deal, the guards this time of year have got to rise. There’s been games we have. There’s been games we’ve been a little behind.
“I say that as a challenge. We’re going to need some guard play besides just throwing that thing inside and relying on Rashaun trying to get it done.”
Agee got it done. He scored 22 points and had eight rebounds. He’s the reason A&M outscored Texas in the paint.
Hill lent a helping hand with 17 points. Pop Isaacs contributed a soft 14 points, but nine came in the last three minutes when the Aggies were just trying to keep their head above water.
The rest of A&M’s roster combined for 17 points on 4-for-24 shooting (16.6 percent).
“Look, Texas A&M is a very good team,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “What I love about their team is they have the ability to play full-court pressure. They have the ability to play zone.
“They are disruptive. They have a deep bench. But they’re good on offense. They share the ball. They’re unselfish. They utilize the 3-point shot.”
But on this day, they struggled to make the 3-point shot.
The Aggies entered the game averaging 11.1 made 3-pointers. They frequently need to hit 10 or more treys to win.
For his part, Agee didn’t voice any frustration at having to carry such a big load.
“Shots fall. Shots don’t fall,” he said. “Some days you’ve got great days. Some days you’ve got bad days. Not many days you’re going to see somebody miss every shot. There’s not many days when you see somebody make every shot.”
Making 3-point shots is supposed to be a feature of “Bucky Ball.” But against Texas, the near sellout crowd endured “Bucky Air Ball.”
The Aggies hit just five of 19 attempts (26.3 percent). Even that was deceiving. Two of the treys were scored in the final 45 seconds when the issue was settled.
Rylan Griffen, who averages 11 points, scored four. Rubén Dominguez had five, but three came on a meaningless triple with five seconds left. Zach Clemence, who had 29 on Wednesday vs. Arkansas, had three.
Meanwhile, Texas guard Tramon Mark scored 23 points to lead four Longhorns in double figures.
“I’m not going to overthink it,” McMillan said. “They played well for an even battle. The shots were pretty similar in a lot of ways. They stepped up and made some of those late. We didn’t make some of the ones we normally make. They made the tough ones.
“We made some of those at their place. They made them here.”
Two of those big shots Texas made cut the deepest.
Midway through the second half, Simeon Wilcher had a 3-pointer from the corner that hit the rim, bounced about four feet into the air and fell through the hoop.
Then, with Texas holding a 60-56 lead with just over four minutes left, Mark lofted a prayer from the corner just to beat the shot clock. It hit nothing but net.
Those were two of seven of Texas’ treys.
“I thought we played good enough defense,” McMillan said. “I thought we played really hard. I thought they made the shots they were supposed to make. They probably made a couple of the ones that are tough to make with some step-backs. They had one that went up and dropped in.
“I felt that one.”
That was surely a gut punch. The loss, of course, hurt even worse.
The Aggies have now lost six of their last eight. Their NCAA Tournament aspirations are back on the proverbial bubble.
SEC games remain vs. Kentucky at Reed Arena on Tuesday and at LSU next Saturday. The Aggies may need to win both to feel secure about participating in March Madness.
Despite it all, McMillan is still outwardly optimistic.
“We played better in that game with a lot of fight than in games we’ve won,” he said. “We just did not convert some shots we normally make. There’s a great fight. Great tenacity. Great no-quit attitude, but we’ve got to get to the next game.
“We know what time it is. We’ve got to be guns blazing on Tuesday.”
