OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Rashaun Agee had 22 points and nine rebounds, and No. 10 seed Texas A&M beat seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s 63-50 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ruben Dominguez added 11 points for the Aggies (22-11), who advanced in the South Region to face either No. 2 seed Houston or No 15 seed Idaho on Saturday.
Joshua Dent scored 18 points and Liam Campbell added 15 for Saint Mary’s (27-6). Paulius Murauskas, who had averaged 18.8 points per game, scored just four on 1-for-6 shooting. It was a season-low point total for the Gaels, who hadn’t scored fewer than 70 points since Jan. 31.
This matchup appeared to feature teams heading in opposite directions. The Aggies were coming off a 20-point loss to Oklahoma in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, while the Gaels — regular-season champions of the West Coast Conference — had won eight of nine. It was a mild upset with Saint Mary’s favored by 3 1/2 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Texas A&M ran out to a 9-0 lead and held Saint Mary’s scoreless for nearly 4 1/2 minutes to start the game. Zach Clemence banked in a 3-pointer with about a minute remaining in the first half to push Texas A&M’s lead to 37-24, and the Aggies took a 37-26 edge into the break.
Texas A&M led by 20 with 10 minutes remaining and never led by fewer than 12 the rest of the way.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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