Takeaways From Texas A&M's Round of 64 Win Over Saint Mary's

Texas A&M is officially undefeated in the postseason with Bucky McMillan at the helm.

The Aggies got off to a hot start and made quick work of the No. 7 seed Saint Mary's Gaels in their Round of 64 matchup in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, winning with a final score of 63-50, less than what the 12th Man is used to, but still enough to move the Ags on.

The win gives Texas A&M its third consecutive pass to the Round of 32, and they will look to make it back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2018 season.

Takeaways From Texas A&M's Win Vs. Saint Mary's Gaels

Texas A&M Aggies coach Bucky McMillan during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Paycom Center. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

With the Aggies now one step closer to fighting for a national championship, here are a few takeaways from their win Thursday night.

Early Turnovers Prove to Be Momentum Shifters

"Bucky Ball" was in full effect from the tip-off inside the Paycom Center, as soon as the Aggies dropped in a bucket for their first points of the game, the full-court press began and it resulted in a 10-second backcourt violation.

Within the first five minutes, Texas A&M had forced five turnovers from the Gaels, and when the clock hit 0:00 after the second half, the Aggies had caused 18 blunders from their opponents, a season high for St. Mary's, who reached their season average of 10 turnovers per game shortly before halftime.

The turnovers resulted in 14 points going in favor of the Aggies, one more than the deficit between the two teams and further going to show how much the turnover battle benefitted Texas A&M.

De-Fense! De-Fense!

Aside from the full-court pressing through all 40 minutes of the contest, the A&M defense was especially exceptional, collecting 12 steals to help boost those turnover numbers.

A&M's defense and the Gaels shaky shooting saw Saint Mary's go on many scoring droughts throughout the game, including one that last over four minutes while the Maroon and White kept tacking on the points.

Just how fierce was that defense? Well, Saint Mary's leading scorer, Paul Marauskas, was only held to four points. Pretty stout from the McMillan-led crew.

Rashaun Gilgeous-Alexander?

The Aggies were playing in the home of the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who were led during their run by reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who knows how to shoot threes and draw fouls, which is exactly what Texas A&M star forward Rashaun Agee was doing throughout the game.

Agee made a season-high three three-pointers during his 22-point performance, leading the team in the stat as per usual.

The Aggies now await the winner of No. 15 Idaho and No. 2 Houston to see who their Round of 32 opponent will be, and you can bet the Aggies still have the sour taste of that overtime loss in the 2024 NCAA Tournament against the latter.

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