South Carolina Routs Aggies in Gary Blair's Home Finale
Texas A&M did not send off Gary Blair in the style he was hoping for on his newly-christened court, as the Aggies lost to No. 1 South Carolina 89-48 Thursday night.
The Aggies (14-13, 4-11 SEC) dipped even closer to .500 for the season, with one regular-season game left before the conference tournament next week. The Gamecocks (26-1, 14-1) were up 42-21 at halftime and never looked back.
It was Blair’s final regular-season home game as coach of the Aggies and first on "Gary Blair Court." Blair, with 852 career victories at three stops, will retire at season’s end.
While denied the opportunity to be a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month, the Aggies did immortalized the 76-year-old coaching legend before the game.
The Reed Arena court now features Blair’s signature near the Aggies bench area and on the opposite side near midcourt. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was in attendance for the game.
Blair is just the third women’s basketball coach to have a home court named in their honor. The other two are Tennessee’s Pat Summitt and North Carolina State’s Kay Yow.
The prospect of Blair’s home finale didn’t get the Aggies going, as they lost their fourth in a row.
South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston provided the history. With 1:22 left in the third quarter, she recorded her 20th straight double-double, passing LSU forward Sylvia Fowles for the most consecutive double-doubles in SEC history. Boston finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and sat for the fourth as the Gamecocks were up 67-31 after three.
Texas A&M’s Jordan Nixon was the only Aggie in double figures with 11 points. A&M shot just 30 percent from the floor, while South Carolina shot 53.1 percent.
The season isn’t over for the Aggies. They're at Georgia on Sunday before heading to Nashville for the SEC Tournament, which starts Wednesday.
In other SEC games on Thursday night, No. 8 LSU defeated Alabama, 58-50; No. 25 Georgia defeated Arkansas, 63-62; Vanderbilt defeated No. 15 Florida, 63-59; No. 16 Tennessee defeated Mississippi State, 86-64; Kentucky defeated Missouri, 78-63; and Ole Miss defeated Auburn, 72-52.
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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.