Texas A&M Receives Rare Pregame Technical Foul For Jersey Violation In Win Over Florida
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Texas A&M started SEC play on the right note with a 66-63 road win over Florida, but the real story of Wednesday's matchup started before the opening tip.
The Aggies (9-5, 1-0 SEC) did not appear from the visiting locker room at the Stephen O'Connell Center due to a wardrobe malfunction. Following warmups, coach Buzz Williams realized the managers left their official game jerseys back at the hotel.
Despite the staff working at lightning speed to retrieve the uniforms, officials hit the Aggies with a delay of game penalty — deemed an administrative technical foul — leading to a free throw from Florida's Will Richard to give the Gators a 1-0 lead before the opening tip.
"I forgot the jerseys in my hotel room," Williams said. "That's probably the right way to say it because I used to be a manager. If that would have happened, my head coach would have stuck up for me. You don't want the jerseys to get wrinkled so they hang them in my room, and I just forgot to put them on the bus.
"It's my fault and it won't happen again."
The Aggies capitalized early, going on a 13-8 run in the first 10 minutes and leading by as much as 11. Florida fought back with 4:38 left in the second half, outscoring Texas A&M 9-8 and tying the game at 63 thanks to a pair of free throws and a layup from Colin Castleton.
The one point ended up not being a factor in the outcome of the game, but forward Julius Marble said the team's mantra felt off from the get-go. Marble, who finished with 17 points and six rebounds, said the team was more than willing to play in their practice jersey if it would avoid the penalty.
"It was an option. They were maroon," Marble said. "We're like, 'Look, we'll wear the practice jerseys. We're underdogs. We'll grind it out. We don't care.'"
Technical fouls issued before college basketball games are rare but have happened in the past. In 2014, Kansas State was penalized following warmups of the NCAA tournament after a play dunked, an illegal move set in motion by the league office prior to the rule change in 2015.
Florida coach Todd Golden said his team was initially confused when they took the court and realized their opponent wasn't already on the bench.
"I'm 37, I've played basketball my whole life and that's never happened to me in an aspect or any point in my career," Golden said. "It wasn't ideal. I thought we were ready to go and we were sitting there for maybe 15 or 20 minutes, waiting for these guys to show up. It is what it is. We didn't handle the situation well enough."
The Aggies will return to Reed Arena Saturday to face SEC West rival LSU at 5 p.m.
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