Aggies Basketball Live Blog: A&M 81, Georgia 79
The Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team travels to Athens, Georgia to begin SEC play against the Georgia Bulldogs on Tuesday, Jan. 4, at 6:00 p.m. CT.
At 11-2, A&M has had an impressive run in non-conference play to begin the season, but will now face a more difficult SEC schedule the rest of the way, and it starts on Tuesday.
A&M has been able to bring in top transfers and sign some impressive recruits for 2021-2022 and those moves have made immediate impacts.
Quenton Jackson leads the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game with Marcus Williams second with 10.1. Tyrece Radford leads the way with 5.8 rebounds while Williams tosses a team-leading 3.6 assists per game.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Bulldogs at 5-8 seem to be struggling to start the season with losses to Wofford, East Tennessee State, and Gardner-Webb, among others.
The Bulldogs are led in scoring by Braelen Bridges with 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while Aaron Cook leads the team in assists with 6.8 and steals at 1.5.
Make sure to stay tuned to AllAggies.com for live updates throughout Tuesday night as A&M takes on Georgia to begin SEC play.
PREGAME
The Aggies and Bulldogs are warming up and the Stegeman Coliseum seats are filling up. Excitement is in the air for the first game of each team's SEC schedule. According to ESPN's BPI the Aggies have a 70.2 percent chance at the win before the start of the game to Georgia's 29.8 percent.
Aggies win the tip.
UNDER-16: Aggies 13, Bulldogs 7
Aggies guard Andre Gordon got the scoring started after the Aggies won the tip and immediately hit a 3-pointer to start the game. Marcus Williams also hit a 3-pointer to push the A&M lead to 6-2 before Aaron Cook fouled Tyrece Radford, who hit both free throws pushing the Aggies lead to 8-2 before Noah Baumann hit the first 3-pointer of the night for the Bulldogs. Kario Oquendo has also hit two buckets for Georgia. Williams has two 3-pointers for the Aggies.
UNDER-12: Aggies 15, Bulldogs 13
The Aggies are shooting 38.5 percent from the field early compared to Georgia at 25 percent. A&M added an Aaron Cash jumper while Georgia went scoreless between the timeouts. A&M is being outrebounded by Georgia 9-8 and the Aggies have the edge in turnovers with just two to the Bulldogs' four.
UNDER-8: Aggies 24, Bulldogs 19
Wade Taylor got in on the 3-pointer action for the Aggies at the 11:36 mark followed immediately by a three from Baumann pushing the score to 18-12 Aggies. Georgia's Jabri Abdur-Rahim made two free throws inching the Bulldogs closer at 18-14 but a pair of Georgia turnovers on consecutive possessions gave the Aggies the ball and a 24-14 lead. Abdur-Rahim hit his second three of the night and a pair of free throws making the score 24-19 A&M.
Henry Coleman III and Williams lead the Aggies with six points each while Abdur-Rahim has nine for the Bulldogs.
UNDER-4: Aggies 37, Bulldogs 28
Out of the timeout, the Bulldogs got the first score on a Jaxon Etter layup, quickly followed by a Gordon layup for the Aggies making the score 26-21. Baumann followed with a jumper from the left elbow, then Coleman III laid the ball in after grabbing an offensive rebound on a missed three by Wade Taylor IV. Taylor IV then stole the ball from Oquendo and passed to Quenton Jackson who laid it in for his first points of the night making the score 32-23 Aggies.
Georgia's Tyron McMillan fouled Coleman III on a made layup, and Coleman III hit the extra foul shot. Etter hit another three for Georgia before Radford was under the basket for another layup for A&M pushing the score to 35-26 Aggies. Oquendo then made a layup just before the timeout.
HALFTIME: Aggies 46, Bulldogs 34
After two consecutive turnovers by Georgia, Taylor IV and Hassan Diarra made 3-pointers, both assisted by Radford, that made the score 43-28 Aggies. Taylor IV added a 3-pointer followed immediately by Georgia's Christian Wright's three as he was fouled by Diarra. Wright made the free throw making the score 46-31 Aggies.
Etter stole the ball from Williams with 21 seconds left and passed to Oquendo who made a layup and was found by Coleman III. Oquendo made the free throw to end the half with the score 46-34 Aggies.
Coleman III leads A&M with 11 points and four rebounds while Taylor IV has chipped in nine points. Abdur-Rahim and Oquendo lead the Bulldogs with nine points each while Etter has four boards to lead the team.
UNDER-16: Aggies 55, Bulldogs 44
The Bulldogs got on the board first to start the second frame with a Braelen Bridges layup but was answered just seconds later by a Radford layup for the Aggies. Coleman III stole the ball from Bridges and made another layup making the score 50-36.
A Williams 3-pointer for A&M was followed by the teams exchanging layups making the score 55-38 Aggies. A dunk by Oquendo and a jumper by Etter took the Bulldogs closer at 55-42. And Georgia inched closer at 55-44 after a pair of Cook free throws.
UNDER-12: Aggies 61, Bulldogs 51
An Oquendo layup and Baumann three took the Bulldogs to within 55-49 before a Bridges layup got Georgia to within four at 55-51 as the Bulldogs have opened the second half on a 17-9 run.
But the Aggies found their offense again with Jackson three and a Coleman III layup where he was fouled and made the free throw pushing the Aggies lead back up to 61-51.
Baumann would hit another 3-pointer for the Bulldogs, and Cook and Williams traded jumpers before Cook laid in another three that made the score 63-58 Aggies at the timeout.
UNDER-8: Aggies 66, Bulldogs 64
Baumann hit a 3-pointer for the Bulldogs and Cook poured in a couple of layups while Williams hit a jumper for the Aggies that made the score 63-58. Coleman III made a foul shot and Bridges hit a layup that got the Bulldogs within four at 64-60.
Williams hit a jumper for the Aggies and Baumann and Oquendo both hit layups making the score 66-64 Aggies prompting a timeout on the floor by Aggies coach Buzz Williams. The A&M lead of 10 has shrunk to just two with aggressive play by the Bulldogs.
UNDER-4: Aggies 75, Bulldogs 71
After a Tayor IV free throw, Wright hit a jumper for the Bulldogs keeping the lead to just one at 67-66 Aggies. Marcus Williams got hit with an offensive foul turning the ball over to the Bulldogs down just a point but Etter missed a jumper and Aaron Cash got the rebound and the ball to Jackson who hit a 3-pointer giving the Aggies a four-point lead.
But Coleman III fouled Oquendo on a made layup and after the free throw, the lead was back down to one, 70-69.
Noah Baumann fouled Coleman III who redeemed himself at the line making one-of-two charity shots that gave A&M a two-point lead at 71-69.
Coleman III and Marcus Williams hit consecutive buckets pushing the Aggies lead back to 75-69, but Bridges hit a short jumper to bring the lead back down to four at the last official television timeout.
FINAL: Aggies 81, Bulldogs 79
The Aggies took the ball after the timeout and Jackson missed a three, rebounded by Oquendo for the Bulldogs, but Bridges got slapped with an offensive foul handing the ball to A&M with 2:20 to play.
Williams missed an open 3-pointer that was rebounded by Georgia. Cash stole the ball for the Aggies and was fouled by Oquendo before Williams missed a jumper and Bridges was fouled by Coleman III on the rebound. Bridges made both free throws making the Aggies' lead just two at 75-73 with 47 seconds remaining.
Coleman III made one-of-two foul shots and the A&M lead was 76-73. Baumann hit a three with 38 seconds left to tie the game at 76-76, prompting an A&M timeout with 24 seconds left in regulation.
Etter fouled Coleman III on the inbounds pass and Coleman III made both foul shots giving the Aggies a 78-76 lead with 14 seconds left when Georgia called a timeout.
Oquendo made a layup out of the timeout, tying the game at 78, and was fouled by Cash with 5 seconds remaining.
Oquendo made the free throw giving Georgia a one-point lead, but Marcus Williams hit a three at the buzzer for A&M's 81-79 win.
What a way to open SEC play!
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