Texas A&M Basketball Suffers Overtime Heartbreaker to SMU

Texas A&M took on SMU in the Hoop Hype XL on a neutral-site court Sunday night, where it was a Quad 1 opportunity to add to their resumes.

But Jaron Pierre Jr. kept the Mustangs alive with 35 points as the Aggies’ defense struggled, giving up 36 paint points and 26 free throws made in 93-80 overtime loss in Arlington.

With the loss, A&M moved to 7-3 and has to rest up for the second half of the non-conference schedule before meeting league opponents.

Texas A&M's Halftime Rally Not Enough

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Bucky McMillan gestures on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Aggies trailed 41-27 at halftime but the rally wasn't enough in the overtime loss.

It was an excellent start for A&M, and then SMU gave a great answer to start the first period. A&M jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead courtesy of guard Marcus Hill, forward Rashaun Agee, and guard Jacari Lane, who forced SMU’s coach, Andy Enfield, to call its first timeout of the first period.

After discussion with his team, Mustangs forward Corey Washington scored seven of the first 16 points, helping spark their own 7-0 run to put the game up and take the lead. Then the Aggies never saw the lead again for the rest of the first period, as the defense completely dominated, setting the pace for the entire game.

For SMU, their big playmakers heated up in a hurry when the Aggies' best players were constantly being substituted in and out, trying to break the cold spell. Pierre found his groove, igniting the time that no one on coach Bucky McMillan’s team could buy a shot where it didn’t make a field goal in the last 8:17 when it went to the locker room, and evaluated what was going wrong after the zone defense wasn’t appearing to be effective.

One of the big fellas for the Mustangs who kindled the team's success was Samet Yigitoglu, who jogged to the locker room at intermission, leading the team with 11 points. As for the Aggies, Hill was the leader for his team when no one could make a shot from three-point land. Going to the break, A&M shot for one of its worst first periods with a field goal percentage of 27.3.

After one of the most sloppy performances to start, the Maroon and White woke up after making 1 of its last 16 field goals. Indiana transfer forward Mackenzie Mgbako and Hill got their team to score five straight points before the Mustangs came riding back with an answer from Pierre, knocking down six of the following eight points.

Trimming at the deficit worked perfectly for the Ags after forward Federiko Federiko had a massive slam to wake up the crowd in attendance, which caused an eruption before Rylan Griffen and Pop Isaacs got the score within six. The 15-point lead faded to three after an Agee free throw and a Federiko dunk. Buckets got exchanged between both rosters before SMU extended the lead back to nine after A&M didn’t make a field goal in over three minutes.

After a 69-60 lead for the Mustangs, the Aggies got within five before a Pierre layup when two back-to-back threes by Griffen and Mgbako got the game within one. A 5-0 run got it to 77-73, but SMU forced a turnover with 36 seconds left before tying it to go to overtime.

Pierre carried his teammates to the finish line after doing it himself, where he scored seven straight points as the A&M defense wore down. Making free throws at the charity stripe was what made SMU the better team. Even with Hill’s 25-point day, A&M loses out on another resume-building chance.