Texas A&M’s Early Surge and Late Poise Power Win Over Georgia

Texas A&M was relentless.

Stegeman Coliseum was surprised that the Aggies started off with a 20-point lead and wasn’t pleased with the way head coach Bucky McMillan’s team performed, but he certainly was after the game.

“We thought that if we could get this game to the last five, six minutes, we would play really well, and it took a total team effort to do that,” McMillan said.

It really wasn’t the last five or six minutes. Rather, it was the first five to six minutes that Georgia was unable to make adjustments or have any answers for the looks A&M was getting on offense.

Conditioning

Entering the afternoon, the Aggies knew that playing 40 minutes of basketball on both ends of the floor might be enough against the No. 1 scoring offense in the country. Fortunately, the Bulldogs were not able to break through the Aggies’ defense, which was throwing out some zone and man defenses that McMillan knew would have an impact down the stretch.

“I thought our adaptability played a factor in this game,” McMillan said. “We were able to play man. We’re able to play zone. Little zone to man. That was really good to see.”

By far, no game is ever perfect, as some shots will not fall in the basket while some will not. For A&M, being undersized is nothing new; the team has prepared as if it doesn't bother them at all. There were some busted assignments and areas marked as mistakes, but McMillan and Co. told the team it shouldn't be a concern.

“We may not have the biggest team, but we have a skilled team,” McMillan said. “Even our fives can handle the basketball. We told our guys you’re going to make some mistakes in this game. You just got to get to the next play, and we did a good job of getting to the next play.”

Measuring the success was far more notable, as Georgia nearly mounted a comeback and took the lead, but every time anyone blinked, A&M put on their track shoes and kept to their identity: playing uptempo and at a fast pace.

“Even when they came back, they cut it to two,” McMillan said. “You didn’t see a panic in our guys. Just stay the course. We’ll look at the scoreboard when it’s over.”

One of those guys who had his name called on a bunch with his teammates relying on him was senior guard Ali Dibba, who posted 15 points, which was one of the reasons for the win by that amount.

“Ali stayed ready,” McMillan said. “I’ve always thought he could shoot because he just need a little confidence, and you saw him, more importantly, with the game on the line, he was confident letting it rip.”

Whether tied up by two or even by 20, there was never a point where A&M lost confidence. Making 19 of the 20 free-throw attempts, along with sinking 13 3-pointers, signaled that the entire unit believed in their brand of basketball.

“We’re going to play fearless basketball, and our guys have bought into that,” McMillan said. “It’s easy when you got a group of guys like we got.”