Game #31: Texas A&M 94, LSU 91
Records: Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7), LSU (15-16, 3-15)
Box Score
Texas A&M needed triple overtime to overcome erratic shooting but was ultimately overjoyed with a hard-fought 94-91 Southeastern Conference basketball victory over LSU on Saturday night in Baton Rouge.
The Aggies (21-10, 11-7), who trailed by 15 points in the first half, literally had to sweat it to the final second to clinch the win.
Guard Max MacKinnon, who led LSU with 20 points, came up short on a potential tying three-pointer on the game’s final play.
With the victory, A&M, no doubt, clinches a place in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies finish tied for fourth place with Tennessee and Vanderbilt in the SEC race.
That should guarantee a spot in March Madness.
The Aggies also clinched a first-round bye in next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament. They will be the #6 seed and play on Thursday.
“That game was won with a lot of heart. We know what we’re fighting for here,” A&M coach Bucky McMillan said in a postgame interview. “I told the guys, in spite of it all, some execution could have been better.
“But that’s a story right there where you had to persevere, then you had to play tired, and then you had to keep fighting. That’s where the great stories are made, and you’ll remember that the rest of their life.”
Most memorable will likely be the three-point play Rashaun Agee converted to give A&M a 93-91 lead with 24 seconds remaining. Seventeen seconds later, Ali Dibba hit a free throw to boost the margin to 94-91.
But Dibba missed a second free-throw attempt. That left LSU (15-16, 3-15) with a chance to force a fourth overtime.
Coming out of an LSU timeout, MacKinnon got an open look for a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Perhaps because he played 48 minutes of the marathon, his shot came up short.
“We were supposed to foul them right there before they get to half court,” McMillan said. “I don’t know what happened.”
Fortunately, it did not matter.
Agee and Rylan Griffen did most of the heavy lifting for the Aggies. Agee posted a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Griffen had a career-high 24 points.
Pop Isaacs had 18, and Dibba finished with 12. Zach Clemence only managed five points, but grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds.
However, it was not a good shooting display for the Aggies. They hit only 37 percent (31-of-84). That included 10-of-33 on 3-point attempts and a frustrating 20-of-41 on layups.
They compensated to some degree by forcing 22 LSU turnovers, which were parlayed into 23 points.
The poor shooting was especially prevalent in the first half. The Aggies made just three of their first 24 shots. That inaccuracy enabled LSU to open up a 28-13 lead with 7:24 showing in the first half.
“There were so many ebbs and blows to that game,” McMillan said. “We start off this really up-tempo. We can’t make a shot. We’re getting decent shots. We can’t make one.
“Then we had to get back in the game by kind of turning them over and ramping up our pressure.”
However, Josh Holloway hit a 3-pointer to breathe some life into the A&M offense. The Aggies were able to pull within 38-33 at intermission.
A&M finally moved ahead 61-60 on a Dibba layup with 7:30 left in the first half. It was the Aggies' first lead since they were up 3-2.
But A&M couldn’t pull away. The Aggies never led by more than three points.
Consequently, they had to endure some stressful moments.
LSU’s Marquel Sutton could’ve ended the game in regulation with an open shot from the corner, but just missed.
A&M had a chance to win in the first overtime, but Griffen slipped just as he launched a jump shot at the buzzer.
The Aggies had a shot to win at the end of the second overtime, too. Marcus Hill was stripped of the ball as he was attempting a jump shot in the final seconds.
But with Agee’s clutch three-point play in the third overtime — and MacKinnon’s miss — they were finally able to close out the win.
“This is the 15th round of an old school heavyweight fight,” McMillan said. “Just had to make one more play.”
