Texas A&M men's basketball takes loss at the hands of No. 3 Gonzaga 94-71
The Aggies made the trip to Spokane to face No. 3 Gonzaga but were defeated 94-71 on a dominant team performance from the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga got off to the start many anticipated – owning the boards and firing away for three. On the other side of the floor, TJ Starks came out of the gates firing, scoring 8 and dropping three assists for the Aggies’ first 19 points of offense.
The Bulldog game plan was simple: launch shots from deep and crash the offensive boards to get easy layups. Midway through the first half, 17 of the first 20 Zag shots were either three-point attempts or inside the paint. They started slow from outside, however, shooting just 2-11 from outside through the first 16 minutes of play, allowing Texas A&M to stay in the game through the first half.
Capitalizing on missed shots from the Bulldogs, a big three from Hunter Mahan and an and-one finish from TJ Starks had the Aggies down just two points with six minutes left in the first half. The Bulldogs responded just a few minutes later with a 7-0 run. Then, a buzzer beating post hook from Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura put the Bulldogs up 10 at the half. They never looked back.
In the second half, Gonzaga found their rhythm shooting the ball, making 5 of their last 10 from outside the arc. They outscored the Aggies 51-38 in the second half en route to their 23-point victory. Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Zach Norvell Jr. (22 points) and Rui Hachimura (18 points).
For the Aggies, Savion Flagg led the team on offense (18 points), followed closely by TJ Starks (16 points). They play their next game Sunday against Minnesota in the Vancouver Invitational. Tipoff is set for 9:30 PM.