A&M edges out Florida in final minutes to claim SEC-opening win, 66-63

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The Aggies took a while to get their jerseys but immediately got in Florida’s.

Texas A&M (9-5, 1-0) used a tenacious defensive effort from the start to the final shot to capture a 66-63 Southeastern Conference-opening basketball victory over Florida (7-7, 0-2) on Wednesday night in Gainesville.

The Gators launched a final shot at the buzzer in hopes of forcing overtime. But harassed by A&M’s Dexter Dennis and Andre Gordon, Gators guard Trey Bonham, who scored a game-high 21 points, misfired on a final 3-point attempt.

A&M’s Julius Marble, Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor each scored 17 points, but make no mistake, the defensive effort was the difference in the outcome. The Aggies limited Florida to just 44 shots, allowed only six offensive rebounds and forced 20 turnovers.

That relentless defense enabled the Aggies to overcome a dismal second half showing on the offensive end. A&M shot just 37.7 percent and covered only 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from 3-point range.

“So much of their contributions are not completely shown in the box score,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “When you’re playing a possession game like that on the road, when it’s a one- or two-possession game throughout, there are so many things that don’t show up on the box score.

“I think you get mesmerized by points. The game that we have to play are in those intangibles that don’t necessarily have a state attached to it.”

Tip-off was delayed about 10 minutes because A&M’s jerseys were left at the team hotel and had to be retrieved.

As a result, A&M was assessed a technical foul and started the game down 1-0 after Florida converted the free throw.

But A&M made up for that mistake with a suffocating defense for most of the game.

The Aggies limited Florida to 37.5 percent shooting (9-of-24) and forced nine turnovers in the first half. Those turnovers led to 12 points as A&M took a 34-23 lead at the break.

Florida finally found holes in the A&M defense to start the second half and hit six of its first seven shots. The Gators forged a 36-36 tie when 6-foot-11 center Collin Castleton, who was routinely swarmed in the low post, hit a free throw with 16:21 showing.

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The Aggies recorded 10 steals, marking the fifth time this season with double-digit steals in a game. 

However, the Aggies staved off that charge. Marble started a 9-0 run with a three-point play and finished it with a dunk to give A&M a 48-39 lead with 12:54 left.

Florida again fought back and forced a 63-63 tie on a Castleton steal and layup with 1:06 remaining.

A&M regained the lead when Taylor got the bounce on a runner with 42 seconds to play. 

Florida missed a shot and committed a turnover in the final minute.

Still, A&M had to sweat out the final shot because Radford hit just one of two free throws with six seconds left.

Bonham, who hit four treys, looked for a fifth to tie the score. But Dennis and Gordon wouldn’t give him a good look, and his double-clutch 25-foot jumper caromed off the back iron.

“I thought our staff was spot on with our game plan,” Williams said. “I think our guys did a really good job executing that plan. In practice, there was a lot of confidence in that plan because of how they received it and how they practiced it. Then it came to fruition beginning to end.”