Agee's 22 vs. Saint Mary's sends A&M to third straight Round of 32

Game #33: #10 Texas A&M 63, #7 Saint Mary’s 50
Records: Texas A&M (22-11, 11-7), Saint Mary’s (27-6, 16-2)
Box Score

OKLAHOMA CITY — Rashaun Agee scored 22 points, Rubén Dominguez had 11, and No. 10 seed Texas A&M forced 18 turnovers to upset No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s, 63-50, on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

A&M advances to Saturday’s second round to face either Houston or Idaho.

The Aggies (22-11), who led by as much as 20 points, controlled play from the outset.

They jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed. Saint Mary’s did cut the margin to 23-22, but Dominguez hit a 3-pointer to spark an A&M offensive surge.

Dominguez drilled a trio of treys. Zach Clemence hit another, and Rylan Griffen scored a reverse layup in a 14-2 run in a span of three-and-a-half minutes to give A&M a 37-24 lead with 1:05 left in the half.

The Aggies led 37-26 at the break.

They opened the second half with a Pop Isaacs 3-pointer, followed by an Agee layup. Their lead never dipped below 12 points.

They pulled within 54-42 when Joshua Dent, who led Saint Mary’s (27-6) with 18 points, hit a 3-pointer with 7:41 to play.

But Agee answered with a triple from the top of the key, and A&M was never seriously threatened from there.

Star of the Game: Rashaun Agee scored a game-high 22 points. He hit seven of 11 shots, including three from behind the arc. He also had nine rebounds and three assists.

Key Stat: The Aggies forced 18 Saint Mary’s turnovers, which they parlayed into 14 points.

Turning point: Rubén Dominguez’s back-to-back three-pointers and Zach Clemence hit another as the Aggies converted three times from behind the arc in a 9-0 run that pushed the Aggies out to a 37-24 lead with a minute remaining in the first half. From there, the Aggies’ lead was never less than 11 points.

It was clinched when: Agee answered a 9-2 run Saint Mary’s run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 57-42 lead. A&M maintained at least a 13-point lead the rest of the way.