Aggies run past Bulldogs, 92-77

ATHENS — It was snowy, cold and miserable outside Stegeman Coliseum Saturday afternoon — perfect conditions for the Winter Soldier and his crew to jump the homestanding Georgia Bulldogs.

On the force of a 20-0 run in the first half and a 15-3 outburst in the second, Texas A&M blitzed Georgia 92-77 Saturday afternoon. The win moves the Aggies to 17-4 on the season and maintains their grip on sole possession of first place in the SEC with a 7-1 record under new coach Bucky McMillan.

Texas A&M took command of the game almost immediately, breaking a 2-2 tie with a 3-point play from guard Ruben Dominguez (13 points), then poured it on for the next four minutes while the Bulldogs (16-6, 4-5 SEC) couldn’t find the basket. Rashaun Agee (18 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists) then sank the first of his two 3-pointers, with Dominguez following that with a 3 of his own.

But the Aggies weren’t done. Marcus Hill (15 points) hit yet another three, followed by Pop Isaacs (11 points) hitting two within 10 seconds. Isaacs hit his first, then the inbound pass was stolen by point guard Josh Holloway, who kicked it back out to Isaacs for another 3 and a 22-2 Texas A&M lead.

“We got off to an awful start. The worst start in a long, long time,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “I don’t remember being down that much that early in a game.”

Georgia regained its footing and rallied, cutting the Aggie lead to 44-41 with 2:38 to go in the half after a 3-pointer by Marcus Millender (12 points). But those would be the final points the Bulldogs scored in the half, as A&M closed out the first stanza with a 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Rylan Griffen (5 points) that hit the rim twice before going down and a remarkable up and under layup by Hill.

Texas A&M led the entire second half, but Georgia cut the Aggie lead to 69-67 on a 3-point play by Dylan James with 9:05 remaining in the game. McMillan said his team wasn’t rattled by Georgia’s ability to make the game close.

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

A&M responded forcefully, with 3-pointers by Jacari Lane (9 points) and Ali Dibba (15 points, 3-4 from 3-point range). The Bulldogs came back with a 3 of their own, but a 9-0 Aggie run that included 5 points from Dibba on a layup and a 3-pointer put Texas A&M up 84-70 with 5:14 remaining.

“We thought if we could get this game to the last five or six minutes, we would play really well,” McMillan said. “You saw us run away with it there at the end of the game and that’s we thought would happen with our group.”

For the game, the Aggies shot 45% from the floor and 38% from 3-point distance while making all but one of their 20 free throw attempts. Georgia shot 40% from the field, but only made 7 of 28 3-point attempts. In spite of the Bulldogs’ significant height advantage, Texas A&M won the rebounding battle 46-39. Lane, the smallest player on the court, had two consecutive offensive rebounds to help the Aggies whittle away the clock late in the second half.

“Texas A&M was better,” White said. “That’s why they’re winning the league.”

Agee’s double-double is his 10th of the season, leaving him one away from tying the school record of 11 set by Robert Williams in 2016-17.