OKLAHOMA CITY — If fans had been told before Thursday’s game that Texas A&M basketball would score 24 points less than its season average, many probably would have thought its trip to the NCAA Tournament would be brief.
Instead, the 10th-seeded Aggies delivered their best defensive game of the season, defeating seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s 63-50. A&M forced 18 turnovers, including five in the first four minutes of the game and seven in the second half. The 50 points they allowed was the fewest the Aggies have allowed since giving up just 45 against Houston Christian in December 2024.
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“It was an elite defensive game by our guys in every facet of the game,” head coach Bucky McMillan said. “Sometimes we catch some teams when they’re off. I thought their shooters shot well. They shot 44% from three, made 10 threes, and we still had a double-digit victory. That means we did a lot of things well.”
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Texas A&M guards Jacari Lane (right) and Marcus Hill (left) reach in to try and steal the ball from Saint Mary’s guard Joshua Dent during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Oklahoma City, Thursday, March 19, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
A&M rides suffocating defense to first-round win
No Saint Mary’s players finished the game with a positive plus-minus, and only two scored more than 10 points. The Gaels’ star forward, Paulius Murauskas, entered the game averaging 18.8 points and 7.7 rebounds but finished with just four points on 1-of-6 shooting and three boards. He didn’t start the game due to a reported illness.
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While the 6-foot-8 Lithuanian might have been feeling under the weather, A&M’s fast-paced, high-energy style of play certainly didn’t help him feel any better.
“I feel like from the first play of the game, they were not used to that style of play and that rhythm,” A&M forward Rashaun Agee said. “Basically, in the first media (timeout), we were like, they’re tired. They’re not used to this level of contact in every play, pressure, and yeah, I feel like that was the point.”
Agee finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. He added six defensive rebounds and finished with a plus-14 overall.
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Every A&M player except for center Jamie Vinson (minus-1) finished with a positive plus-minus.
I think that our guys all took that challenge in this game, and you could see it,” McMillan said. “There was blood in their eyes when they were matched up on defense and when they had an opportunity on offense to finish through contact, to step up, be ready to make an offensive rebound.”
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Texas A&M forward Rashaun Agee (12) reacts after a dunk in front of Saint Mary’s center Andrew McKeever (45) and Texas A&M forward Zach Clemence (7) during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Oklahoma City.
Nate Billings/Associated Press
Bucky McMillan captures first tournament win with Aggies
The Aggies came into the game as an underdog, a role they embraced. With Thursday’s win, they have likely exceeded many expectations heaped on them this season. A Year 1 NCAA tournament victory not only extends the season, but also boosts confidence in the program’s choice to hire a young coach who was leading a high school basketball team just six years ago.
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“You don’t really know until you’re out there what’s going to transpire,” McMillan said. “I know this, we took it personal …”
Regardless of what happens in Saturday’s second round, it’s hard to believe this season won’t be seen as a success for A&M basketball.
Still, the way this team is wired, it’s highly unlikely that McMillan or his team has the same sentiment.
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“Whenever you look back on your last game, whenever that is, you don’t want to have any regrets,” McMillan said. “The last thing we wrote on our board in the locker room before we walked out there was ‘no regrets,’ like, let’s not have a regret. … That’s what I was pleased of more than anything, more than scoring, more than anything like that. Our program is built around hard work, playing hard, playing unselfish, and playing fearless. I thought tonight our team represented that really well.”
Texas A&M guard Marcus Hill (0) dives for a loose ball against Saint Mary’s during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Oklahoma City, Thursday, March 19, 2026.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Reach Texas A&M beat reporter Tony Catalina via email at Anthony.Catalina@statesman.com.