AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) – As a half-filled Moody Center listened to the opening bars of \u201cThe Eyes of Texas,\u201d Texas A&M guard Jacari Lane casually strolled of the floor flashing a double \u201chorns down\u201d to the Longhorn fans that remained. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a feeling few Aggie basketball players have experienced this century. <\/p>\n
For the first time since 2002, A&M knocked off Texas in Austin, this time a 74-70 victory in the first year of the Bucky McMillan era of the program. <\/p>\n
And yet, with 14 new players in the completely rebuilt program, few might have had a firm grasp on the enormity of the moment. After all, McMillan reminded the gathered media, somewhat facetiously, that this team barely knew each other\u2019s names when the season tipped off in November. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey get better and better and better at knowing each other,\u201d McMillan said. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got all new guys, your play package is very small to start the season and as we\u2019ve gone and had more practice time, we\u2019ve been able to get more stuff in that can help us in these moments and practice that.\u201d <\/p>\n
To notch the historic win, A&M (14-4, 4-1) put forth what McMillan agreed was one of its best games in half-court offense. While A&M typically runs a flow offense that is less scripted than a traditional college program, A&M used set plays to open up four key backdoor cuts in the second half that proved to be the difference in the game. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Bucky and his coaching staff, they hit us with about eight points on flex-cut, back-screen layups,\u201d Texas head coach Sean Miller said. \u201cJust nobody around, like somebody fell down on our team. And that\u2019s on me. That\u2019s on us. You can\u2019t give up shots like that on set play calls\u2026 We spotted them six or eight points, just on those three or four set play calls.\u201d <\/p>\n
On back-to-back possessions midway through the second half, forward Rashaun Agee was on the distributing end of two back-door plays. The first, Agee pulled his defender out to the wing and found Rylan Griffen cutting, unguarded, into the lane for an easy layup, giving the Aggies a 10-point lead. On the next trip down the court, Agee received the ball from Lane at the left elbow and hit the guard, in stride, with a bounce pass that led to a layup. The score gave A&M its largest lead of the game at 11. <\/p>\n
The assists were a part of a team-leading offensive night for the 6-foot-8 Aggie forward, who matched up against Texas\u2019 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis for the majority of the night. Agee tied the team high with 17 points, while posting a game-leading 11 rebounds to go with his three assists. It is Agee\u2019s eighth double-double of the season.<\/p>\n
No A&M players were made available to the media to react to Saturday\u2019s rivalry win over the Longhorns (11-7, 2-3). <\/p>\n
Saturday marked the second time this season an opposing coach praised Agee\u2019s talents in a postgame press conference. <\/p>\n
\u201cAgee is really good,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHe\u2019s a really good player. He\u2019s hurt every team that they played in the SEC\u2026 I don\u2019t know how tall he is \u2014 maybe 6-foot-6, but he plays a lot bigger than that and he\u2019s a big part of what makes A&M good.\u201d <\/p>\n
Featuring alongside Agee in A&M\u2019s offensive success was Griffen, who also posted 17 points, including a 4 for 5 clip from behind the arc. <\/p>\n
Through the end of the first half and the start of the second, A&M mounted a 22-8 run, which included 10 points from Griffen in the first four minutes after halftime. Griffen has posted double-digit points in eight games this season and his four made 3-pointers was his high mark in SEC play. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, we come out of half the first minutes like a warmup,\u201d McMillan said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018The start of the half is so important, we can\u2019t have a four-minute warmup into the game. It starts now. Get yourself ready to go.\u2019 Rylan\u2019s a Texas kid. He probably knows what this game is. It\u2019s a game that he probably grew up watching and, obviously, he played great in the game.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Aggies kept Texas at arm\u2019s length through the majority of the half, until the Longhorns mounted a late comeback in the form of a 8-0 run in the final two minutes of the game. Lane hit a free throw with seven seconds remaining, which put the Aggies up by four, and took the last air out of the Longhorn\u2019s lungs. <\/p>\n
Texas had a pair of 17-point scorers in guards Jordan Pope and Dailyn Swain, followed by Vokietaitis\u2019s 14 and Tremon Mark\u2019s 13. Mark drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first half to tie the game at 29, his third last-minute shot scored against the Aggies in his career. <\/p>\n
These two teams will face off once more during the regular season on Feb. 28 back in Reed Arena.<\/p>\n
Though many of Saturday\u2019s players were new to the Lone Star Showdown, choppiness still evolved. Tensions flared at one point in the second half when Mark and Aggie guard Marcus Hill needed to be separated after battling before an inbounds pass. <\/p>\n
But as Texas has known for all but two matchups in Austin since 1987, bragging rights go to the victors. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou never want to be on the losing side of a rivalry\u2026 It\u2019s a competitive environment,\u201d Pope said. \u201cIt\u2019s what you signed up for It\u2019s what you want in college basketball \u2014 not necessarily the choppiness, but the back and forth is fu. It\u2019s good for the game. It definitely felt like a rivalry game.\u201d <\/p>\n
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