Texas A&M Men’s Basketball Edges LSU in Triple-Overtime Thriller

News release from Texas A&M Athletics: 

Rashaun Agee converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to put the Texas A&M men’s basketball team ahead with 24 seconds left in the third overtime period as the Aggies beat the LSU Tigers, 94-91, in the Maravich Assembly Center Saturday evening.

The Maroon & White trailed 91-90 after the Bayou Bengals’ Jalen Reece made a jumper in the paint with 42 seconds on the clock. On the next trip down the court, Agee got his defender in the air with a pump fake beyond the arc and drove the lane converting a layup and added the and-one to put Texas A&M up by two. After Reece missed a jumper, Ali Dibba made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe and the Aggies survived a missed 3-pointer by Max MacKinnon with the clock running out.

The Aggies fought through a grueling 15 minutes of overtime where neither team ever led by more than one possession and the only three-point cushions were held by the Maroon & White in the final three minutes. The first came when Rubén Dominguez drained his only shot from bonus land at the 2:57 mark of the third overtime, staking the Aggies to a 90-87 lead.

Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) wrapped up the six seed and a first round bye in the SEC Tournament with Saturday’s victory.

The Aggies recorded a season-high 17 steals as they forced 22 turnovers by LSU (15-16, 3-15 SEC).

Agee and Rylan Griffen combined for 50 points. Agee tied Tyler Davis’ school record with his 12th double-double of the season. He logged a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds. Griffen stuffed the stat sheet and notched new career highs with 24 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three blocks.

Pop Isaacs added 18 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Dibba chipped in with 12 points and a career-high five steals.

LSU took advantage of Texas A&M’s shooting struggles to take a 38-33 advantage into halftime. After the Maroon & White held a brief early lead, the Tigers responded with a 24-7 run to balloon the margin to 26-11 at the 8:52 mark. The Aggies used a 22-9 surge of their own to cut the gap to two points before LSU sank a 3-pointer in the waning moments of the first half. Griffen’s 13 points, four rebounds and two steals kept the Aggies in the fight.

The Aggies played catchup most of the second half. They cut the deficit to one point on three occasions before breaking through on a Dibba layup to go ahead 61-60 at the 7:25 mark. Texas A&M would eventually pull out to a 70-67 lead on an Agee layup with 1:52 showing. The Bayou Bengals tied the game with a free throw at 1:28 and a layup by MacKinnon with 38 seconds left.

Both squads missed an opportunity to pull ahead in the final seconds of regulation. Zach Clemence missed a corner-three for the Aggies with 18 seconds on the clock while Marquel Sutton missed for the Tigers with two ticks remaining.

The lead changed hands five times in a seesaw first overtime period with no team leading by more than two points. The Aggies had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Griffen lost his footing on a layup attempt.

The squads struggled to score in the second overtime combining for just three field goals. The Aggies held the last advantage, 85-83, with 21 seconds remaining, but MacKinnon made 2-of-2 from the charity stripe to knot the contest with 12 seconds left. The Maroon & White had the last chance to score but were unable to get a shot off.

UP NEXT
The Aggies secured the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament. They will play the final game of the day on Thursday, March 12 on SEC Network.

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