‘Ugly game’ or not, Aggies likely NCAA bound after close victory against Tide
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy dubbed the Aggies’ contest against Alabama on Saturday an “ugly game.” He was much too kind.
The Aggies’ 68-66 victory over the Crimson Tide in Reed Arena featured awful shooting by both sides, disjointed offenses, a shove upside the head and even a player getting his lips stuck in his braces, prompting a dash to the locker room.
No matter its overall ugliness, in the end, Kennedy & Co. considered the outcome a thing of beauty, based on it essentially assuring the Aggies of their second NCAA Tournament berth in the last three seasons.
“Twenty wins with the schedule we played, I think we’re an NCAA Tournament team, and I think Alabama should be in the NCAA Tournament,” Kennedy said. “I have that much respect for our league.”
ESPN’s latest projected bracket has eight SEC teams in the NCAA postseason, including A&M as an eighth seed and Alabama as a 10th seed. While A&M (20-11, 9-9) finished the regular season with three consecutive victories, the Crimson Tide (1714, 8-10) closed with five straight losses.
“Obviously, we’re not playing our best basketball right now,” Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. “We need to go to the SEC tournament and try to improve our résumé a little bit more.”
A&M is the No. 8 seed in the league tournament and Alabama is the No. 9 seed, so they’ll meet again in the second round at noon Thursday in St. Louis, after both received byes awarded the top 10 teams in the 14-team league.
Both teams need to work on their shooting while they’re at it. The Aggies finished 4-for-21 from the 3-point line (19 percent), and the Crimson Tide were a little less bad at 5-for-24 (21 percent).
Saturday’s action also included a late dustup between freshman guards T.J. Starks of A&M and Collin Sexton of Alabama. With 32 seconds remaining and A&M leading 63-59, Starks shoved Sexton in the head following nearly two halves of chatter between the two.
“That’s a nice little matchup of back and forth talking,” A&M guard Admon Gilder said of the duo.
Sexton drew a technical and Starks was ejected. Gilder already was headed to the freethrow line for two shots at the time of the exchange, and he shot the two technical free throws as well, in making 3-of-4.
“We can’t handle things that way, that’s unacceptable,” Kennedy said of Starks getting physical with Sexton.
Johnson said officials told him they believed Sexton initiated the exchange, which is why Sexton also was hit with a technical.
“We know we have to stay away from that,” Johnson said of Sexton losing his cool. “That’s not smart basketball.”
Minutes earlier, A&M sophomore forward Robert Williams had landed face down on the floor in hustling for a ball, and he laid on the hardwood as play continued around him. Williams then jumped to his feet and ran for the locker room, his lips stuck in his braces.
It was that kind of ugly day with a happy ending for the Aggies, who in the end won and Williams was OK and returned to the bench. A&M center Tyler Davis led the Aggies with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Sexton led all scorers with 23.
The Aggies made 3 of 10 free throws in the first half, but rebounded to make 15 of 20 free throws in the key second half.
A handful of A&M’s top players, including Davis and Gilder, were freshmen when the Aggies last played in the NCAA Tournament in advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2016. The Aggies next play in the SEC tournament in St. Louis on Thursday, but at this point, that’s just prep for the more prominent tournament afterward.
“We can still play better,” Kennedy said.