It’s no secret that the margins are thin in high-major college basketball — especially in the Southeastern Conference. If it hadn’t already, Texas A&M men’s basketball figured that out in its SEC opener against LSU, when it took the Aggies hitting seven free throws in the final three minutes to fend off a late Tiger rally and open conference play with a 1-0 record at Reed Arena, 75-72.

“When [junior forward Mackenzie Mgbako] went out, we knew that we had to play smaller,” head coach Bucky McMillan said. “We knew the problems of playing smaller were going to be rebounding and finding ways to not just be a perimeter team and getting to the free-throw line. So the fact that we shot more free throws than they did and we outrebounded them was a very good sign for our guys.”

The victory was no sure thing, though. LSU barely missed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that would have sent things to overtime. But major contributions from graduate student F Rashaun Agee — including four points and three offensive rebounds in the final three minutes — made sure the Aggies held on in a game they once led by as many as 10 points.

Agee led the Aggies with 15 points and 11 rebounds, good for yet another double-double, as the Maroon and White crashed the boards, finishing the game up 38-30 despite the visitor’s size advantage, especially with Mgbako out for the season.

“Some guys come in and get rebounds that you wouldn’t expect to get rebounds, because they came in and fought, and they understood exactly what it meant when we’re undersized and lose somebody like Mackenzie, you’ve got to crash down,”Agee said. “You’ve got to be a factor on the glass.”

A&M controlled most of the first half, leading for nearly 16 minutes, but it took a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from sophomore guard ​​Rubén Dominguez to give the Aggies a narrow halftime lead, 37-34.

Though Dominguez’s shot helped, it was a slightly lackluster outing for the nation’s 26th-best team in 3-point percentage, per KenPom, as the Maroon and White shot just 25% from beyond the arc in the first half. That percentage improved in the second half, though, as Dominguez finished the day with 13 points and four made 3-pointers.

A&M did, though, manage to control the boards, outrebounding LSU 22-14 and 8-2 on the offensive glass. That helped make up for a total of seven first-half turnovers that allowed the Tigers to put together a run that tied things just before half after the Maroon and White led by as many as nine points.

One of the bright spots on offense for the Aggies in the first half was fifth-year senior G Ali Dibba, who came off the bench to post nine points, three rebounds and an assist by halftime as the Maroon and White shot 43% from the field in the opening half to counter LSU’s 41%.

Dibba said his defense has been his biggest area of improvement lately.

“I’ve picked it up on defense, I know I can be one of the best defenders in this conference,” Dibba said. “So that’s something I’m really working on every day.”

The second half swung like a pendulum with each team putting up its fair share of scoring runs. A&M looked to put the game away with an 11-1 run early in the second half that included back-to-back 3-pointers from Dominguez, before LSU struck back with a 12-1 run of its own that gave the Tigers a slim two-point lead with just under three minutes remaining.

“I can’t fault our energy or effort or our togetherness, all those things were fantastic,” LSU head coach Matt McMahon said. “Just didn’t execute well enough to find a way to get the win at the end.”

But unlike previous high-major games against UCF and SMU, A&M was able to close this one out thanks to their work on the glass and from the charity stripe.

Next, the Aggies hit the road to face the Auburn Tigers at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6.