A win is a win, no matter how ugly it might come about for a team.
Three Aggies reached double figures and experience ultimately won out in No. 21 A&M’s 61-60 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday evening.
A&M, which shot a season-low 30 percent from the floor, was led by DJ Hogg, Jalen Jones, and Alex Caruso who all posted 11 points each. Caruso added seven rebounds and eight assists as well.
It took a little while for either team to get going, but A&M took about 17 minutes to officially show up in the first half. The Bulldogs (7-6) took a 21-13 lead in the first half before A&M used a 9-0 run to take a 22-21 lead with 2:05 to go. A DJ Hogg three-pointer at the buzzer capped a wild 15-4 run by the Aggies to end the half, and they led 28-25 going into the break.
As a team, the Aggies (12-2) shot a harrowing 28 percent in the first period of action, a 9-for-32 mark, in which five of those field goals came from behind the three-point line. Six of those nine field goals came within the final three minutes of the half.
No doubt, the absence of Danuel House, who stayed behind to handle a personal matter, was a factor in the Aggies being unable to effectively score against the Bulldog one defense. Tyler Davis also got into some early foul trouble, and was on the bench for a majority of the half.
The defense was at it again, forcing 14 turnovers, but had issues converting them to points. A&M also out rebounded the bulldogs 41 to 34.
The second half was a back and forth affair down to the final seconds.
After the Bulldogs took a 44-40 lead, the Aggies ripped off a 9-0 run to pull ahead 49-44. The two teams were tied 55-55 with 1:20 to go in the game when Alex Caruso was sent to the free throw line. He would hit two, and then MSU’s Sword would tie the game at 57-57 with 41.2 seconds to go.
Enter Jalen Jones.
The senior would put down a dunk on A&M’s most crucial possession with 20 seconds left to give the Aggies a 59-57 lead they would not relinquish. On the other end Anthony Collins would come up with a big time steal and Admon Gilder would salt the game away with two free throws late.
Gavin Ware and highly-touted freshman Malik Newman led the Bulldogs with 15 and 14 points respectively. As a team, they shot 43 percent from the floor, but just 26 percent from behind the arc. They outscored A&M 22 to 16 in the paint.
The win marks A&M’s first true road win of the year (1-1) and they get a few days rest before hitting the road once again. They travel to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday afternoon.