Williams, Hogg Lead Aggies to Come-from-Behind Win over Georgia

Saturday, January 21

College Station

11:00 AM

Texas A&M

10-8, 2-5SEC

Georgia

4-312-7; SEC

Georgia

Texas A&M

Photo by: Spencer Gnauck

Jan 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box: A&M 63, UGA 62 (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Associated Press/Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)-- Texas A&M wiped out a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat Georgia 63-62 on Saturday in one of the season's odder endings.

The Bulldogs had the final possession trailing by one, but the clock inadvertently stopped with 5.6 seconds remaining. Georgia's J.J. Frazier dribbled the ball near the top of the key, and thought he had time to pass down low to Yante Maten.

Maten received the pass from Frazier, and officials whistled a foul on the Aggies when Maten attempted a layup. With the clock still stuck at 5.6 seconds, officials used game video to count down Georgia's final possession, and determined that time had run out before the foul was called on A&M.

Georgia coach Mark Fox kept his composure afterward but was obviously upset at the outcome.

"Our kid (Frazier) looks up and thinks he has time to make a play, but he doesn't," Fox said. "I don't know who stopped the clock; I'd like to know."

Afterward A&M officials said a "belt-pack" worn by one of the officials malfunctioned and inadvertently stopped the clock. They were checking further into what happened. The Aggies (10-8, 2-5 Southeastern) snapped a two-game losing streak, while the Bulldogs (12-7, 4-3) have lost two of their last three.

Robert Williams led the Aggies with 18 points and D.J. Hogg followed with 16, while Maten led the Bulldogs with a game-high 19 points.

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 63, Georgia 62
Jan. 21, 2017 ? Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)

RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

The Aggies defeated Georgia 63-62 Saturday afternoon at Reed Arena to improve to 10-8 on the season with a 2-5 mark in SEC play.
Texas A&M improved to 2-4 in the all-time series with Georgia and with the victory the Aggies have now beaten every SEC team inside Reed Arena.

TEAM NOTES

Trailing by as many as 13 in the second half, Texas A&M ended the game on a 10-0 run … The run was aided by Aggie full-court pressure which led to six Bulldog turnovers in the contest's final 3:26.
A&M's defense held Georgia to just one made field goal in the game's final 10:31.
The Bulldogs owned a 39-29 halftime lead after ending the opening period on a 10-0 run.
The Aggies recorded their highest steal output of the season with 11, as four Aggies posted multi-steal performances.
Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Admon Gilder, DJ Hogg, Tonny Trocha-Morelos, Robert Williams and Tyler Davis for the first time this season (1-0).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Freshman Robert Williams notched his fourth career double-double, finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds … Williams also had a swat of the Bulldogs, his 18^th straight game with at least one block … The school record for a blocked shot streak is 20 consecutive games set by David Harris from Dec. 21, 1989, to March 9, 1990.
Second-year guard Admon Gilder tied his season-high with four steals while reaching double-digit scoring (11 points) for the 24^th time in his career.
Sophomore DJ Hogg scored in double figures for the 20^th time in his career, ending play with 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting.
Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 109-78 in his sixth season at Texas A&M and 320-257 in 19 seasons as head coach.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTE

On the game's final possession the game clock stopped with 5.6 seconds remaining during play … After a lengthy review, officials determined that time had expired and the game was over.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M hits the road to make its first-ever visit to the brand new Pavilion at Ole Miss to take on the Rebels ... The game is slated to be televised on ESPN2 with tip off at 6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Texas A&M 63, Georgia 62
Jan. 21, 2017 ? Reed Arena

GEORGIA HEAD COACH MARK FOX
On the final moments of the game…
"Evidently, the clock stopped during play for longer than 5.6 seconds. I guess by rule they timed how long it stopped. It's frustrating because our kid looks up and he thinks he has time to make a play and he really doesn't. That's hard. I cannot blame our players in that situation. I don't know who stopped the clock. I would like to know, but that's how it was administered. I'm on a rules committee so maybe that's one we say we ought to change - in correction of a timing error. I thought they obviously administered it probably correctly."

On late turnovers…
"(Robert) Williams is so big on the ball, he essentially takes away one pass or one side of the floor. The one place we could get it is where you don't want it, in the deep corner. Even if we got it there, we didn't handle it well. (J.J.) Frazier didn't catch it one time. We had a turnover from (Jordan) Harris there in the corner. Give them credit."

On team strategy during the review…
I thought we were going to see how much time was left in the game. I thought we were going to have two free throws. We were just talking about defense during the review.

On offensive struggles in the first half…
"We had massive foul trouble. We had three players foul out. We had one player we left at the hotel with the flu, so we played a lot of lineups that we typically don't have to play."

SOPHOMORE GUARD DJ HOGG
On full-court press late in the game…
"It kept putting it in the corner. That's where we trap. We were able to come up with a couple of turnovers late and speed them up. They didn't handle the pressure very well. A couple of times they pretty much gave it to us. We were able to capitalize off of their turnovers and put us right where we needed to be."

On offensive strategy late in the game…
"We were just trying to attack them. Go at them. Get to the rim. Get fouled because fouls stop the clock and you get two free throws. We were scrambling, looking for the best shot."

On first half struggles…
"We were missing a lot of easy buckets we should have made. They were just capitalizing. Their big man, Yante Maten, he was just killing us. He's a good player. We struggled with him but luckily, with that press, we were able to get it back."

On the comeback win…
"Really, we just kept believing that even though we were down, we could still come back. We just played together, played hard and the ball bounced our way."

FRESHMAN CENTER ROBERT WILLIAMS
On defending the inbounds pass on the press…
"That's what I love to do, use my wingspan as far as blocking shots and everything, On the inbounds, it's still in my head that I'm getting this, I'm tipping this, something."

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement…
"One of my coaches said it was manna from Heaven. I mean we got a break at the end and we're really fortunate. I thought we kept hanging in there. Missing free throws and not finishing around the basket was hard to watch but I thought our guys kept hanging around. We kept hanging around and fortunately Georgia made enough mistakes that we were able to get a win."

On if it felt like a long time waiting for final decision on last call…
"Yeah but I really believe they made the right decision. I hate [it] for Georgia but the last five minutes, we deserved to win."

On how bad the Aggies needed to win…
"We need to play better. Hopefully the win will get us to play better. We looked like a young team playing in the morning who was sleeping in their beds at the hotel like you go to AAU games and certain guys don't play well in AAU games in the morning and that's kind of how we looked. I was trying to be as patient and as positive as I could but at halftime, I had seen enough. I don't get very upset at halftime but that's probably the most upset I've gotten since I've been here."

On Robert Williams…
"His length is special obviously and we've worked on our press some and it makes you think we use it more but you've got to make free throws to get any press and you've got to score to get any press. He's definitely a weapon and a difference-maker. We don't win a game without him for sure."

On halftime talk…
"Well, at halftime I got pretty upset and I made everybody leave the locker room and I said 'you guys' figure it out, you know the players. I said 'we need some guys to step up leadership-wise, you're going to win the game or lose the game, we're going to do our best to put you in position to win but it's time for you to grow up and each guy take ownership and step up.'"

On playing in front of the 12^th Man…
"Being at home our crowd was great, they had good energy and they supported us through it and that was big. That was definitely the home court advantage today."

Below is a statement from the SEC office regarding the end of the basketball game.

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With 5.6 seconds remaining in the Georgia-Texas A&M game, there was a malfunction of the Precision Timing system which stopped the game clock while play continued. Game officials failed to recognize the game clock was not functioning properly during live action. Once the clock stoppage was discovered, NCAA rules were appropriately administered with the use of the courtside monitor for replay and a digital stopwatch to determine that time expired before a foul was assessed to a Texas A&M defender. Because rules do not permit time to be put back on the clock in this situation, the contest was ended.

The NCAA uses Approved Rulings as clarifications to various situations. Further information on the application of NCAA rules in this instance can be found in the NCAA Case Book, A.R. 121.: "A correction is only permitted when it falls within the prescribed time frame limit. When it is determined that there is no time left on the game clock, the (first half) is ended and the personal foul is not assessed." This example is consistent for application at the end of a game or the end of any overtime.