COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Junior center Tyler Davis scored 20 points, including a key dunk late in the game, and Texas A&M defeated Alabama 68-66 on Saturday.
The Aggies (20-11, 9-9 SEC) closed out the regular season with a three-game winning streak, while the Crimson Tide (17-14, 8-10) ended by losing five straight.
The Aggies led 54-53 with 3:47 remaining when A&M forward D.J. Hogg sank a 3-pointer from the far left corner. Following an Alabama turnover and a timeout, the Aggies increased the lead to 59-53 on the dunk by Davis in traffic with 3:10 left.
The game was delayed for a few minutes with 32 seconds remaining and A&M leading 63-59 after A&M freshman guard T.J. Starks shoved Alabama freshman guard Collin Sexton in the head following some heated words.
Sexton drew a technical and Starks was ejected. A&M's Admon Gilder already was going to the line for two free throws at the time of the exchange, and he shot the two technical free throws as well, in making 3-of-4.
Sexton led Alabama with a game-high 23 points, while Davis grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. The Aggies reached at least 20 victories for a third time in coach Billy Kennedy's seven seasons.
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RECORDS / SERIES NOTES
TEAM NOTES
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
UP NEXT
Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Texas A&M 68, Alabama 66
March 3, 2018 ? Reed Arena (College Station, TX)
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TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement…
"Thankful to win an ugly game. I thought both teams fought hard and struggled scoring. It was just a wild game and I'm very thankful we came out on a win. I thought we competed at a good level. Jay Jay Chandler, Admon [Gilder] as well as some other guys made some tough plays for us to figure out a way to get a win."
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On Admon Gilder and DJ Hogg playing against Alabama this time…
"It made a big difference, obviously. Admon's playing the point guard position in the second half. [He] did a really good job of getting us in the offense. [He] did a really good job of making the right plays and handling that pressure at the end."
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On going 9-9 in conference play after starting 0-5…
"I don't think there are many teams in our league that can say that they've had that kind of success [to end the season], so I'm excited about that. We still can play better. That's the good thing is there's a lot of things we can do better offensively. We're still adjusting to TJ [Starks] playing the point, but we're getting to win a couple of different ways with this lineup. That's been good for us."
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On the Aggies' NCAA Tournament outlook…
"20 wins with the schedule we played and the league we're in, I think we're an NCAA Tournament team. I think Alabama's an NCAA Tournament team. I just have that much respect for our league."
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TEXAS A&M JUNIOR GUARD ADMON GILDER
On his four free throws at the end of the game…
"I wasn't really worried. I practice them each and every day, but I think it took a long time to finally get to the free throw line and I got a little cold. After I hit the first one, everything felt good and I knew it would go in."
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TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN GUARD JAY JAY CHANDLER
On giving the team energy…
"I just come in, try to just pick up on the little things. Just trying to use my energy, using my voice to work on both ends of the court and keep talking my teammates through it. Just go out there and have fun that the coaches keep telling us to have."
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On his first free throws and his mindset on the line…
"I just went up there and relaxed because I guess I came into the game trying to force it a little bit. But once the second half came, I just relaxed and just took a deep breath at the free throw line. Every time I shot them they felt good."
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ALABAMA HEAD COACH AVERY JOHNSON
Opening Statement…
"First of all, I want to congratulate my good friend Billy Kennedy. His team played hard. Both teams played hard. Texas A&M was ranked number five in the country for a reason. They're a talented team. Like a lot of teams in the SEC, we've had a lot of ups and downs especially in a tough conference, but they held us off. They played hard, they rebounded the ball well. They're one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country and they have a lot of size. DJ Hogg, who we know well, got hot on us in the second half. We did a great job on him in the first half, but those eleven points that he scored in the second half, especially that 3-pointer from the left corner is a big shot. A lot of the time it's not even about what we didn't do. Let's give Texas A&M credit, and their staff and their players credit, for playing a tough game to the very very end."
On the NCAA tournament…
"We're in this losing streak, but we have a lot of quadrant one wins and quadrant three wins, and the loss that we had against Minnesota at home we finished with three players and we almost won, so we've beat a lot of Top 25 teams. We aren't playing our best basketball right now, but last year we had a team from our conference, Vanderbilt, who made the tournament with a 17-15 record and that's because they had a good resume. So when you come on the road and lose to Texas A&M or you lose to a team like Kentucky, and I can go on and on because we've got a lot of good teams, that's why I think we will have eight or nine teams in the tournament. I hope we'll be one of them. Obviously we have to go to the SEC Tournament and try to improve our resume a little bit, but we scheduled hard in the non-conference for a reason. We went and challenged ourselves. A lot of the teams that we've played against have lots of potential to be Final Four teams. We aren't playing our best basketball, but I still believe we have a lot of potential."
On making plays at the end of the game…
"It was close. We were ready to go. It could have gone either way. This is a game of inches. You look at A&M going and beating Georgia by one on the road. We beat A&M the first game of SEC play. We go and have an incredible performance at Florida, win almost by 20, then Florida comes back and reverses that and beats us pretty good at home. We have a really good conference, and there's a lot of teams that are equally matched. But again, it's a game of inches. It could be one free throw, one turnover or somebody stepping on the sideline. One error and that's how close these games are. The teams that can execute in the final four minutes of the game and some in overtime will be the ones who win."
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The Aggies (20-11, 9-9 SEC) closed out the regular season with a three-game winning streak, while the Crimson Tide (17-14, 8-10) ended by losing five straight.
The Aggies led 54-53 with 3:47 remaining when A&M forward D.J. Hogg sank a 3-pointer from the far left corner. Following an Alabama turnover and a timeout, the Aggies increased the lead to 59-53 on the dunk by Davis in traffic with 3:10 left.
The game was delayed for a few minutes with 32 seconds remaining and A&M leading 63-59 after A&M freshman guard T.J. Starks shoved Alabama freshman guard Collin Sexton in the head following some heated words.
Sexton drew a technical and Starks was ejected. A&M's Admon Gilder already was going to the line for two free throws at the time of the exchange, and he shot the two technical free throws as well, in making 3-of-4.
Sexton led Alabama with a game-high 23 points, while Davis grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. The Aggies reached at least 20 victories for a third time in coach Billy Kennedy's seven seasons.
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RECORDS / SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M won its 20th game on season on Saturday, defeating Alabama 68-66 in the regular season finale at Reed Arena … A&M improved to 20-11 on the season and finishes SEC play at 9-9 after winning nine of its last 13 conference games.
- The win avenged a 79-57 loss to the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa earlier this season and left the all-time series between the schools at 11-6 in favor of Alabama.
TEAM NOTES
- After shooting just 3-of-10 from the free throw line in the opening period, Texas A&M was 15-of-20 from the charity stripe after halftime, including making six of their last seven attempts in the game's final 45 seconds.
- Texas A&M owned a 46-40 edge in the rebounding column, including 16 offensive boards.
- Alabama took a 25-24 lead into the intermission after a sluggish opening period by both teams.
- A&M used the starting lineup combination of TJ Starks, Admon Gilder, DJ Hogg, Tonny Trocha-Morelos and Tyler Davis for the 1st time this season (1-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Junior Tyler Davis notched his 11th double-double of the season (16th career) by scoring 20 points with 10 rebounds … the 20-point performance was his seventh of the year.
- Junior guard Admon Gilder scored 14 points in the contest to become the 37thmember of Texas A&M's 1,000-Point Club … Gilder now has 1,000 points during his three-year A&M career.
- Junior DJ Hogg also hit double-digit scoring with 11 points on the afternoon.
- Rookie Jay Jay Chandler gave the Aggies a spark off the bench, contributing seven points, six rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers in 18 minutes of action.
- Aggie head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 135-96 during his seven-year tenure at Texas A&M and 346-275 in 20 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
- The Aggies will travel to St. Louis for the 2018 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament which will take place inside the Scottrade Center, March 7-11.
Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Texas A&M 68, Alabama 66
March 3, 2018 ? Reed Arena (College Station, TX)
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TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement…
"Thankful to win an ugly game. I thought both teams fought hard and struggled scoring. It was just a wild game and I'm very thankful we came out on a win. I thought we competed at a good level. Jay Jay Chandler, Admon [Gilder] as well as some other guys made some tough plays for us to figure out a way to get a win."
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On Admon Gilder and DJ Hogg playing against Alabama this time…
"It made a big difference, obviously. Admon's playing the point guard position in the second half. [He] did a really good job of getting us in the offense. [He] did a really good job of making the right plays and handling that pressure at the end."
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On going 9-9 in conference play after starting 0-5…
"I don't think there are many teams in our league that can say that they've had that kind of success [to end the season], so I'm excited about that. We still can play better. That's the good thing is there's a lot of things we can do better offensively. We're still adjusting to TJ [Starks] playing the point, but we're getting to win a couple of different ways with this lineup. That's been good for us."
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On the Aggies' NCAA Tournament outlook…
"20 wins with the schedule we played and the league we're in, I think we're an NCAA Tournament team. I think Alabama's an NCAA Tournament team. I just have that much respect for our league."
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TEXAS A&M JUNIOR GUARD ADMON GILDER
On his four free throws at the end of the game…
"I wasn't really worried. I practice them each and every day, but I think it took a long time to finally get to the free throw line and I got a little cold. After I hit the first one, everything felt good and I knew it would go in."
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TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN GUARD JAY JAY CHANDLER
On giving the team energy…
"I just come in, try to just pick up on the little things. Just trying to use my energy, using my voice to work on both ends of the court and keep talking my teammates through it. Just go out there and have fun that the coaches keep telling us to have."
Â
On his first free throws and his mindset on the line…
"I just went up there and relaxed because I guess I came into the game trying to force it a little bit. But once the second half came, I just relaxed and just took a deep breath at the free throw line. Every time I shot them they felt good."
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ALABAMA HEAD COACH AVERY JOHNSON
Opening Statement…
"First of all, I want to congratulate my good friend Billy Kennedy. His team played hard. Both teams played hard. Texas A&M was ranked number five in the country for a reason. They're a talented team. Like a lot of teams in the SEC, we've had a lot of ups and downs especially in a tough conference, but they held us off. They played hard, they rebounded the ball well. They're one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country and they have a lot of size. DJ Hogg, who we know well, got hot on us in the second half. We did a great job on him in the first half, but those eleven points that he scored in the second half, especially that 3-pointer from the left corner is a big shot. A lot of the time it's not even about what we didn't do. Let's give Texas A&M credit, and their staff and their players credit, for playing a tough game to the very very end."
On the NCAA tournament…
"We're in this losing streak, but we have a lot of quadrant one wins and quadrant three wins, and the loss that we had against Minnesota at home we finished with three players and we almost won, so we've beat a lot of Top 25 teams. We aren't playing our best basketball right now, but last year we had a team from our conference, Vanderbilt, who made the tournament with a 17-15 record and that's because they had a good resume. So when you come on the road and lose to Texas A&M or you lose to a team like Kentucky, and I can go on and on because we've got a lot of good teams, that's why I think we will have eight or nine teams in the tournament. I hope we'll be one of them. Obviously we have to go to the SEC Tournament and try to improve our resume a little bit, but we scheduled hard in the non-conference for a reason. We went and challenged ourselves. A lot of the teams that we've played against have lots of potential to be Final Four teams. We aren't playing our best basketball, but I still believe we have a lot of potential."
On making plays at the end of the game…
"It was close. We were ready to go. It could have gone either way. This is a game of inches. You look at A&M going and beating Georgia by one on the road. We beat A&M the first game of SEC play. We go and have an incredible performance at Florida, win almost by 20, then Florida comes back and reverses that and beats us pretty good at home. We have a really good conference, and there's a lot of teams that are equally matched. But again, it's a game of inches. It could be one free throw, one turnover or somebody stepping on the sideline. One error and that's how close these games are. The teams that can execute in the final four minutes of the game and some in overtime will be the ones who win."
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