BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Iverson Molinar scored 18 points and D.J. Stewart added 14 as Mississippi State fended off Texas A&M 63-57 on Wednesday night.
The Aggies were playing their first game in 32 days, having postponed all seven games they were scheduled to play in February due to COVID-19 issues within the program.
Abdul Ado added eight points, six rebounds and five blocked shots for Mississippi State (14-12, 8-9 Southeastern Conference), which shot 53% for the game (26 of 49) with 18 assists and eight 3-pointers. Tolu Smith also scored eight and added five assists.
Emanuel Miller scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Texas A&M (8-8, 2-7). Quenton Jackson added 13 points and Savion Flagg 12.
Flagg reached 1,000 career points with a layup off his own steal at 14:33 of the second half, pulling the Aggies to within 40-36. Flagg scored five points and Jay Jay Chandler dunked as the Aggies cut a late 10-point gap down to 59-55 with 3:16 remaining.
The Bulldogs travel to Auburn in the regular-season finale. The Aggies travel to No. 12 Arkansas on Saturday to end the regular season.
Â
Texas A&M Men's Basketball Postgame Notes & Quotes
Mississippi State 63, Texas A&M 57
Reed Arena (Bryan-College Station, Texas)Â
Â
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M fell to Mississippi State, 63-57, Wednesday night inside Reed Arena.
- The all-time series is now tied, 8-8.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M had five turnovers, marking the fewest since 2019 at Alabama when the Aggies had three.
- A&M won the turnover battle in the opening stanza, 10-1. The lone turnover marks the lowest since 2019 when A&M turned the ball over once in the second half at Alabama.
- In the first half, the Aggies shot 6-of-6 from the free throw line. The Maroon & White finished the game shooting 90% from the charity stripe, their highest free-throw percentage this season.
- Texas A&M shot a season-high 69 field goal attempts.
- The Aggie bench outscored Mississippi State, 25-13.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Jay Jay Chandler, Savion Flagg, Andre Gordon, Quenton Jackson, and Kevin Marfo (0-1) for the first time this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Senior Savion Flagg scored 12 points, becoming the 18th Aggie to reach the 1000 career points & 500 career rebound club. Flagg also matched his season high in steals with two.
- Sophomore Emanuel Miller recorded his fifth double-double of the season with a team-high 24 points and season-high 13 rebounds.
- Senior Quenton Jackson reached double digits for the sixth time this season with 13 points.
- Sophomore Andre Gordon matched his career high in assists with five and grabbed a season-high five rebounds.
- Senior Jay Jay Chandler matched his season-high in assists with three.
- Junior Luke McGhee grabbed a career-high three rebounds in 13 minutes of play.
- Buzz Williams is 24-22 in his career at Texas A&M and 277-177 in his 14 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M travels to No. 12 Arkansas for a 4 p.m. tipoff on SEC Network.
Â
Texas A&M Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Buzz Williams
On tonight's performance…
"I don't know that anyone could predict what would happen tonight. Strategically, execution wise, energy wise, conditioning wise, I just thought our guys gave literally everything they had in their tank. I thought who they are as people and how their parents raised them was revealed from start to finish. I thought that the togetherness they played with and how they played for one another. I mean, obviously, we played differently than we have played ever before. There's no way for us to have known how it would have been. We've only had 10 guys eligible to practice since February 1st. I just thought the effort they gave, the attitude in which they played, just incredibly thankful for the resilience they showed."
Â
On the senior class and what they have meant to the program…
"I am going to have great relationships with those guys when they're my age. The character, specifically of [Quenton] Jackson and Savion [Flagg], those guys didn't sign up to play for us, play for me. Coach Kennedy and his staff recruited those guys. They have represented our institution, and both those guys are going to graduate. I mean, they're not even having to take the full load in order to graduate on time. I hate that senior day had to be what it is this year because of the virus. But, you know, again, it's not the perfect experience for a senior, but how each of those guys has handled it, I don't think they could have done any better as people and or as players. I knew it before the game, and then I forgot as the game was going on because I wanted to make sure that I said it to him, but obviously, Flagg surpassed the 1000-point mark tonight, which I think is always a good thing as a player. We gave him the 1000-point game ball after the game in the locker room."
Â
On four turnovers in tonight's game…
"I think it's exactly what it was. It may mean that Buzz can't coach because we were practicing and turning it over at a much higher rate. Then when we're not practicing, we turn it over at a much lower rate. So maybe it's bad coaching, so I would put that on me. I thought the swag that they played with, all the new plays with all the new stuff we're doing defensively, with all the unique combinations of groupings of personnel that we're playing with. I don't think you could have asked for more relative to the energy in which that they competed. For us to only have four turnovers, and it was the 62-possession game. I think that's a little high relative to what we have been through."
Â
Senior Guard Savion Flagg
On getting back and being able to play a game…
"I thought we'd be able to play another game. We were prepping every day, just getting ready for the next thing. Zoom calls and everything we could possibly prepare for; we're always prepared for the next game. Unfortunately, some of them were postponed, and we just came in attacking the next day. Just worry about today in the next one."
Â
On how they felt physically going into the second half …
"I would say not playing a game for a month, you can only practice so much. You can't play a game in practice. I feel like once the second half starts, the time starts ticking down, and it starts weighing on your legs. I feel like everybody came out here and gave every ounce that they had tonight from the bench intensity all the way to the coaches and players are on the court."
Â
On a season-low of four turnovers in tonight's game…
"Well, that's something we've harped on the last month; you know we have a knack for turning the ball over in the past. We just came in talking about if we rebound and no one turns the ball over, that gives us the best chance to win."
Â
On if senior night was the way he had envisioned it…
"I envisioned my senior night just the way it went. There is a pandemic going on and there's a lot of people that can't get out and a lot of the donors don't want to risk coming here. I would envision it the exact way it went. Nothing more, nothing less."
Â
Senior Guard Quenton Jackson
On their performance in tonight's game…
"As individuals, we have the utmost faith in ourselves and each other, so of course we came out thinking we were going to win. We never came out here with the intention to lose. I would say that us coming out here the way we did, we fought as hard as we could not playing a game in a month. Anticipation was high. I think everybody was really ready to come out here and play. I think we showed it out there on the floor."
Â
On what it was like not playing for a month…
"I just kind of control what I could control, to be honest. COVID is a world pandemic. You don't know too much about it, so I just control what I could control and handle what I can handle, and that's what happened."
Â
Â
MISSISSIPPI STATE QUOTESÂ
Head Coach Ben Howland
On the keys to today's game…
"The key to today's game was that they came out in a 3-2 zone. We did nothing to prepare for a 3-2 zone going into today, because they didn't play that type of defense much this year at all. It was really different, and I thought it caused us problems in the first half. In the second half, we did a much better job. I thought it was important that we got off to a good start offensively in the second half, and we ended up shooting 53% for the game and 50% for the half. The key stat was that we were 8-for-19 from three tonight, including 5-for-10 in the second half."
Â
On Texas A&M's first action in over a month…
"I couldn't see any fatigue from them. I thought (Emanuel) Miller was fantastic today. We had no answer for him most of the game, and he finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. He is a monster. I thought Savion Flagg and (Quenton) Jackson, they're seniors, and they were huge for them. This was their last game in this building, and they wanted to go out with a win. They were playing their hearts out, so, I thought they looked particularly good."
Â
Â