Texas A&M’s T.J. Starks made a short jumper with 58 seconds remaining, allowing the Aggies to escape Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night with a 61-60 SEC victory over Georgia.
After Starks missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds remaining, the Bulldogs got the rebound and had a bit of a struggle getting up the court, and Juwan Parker’s 3-point attempt was well short of the basket, handing Georgia a devastating loss in its final regular-season home game.
Here are five observations from the game:
Leading men
Georgia (16-13, 7-10 SEC) briefly led 11-10 in the first half and chased the Aggies (19-11, 8-9) for the next 27 minutes before Yante Maten made both halves of a one-and-one with 6:22 remaining to give Georgia a 53-52 lead. Parker then made two free throws about a minute later to increase the Bulldogs’ advantage to three points.
Teshaun Hightower connected on a 3-pointer with 4:06 left as Georgia went up 58-54 and Maten went to the line at 3:05 and made one free throw to give the Bulldogs their biggest lead at five points. But Georgia scored only one point in the last three minutes, and the Aggies closed with a 5-0 run.
There were nine lead changes in the game. Texas A&M’s largest lead was nine points, which it achieved in both halves. Georgia largest lead was five points, and the Bulldogs held the advantage for about seven minutes.
Double dipping
With 16 points and 12 rebounds, Maten recorded his 13th double-double of the season and the 29th of his career.
The only other Bulldog in double digits was Hightower, who finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Tyree Crump scored nine points, and Parker and Derek Ogbeide finished with eight points each.
For Texas A&M, four players finished in double figures – Starks scored 15 points, Tyler Davis added 13 points and D.J. Hogg and Admon Gilder scored 11 points each.
Starks raving
The Bulldogs didn’t score in the last 2:56 of the first half, enabling the Aggies to close on a 7-0 run, led by Starks. The 6-foot-2 guard tallied seven points – including a 3-pointer at the 2:13 mark -- in the last 3:26 seconds and had a nice assist for Tyler Davis.
Two of Georgia’s last possessions in the first half resulted in an airball by Parker at 1:52 and a shot-clock violation with five seconds remaining. The Bulldogs recovered in the second half, going on a 16-7 run in the first 10 minutes to tie the game at 45-45.
Offensive offense
It was certainly not a clinic in shooting for success, as the Bulldogs posted a miserable 32.8 percent (21 of 64) from the field and the Aggies did little better, making 24 of 64 shots (37.5 percent).
In the first half, Georgia experienced scoring droughts totaling more than six minutes and the Aggies experienced a 2:35 period in which they didn’t tally a field goal. In the second half, Texas A&M went scoreless for 3:42, while the Bulldogs endured a point dearth of more than two minutes, during which they shot 0-for-6 from the field.
Seniority
It was Senior Night at Stegeman Coliseum, and Georgia started its three upperclassmen – seniors Maten and Pape Diatta and graduate student Parker – against Texas A&M.
It was perhaps a given that Maten and Parker would be in the first five, as Maten has started every game this season and has 93 career starts and Parker has 17 starts this season and 65 in his career.
But Diatta had posted one career start, on Nov. 30, 2016 in an 86-72 victory over Morehouse. He played 16 minutes and had two points, three rebounds and one blocked shot. At the 17:15 mark of the first half, freshman Rayshaun Hammonds subbed for Diatta, who did not return.
The Bulldogs had 10 different players on the floor in the first nine minutes of the first half.
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