SEC Basketball: Texas A&M outlasts Florida in nail biter

The Texas A&M Aggies withstood a thunderous comeback and a little late game magic by the Florida Gators to win, 54-52.

The Aggies, who led by 13 at one point and 11 at halftime, almost lost in devastating fashion after an inbounds’ pass went off an A&M player.

But luckily they took a sigh of relief on the next possession when a Gator player wasn’t able to convert a long three as time expired.

A&M forward Julius Marble led the game in scoring with 19 points on 50% shooting from the floor. Florida’s Colin Castleton wasn’t too far behind with 14 points of his own while also adding 13 boards.

Neither team shot particularly well in the game outside of the free throw line.

Florida shot a putrid 26.2% from the field and 23.1% from beyond the arc. Texas A&M shot 35.5% from the field and 18.8% from three.

Texas A&M defeats Florida, 54-52

By the numbers:

This is the Aggies second win this month over the Gators. On January 4th, Texas A&M won by a score of 66-63.

Florida outshot Texas A&M at the charity stripe by 10 free throws. The Gators shot 73.7% (14/19) and the Aggies were 100% (8/8) from the line.

Texas A&M now has 7 straight wins after starting the year 6-5. They are also undefeated in conference play at 5-0.

For the season, 54 points was the lowest scoring total for Texas A&M. And for Florida, 52 points was also the lowest of the season.

Looking ahead:

The Aggies improve to 13-5 on the season and remain in second place in the conference just a half game back from Alabama. If they take care of a rolling Kentucky team this upcoming Saturday, they could be ranked in the next AP poll.

Excluding Texas A&M, Florida is 10-6 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. This is a talented team. But to bounce back they’ll need to get wins over South Carolina and Mississippi State coming up. And a good showing against No. 13 Kansas State wouldn’t hurt much either.