Texas A&M basketball had its worst offensive performance of the season against Florida, losing its second consecutive game.
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M basketball suffered through its ugliest night yet under head coach Bucky McMillan.
It took more than 12 minutes for a sweet-shooting Aggies squad to make their second shot of the night against Florida. Second in the SEC in both 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made, A&M made only one 3-pointer in the first half.
"Just a bad day at the office," guard Marcus Hill said after the home loss. "Those shots we usually make. Shots just didn't fall tonight."
For A&M (17-6, 7-3) led for just 9 seconds all night and trailed by digits pretty much the entire way in front of a raucous blackout crowd. The 86-67 loss was the Aggies' second-worst scoring performance of the season (63 points in a November defeat to Oklahoma State).
MORE AGGIES:Texas A&M vs Florida game recap, highlights: Aggies struggled in loss to Gators
Hill and fellow guard Pop Isaacs each had 17 points. No other Aggie scored more than seven.
A&M unable to overcome offensive woes
It was a rough night for an A&M team still seeking a signature win this season. The Aggies started the game 1-for-27 from the field and scored the fewest points in a first half in at least three years.
Only one of A&M's 14 3-point attempts fell by halftime. Still, they went into the break trailing by just 11 points.
"We couldn't make a shot in that game. Their defense was great, but we just couldn't take the lid off the basket," McMillan said. "I thought we played good defense in the first half, but we just couldn't make a shot to cut into the lead."
Leading scorer Rashaun Agee scored eight points on 2-for-13 shooting, both the lowest totals of SEC play. Ruben Dominguez, one of the top shooters in the conference, had his second-lowest 3-point shooting percentage of league play (16.7%, 1 of 6).
The Aggies found some rhythm in the second half, scoring 48 points in the final 20 minutes. But Florida had five players score 10 or more points, led by Thomas Haugh's 22. Despite making just six of their 23 3-point attempts, the Gators shot 31-for-68 (46%) from the field.
'We'll be back'
It's just the second time this season A&M has lost two games in a row. The first came when it fell to Oklahoma State, followed by UCF.
The Aggies have been strong since conference play began, starting 7-1.
"We've been through adversity earlier in the year when we lost two games in a row," Isaacs said. "We've gone through this before; now it's just in the SEC. We've got tough games coming up, so we've got a chance to redeem ourselves. I believe in this team."
Next up for Texas A&M is Missouri on Wednesday followed by a trip to No. 15 Vanderbilt. Despite to rocky past few days, the Aggies are just a game behind Florida for first place in the conference.
"We'll be back. Credit to them, they're playing as good as anybody in the country," McMillan said. "We couldn't afford to miss all those shots against them."
Reach Texas A&M beat reporter Tony Catalina via email at [email protected].
Category: General Sports
