Rashaun Agee scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead 10th-seeded Texas A&M to a 63-50 victory over No. 7 seed Saint Mary's in South region first-round action on Thursday.

Ruben Dominguez contributed all 11 of his points in the first half as the Aggies (22-11) never trailed, while Joshua Dent added 18 points and Liam Campbell scored 15 for the Gaels (27-6), who struggled with a season-high 18 turnovers.

Saint Mary's leading scorer, Paulius Murauskas, was limited by an illness, finishing with just four points and three rebounds in 23 minutes. He did not start but entered with 17:07 left in the first half and never found his rhythm, making only 1 of 6 shots. His frustration boiled over late in the first half, leading to a brief exit after an on-court altercation.

Texas A&M shot 44.2% from the field, including 8 of 23 from beyond the arc. “I thought we played really well. It was an elite defensive performance from us,” Aggies coach Bucky McMillan said. “They made 10 threes, and we still had a double-digit win. That means we did a lot of good things. I'm proud of our guys. We didn't come here just for one game.”

The Aggies built an 11-point halftime lead and opened the second half with an 11-3 run, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk from Jamie Vinson set up by Josh Holloway, putting Texas A&M ahead 48-29 with 14:40 left. The Gaels briefly closed the gap to 12 points, but the Aggies maintained control down the stretch.

Saint Mary's shot 38.3% from the field and connected on 10 of 23 three-pointers. “We didn't play really well,” Gaels coach Randy Bennett said. “You've got to have more in the NCAA Tournament. We did a poor job taking care of the ball. We were poor offensively. You can't give up those areas and expect to play well and win.”

Agee and Dominguez combined for 22 first-half points as Texas A&M led 37-26 at the break. The Aggies began the game with a 9-0 run before Saint Mary's briefly closed the gap to 23-22, but a late first-half 9-0 burst, sparked by three quick three-pointers, gave the Aggies a 13-point advantage going into halftime.

Dominguez reflected on the team's strategy: “We felt from the first play of the game that they were not used to this style of play. We said in the first media timeout that they were tired. They weren't used to the pressure. Those first few minutes were when we realized they were tired.”

Texas A&M will face either second-seeded Houston or 15th-seeded Idaho in Saturday's second-round matchup.

-Field Level Media/Reuters