Field Level Media
Feb 28, 2018
Freshman guard TJ Starks scored 15 points and drained the decisive jumper to lead Texas A&M to a 61-60 victory over Georgia on Wednesday in Southeastern Conference play at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia.
Junior center Tyler Davis added 13 points for the Aggies (19-11, 8-9 SEC), who closed the contest with a 7-1 run. Junior forward DJ Hogg and junior guard Admon Gilder scored 11 points apiece for Texas A&M.
Senior power forward Yante Maten had 16 points and 12 rebounds in his final regular-season home game for the Bulldogs (16-13, 7-10). Maten has 13 double-doubles this season and 27 in his career.
Freshman guard Teshaun Hightower added 11 points for Georgia, which shot 32.8 percent from the field. Texas A&M shot 37.5 percent.
The Bulldogs led by five points with under three minutes to play before the Aggies eventually cut their deficit to 60-59 on a 3-pointer by Gilder with 1:16 remaining. Georgia committed a turnover, and following a timeout, Starks sank a short jumper in the lane with 57.5 seconds left to put Texas A&M ahead.
Georgia senior guard Juwan Parker put up an air-ball from the right wing in the final seconds.
Aggies sophomore power forward Robert Williams, a projected NBA lottery pick, had just three points, four rebounds and three blocked shots in 19 minutes before fouling out.
Texas A&M scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 37-28 lead into the break.
Gilder hit a 3-pointer as part of a 5-0 run that saw the Aggies take a 26-21 advantage with 5:22 remaining. The Bulldogs were within 30-28 after a 3-pointer by junior forward E'Torrion Wilridge with 2:56 remaining before going scoreless the rest of the half.
Texas A&M led 44-38 with 13:34 left in the contest before Georgia scored seven of the next eight points to knot the score at 45 on a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Tyree Crump with 10:09 to play.
Georgia held its first lead of the second half at 53-52 after Maten made two free throws with 6:08 remaining. Hightower buried a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 58-54 with 4:06 left and it reached five when Maten split two free throws 61 seconds later.
--Field Level Media