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Aggies survive Zags' last-gasp shot

NO. 25 TEXAS A&M 62, NO. 10 GONZAGA 61

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Texas A&M knew it would need to play tough underneath the basket to compete with the size of No. 10 Gonzaga.

The Aggies did that to earn a place in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.

Danuel House scored 19 points and Texas A&M edged Gonzaga 62-61 on Thursday.

"I was really proud of our guys defensively down the stretch. Our goal was to hold their big three guys to 30 points or less and we were able to do that," Coach Billy Kennedy said. "The best thing about our team is we didn't panic. Emotionally I thought we were locked in the whole game."

The Aggies took the lead on House's free throw with just over a minute to play, and the Zags' Silas Melson missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer with House contesting the shot.

"Any time we have a tough game it's teaching us all how to be poised, how to play under control and how to execute so we can give ourselves a chance to win a game," House said.

Tonny Trocha-Morelos added 14 points for Texas A&M (6-0).

Gonzaga (3-1) led for much of the game but missed some key free throws down the stretch. After making six three-pointers in the first half, the Zags made just three in the second.

Kyle Wiltjer led Gonzaga with 18 points. Josh Perkins added 15.

The Zags had to play without big man Domantas Sabonis for a large chunk of the second half after he picked up his fourth foul.

They were able to keep the Aggies in check until he returned with less than four minutes to play, but Sabonis was lost for good with 2:39 left when he fouled out.

Texas A&M went in front 61-60 on two free throws by Alex Caruso. The Zags tied it back up a trip later when Przemek Karnowski got one of two on his trip to the line.

House was fouled with 1:05 to play and also connected on one of two for the final margin.

With the clock under a minute, the Aggies forced Gonzaga's Josh Perkins to turn it over on a bad pass. But Texas A&M lost a scramble out of bounds on its ensuing possession to set up the Zags' final shot.

Gonzaga was up by as many as four points in the closing minutes but could never increase the lead.

"A stat that jumps out, and it's a shame -- we missed a ton of free throws there where we probably could have extended that lead," Coach Mark Few said.

After both teams earned opening-round victories in fast-paced games that were played in the 80s, each relied on its half-court sets for most of the afternoon Thursday. As the defenses stiffened inside, outside shots flew at will. The Aggies were the more active team defensively and came away with five steals and 11 points off Gonzaga's turnovers.

There were just 11 total fouls called in the first half between Gonzaga and Texas A&M and 33 for the game. The fewest total fouls for any of the Battle 4 Atlantis opening-round games Wednesday was 59.

In other games involving Top 25/SEC teams Thursday, Denzel Valentine had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and No. 3 Michigan State beat Boston College 99-68 in an opening-round game at the DirectTV Wooden Legacy in Fullerton, Calif., giving Coach Tom Izzo his 500th career victory. Tum Tum Nairn added 13 points and eight assists for the Spartans, who shot 63 percent and dominated in rebounds, 38-20. ... Justin Robinson scored 22 points, including two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, and Monmouth upset No. 17 Notre Dame 70-68 in the first round of the AdvoCare Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Monmouth also got 15 points from Micah Seaborn. Also in the tournament, freshman Bennie Boatright had a career-high 22 points and USC beat No. 20 Wichita State 72-69. USC also got 15 points from Jordan McLaughlin. Trevon Bluiett scored 15 points, J.P. Macura added 14, and No. 23 Xavier beat Alabama 64-45 in another first-round game. Macura helped the Musketeers overcome an early first-half deficit, while Bluiett was part of a second-half surge that gave Xavier a comfortable advantage. ... Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney each had 17 points and Syracuse beat No. 18 Connecticut 79-76 to advance to the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Tyler Lydon added 16 points off the bench. Gbinije also had seven assists.

Sports on 11/27/2015

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