Texas A&M dominates St. Mary’s in 1st round of NCAA Tournament

Texas A&M forward Rashaun Agee (12) celebrates in the first half during a first round men’s basketball game of the NCAA Tournament between St. Mary's and Texas A&M, at Paycom in Oklahoma City on Thursday, March 19, 2026. | NATHAN J.

FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Simply getting to the NCAA Tournament was undoubtedly a success for Bucky McMillan’s first season as Texas A&M head coach, but his Aggie squad was clearly not satisfied to just be there. 10 seed A&M’s full-court press defense and frenetic movement on offense flustered 7 seed St. Mary’s from the start, and the Ags cruised to a 63-50 win on Thursday night in Oklahoma City to advance to the second round in March Madness.

\ (10) TEXAS A&M DANCES ON 🕺 Aggies defeat (7) Saint Mary’s 63-50 to continue their journey in #MarchMadness 😮‍💨 pic. twitter. com/v1qWBxmQ4O — NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 20, 2026 A&M began the game on a 9-0 run, and while the Gaels did close that gap over the course of the first half, the Aggies used some streaky three-point shooting to carry an 11-point lead into the half.

They then quickly took control quickly in the second half, with the lead ballooning to as much as 20 and never getting back into single digits. The Aggies simply looked like the more athletic and more skilled team for the duration. That was certainly helped by an illness that hindered St.