National Basketball Association
Texas A&M 69, Vanderbilt 52
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Pat Adams, # Owen Shortt, # Steven Anderson
Attendance:
10849
By Field Level Media
Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy extended his job for at least a day as the Aggies handled Vanderbilt 69-52 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Nashville, Tenn.
The Aggies, who never trailed, got a game-high and career-high 29 points from sophomore guard Savion Flagg. Jay Jay Chandler scored 13 points and Josh Nebo added 11 for Texas A&M, which shot 53.8 percent from the field.
Multiple media outlets reported Tuesday that Kennedy, 55, won't return next season.
Fourteenth-seeded Vanderbilt (9-23) ended its season by extending its school-record losing streak to 20. It's the most losses in a season in Vanderbilt history.
Saben Lee led the Commodores with 19 points. Yanni Wetzell scored 10 and pulled 10 rebounds.
Texas A&M (14-17), the 11th seed, will face sixth-seed Mississippi State on Thursday evening.
After the Commodores hit their first 3-pointer on their 12th attempt just 2:12 into the second half, Flagg answered with one on the other end.
His mid-range jumper about a minute later forced a Vanderbilt timeout at 15:23, the lead up to 17.
The margin topped 20 for the first time on a Nebo dunk with 10:28 left. It never went below 10 after halftime.
The Aggies led 14-6 after Flagg hammered home a spectacular fastbreak dunk with 12:16 left in the first half, then extended the lead to double digits (19-9) for the first time with 10:13 left in the period on a Nebo jumper.
Another fastbreak dunk by Flagg, this one with 1:31 left, followed by his buzzer-beating 3-pointer, put Texas A&M up 34-19, its biggest lead of the half.
The Aggies, needing to win the tournament to have any hope of postseason play, played a pair of walk-on guards, Mark French and Chris Collins, 15 and 31 minutes, respectively. Neither scored a point.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Vanderbilt |
|
Texas A&M |
|
Saben Lee 19 |
Scoring |
Savion Flagg 29 |
|
Aaron Nesmith 2 |
Assists |
Wendell Mitchell 3 |
|
Yanni Wetzell 10 |
Rebounds |
Christian Mekowulu 9 |
|
Saben Lee 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Christian Mekowulu 3 |
|
Saben Lee 3 |
Steals |
Jay Jay Chandler 5 |
|
Saben Lee 1 |
Blocks |
Savion Flagg 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Vanderbilt
|
52 |
37.3 |
3-24 |
11-17 |
6 |
27 |
2 |
13 |
13 |
| Texas A&M
|
69 |
53.8 |
6-13 |
7-11 |
7 |
31 |
1 |
11 |
15 |
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