NCAA Basketball betting

Aggies escape with quality win

Mark Turgeon knew his team missed out an opportunity to upset the No 8 team in the country in the semifinals of the 76 Classic Friday.

On Sunday, it almost missed out on another one.

But at least the Texas AM coach can return to College Station with some encouraging results.

After committing 16 turnovers and shooting just 25 percent from three in the loss to West Virginia, the Aggies rebounded with a nail-biting 66-65 win over No. 22 Minnesota in the tournaments third-place game.

Thank God we really defend, Turgeon said as he sat down at the podium for his post-game press conference. Our offense wasnt great, but our defense was just good enough.

That was the difference.

It was a poor effort from the free throw line, particularly late in the second half, which almost cost the Aggies the victory.

Theyre gonna make em, Turgeon assured. Hopefully theyll get so mad at themselves, and theyll make em.

Yet the reality is Texas AM shot just 50 percent (16-for-32) overall from the foul line as part of an 11-for-26 performance after halftime.

I didnt enjoy that game, Turgeon admitted. I didnt feel we played great.

Fortunately for the third-year head coach, the Gophers couldnt convert on their final possession, losing the ball on a drive to the basket with less than 10 seconds on the clock.

We had some chances there, Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said. We hope we learned some things while we were out here.

The Gophers, though, are missing two critical pieces in 6-foot-8 freshman Royce White and 6-foot-8 transfer Trevor Mbabwe.

White has not played this season after being charged with misdemeanor theft and fifth-degree assault for allegedy stealing and shoving a security guard at a mall last month.

Mbabwe, meanwhile, may not play at all this season.

The junior from St. Paul, after all, is still waiting to be cleared in court with a felony aggravated battery charge hanging over his head.

So for now, Smiths team is just focused on their next matchup, which features another cross-country trip to Coral Gables, Fla., for a date with Miami in the Big Ten/ACC challenge.

We just gotta put these losses behind us, said senior forward Damian Johnson, who tallied 12 points and three rebounds for Minnesota.

And while the Aggies win certainly will be one the NCAA tournament selection committee looks at in March, it should be noted that the Gophers arent playing at full strength for what appears to be an indefinite period of time.

Because with Derrick Roland showing signs of promise after a 19-point outing and Texas AMs defense holding Minnesota to just 38.6 percent from the field, the Aggies can at least feel good about the way theyre coming together in the first month of the season.

When you look at the big picture, I think we are where we expected to be, Turgeon said. But we feel good about what we accomplished this weekend.