Kenny Gaines leads Georgia over Texas A&M 62-50
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Kenny Gaines leads Georgia over Texas A&M 62-50

Mark Fox-Kenny Gaines
Photo: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia men’s basketball team picked up its second win in a row, beating Texas A&M 62-50 Saturday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Bulldogs (12-10, 6-4) were led in scoring by Kenny Gaines who scored 14 points. Donte’ Williams was just one point short of a double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Let’s first give Texas A&M credit for being a really good defensive team,” said head coach Mark Fox. “As I said on my radio show before the game, they defend and they play disciplined offensively and then just stay right there in a game and give themselves a chance to win. We knew it would be a possession-by-possession game because that’s just how they play and they’re good at it. Their defense was good. Their defense was better than our offense.

“I wasn’t pleased with our team today in shootaround and it was one of the first times all year that I had to get on our team [during a shootaround]. We just didn’t play as sharp as we had, and again that’s taking nothing away from Texas A&M because you have to give their defense credit. We are fortunate to win. It’s a good win. In this league, every win is good so we’ll certainly take it.”

After a slow offensive start for both teams, Georgia used an 11-4 run to take a 25-18 with just two minutes remaining in the half. Texas A&M (13-10, 4-6), however, scored the half’s final five points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, to shrink the Bulldog deficit to 25-23 headed into the halftime break.

The Aggies fought back to take a 40-39 at the midpoint in the second half with a layup from Shawn Smith, but Georgia quickly re-took the lead on a 5-0 run. Texas A&M wouldn’t lead again, as Georgia shook off multiple offensive spurts by the Aggies. Georgia pumped the lead to eight—its largest of the game to the point—off of a steal and slam by Charles Mann which secured Georgia’s 12th win of the season.

Jamal Jones led Texas A&M with 17 points and six rebounds.

Georgia will travel to Starkville, Miss. to play Mississippi State (13-10, 3-7) Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSS.

Worth Noting…
• Georgia’s starting lineup was Marcus Thornton (48th career start), Brandon Morris (33rd), Charles Mann (28th), Kenny Gaines (20th), and Donte’ Williams (80th).
• Tonight marks the 200th career win by head coach Mark Fox. Incidentally, it’s his 100th career conference win. He sports a career 200-116 record, including 76-73 at Georgia.
• Georgia had its best points allowed performance of the season with 50.
• Georgia outrebounded the Aggies 40-37 improving to 12-3 when outrebounding its opponent.
• Georgia held Texas A&M to just five percent shooting (1-for-19) from three-point range—a season best. The Aggies went 0-for-10 in the second half.

Career-Highs…
• Kenny Gaines set a career-high with seven rebounds.

The Series: The Bulldogs improve to 3-0 all-time against Texas A&M.

Up Next: The Bulldogs will head to Starkville, Miss. to take on Mississippi State on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. The game will be televised on CSS.

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