Thursday, December 21, 2017 09:00 PM (ET)

No. 8 Texas A&M beats Buffalo with late kick

The Sports Xchange
Dec 21, 2017

Duane Wilson scored 23 points and added 11 assists as No. 8 Texas A&M pulled away in the final minutes to defeat Buffalo 89-73 on Thursday at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.

Five Aggies scored in double figures as Savion Flagg added 21 points and nine rebounds, Tyler Davis hit for 16 and grabbed 11 rebounds, Tonny Trocha-Morelos tallied 12 points and Jay Jay Chandler scored 10.

Wilson hit all nine of his free throws as the Aggies finished 28 of 33 from the line.

Texas A&M (11-1) led 60-58 after Buffalo's CJ Massinburg canned a 3-pointer with 6:54 to play and was up 69-65 after another 3-pointer by Massinburg at the 3:34 mark. But then the Aggies took charge, getting four free throws by Davis sandwiched around a jumper by Wilson for a 75-65 lead with 2:07 remaining, and ran away in the final minutes.

Massinburg led Buffalo (7-5) with 20 points and eight rebounds. Nick Perkins added 17 points off the bench and Wes Clark poured in 17 points and dished out eight assists for the Bulls, who lost for the second straight game after winning three in a row.

The Aggies led by as many as eight points in the first half before assuming a 34-31 advantage at halftime behind 12 points from Flagg and 10 points and six rebounds by Davis.

Clark led Buffalo with 10 points in the first half while Montell McRae added nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc for the Bulls. In fact, nine of Buffalo's 11 made shots over the first 20 minutes were 3-pointers. The Bulls were 9 of 19 from long distance in the half. Conversely, the Aggies were 1 of 7.

Texas A&M announced about 45 minutes prior to tip off that J.J. Caldwell, D.J. Hogg and T.J. Starks would not play against Buffalo after being suspended.

Caldwell and Starks will return for the Aggies' SEC-opening contest at Alabama on Dec. 30 after missing Thursday's game for a violation of team rules. Hogg will miss three contests for a violation of Texas A&M policy.

NOTES: Texas A&M ranks No. 10 in the NCAA's daily RPI report (through Dec. 19 games); North Carolina ranks first. ... This game was the second meeting between Buffalo and Texas A&M, with the Aggies winning the season opener during the 2013-14 season. ... That was Bobby Hurley's first collegiate game as head coach, with current head coach Nate Oats on the sidelines as Hurley's assistant. ... The Aggies have never lost a nonconference game inside Reed Arena while playing as a ranked team (46-0). ... Texas A&M's most recent appearance in the Top 10 came during the 2015-16 campaign when the Aggies reached as high as No. 5 on Jan. 25. That No. 5 ranking stands out as the highest in program history.
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