The seventh-seeded Aggies (21-12) got double-digit scoring from four players to advance to a second-round matchup Sunday against defending champion and No. 2-seed North Carolina. Admon Gilder led the way with 18 points, while Tyler Davis added 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Robert Williams contributed 13 points and 14 boards, and TJ Starks chipped in 15 points. A&M shot 50 percent from the field and owned a 40-21 rebounding advantage.

Rodney Bullock scored a game-high 22 points for the Friars (21-14), while Alpha Diallo hit for 21 and Kyron Cartwright added 11 points. Providence couldn't make enough jumpers over the top of the taller Aggies, however, hitting just 43.5 percent from the floor and just 30 percent (6 of 20) on 3-pointers.

Tied at 50-50 with 9 minutes, 6 seconds left after Cartwright sank a fadeaway jumper, A&M went to work. Williams put it ahead to stay with a foul shot at the 8:08 mark and then added a layup on the Aggies' next possession. Following a dunk by Kalif Young of Providence, the Aggies hit the proverbial X button.

Gilder converted a layup, Williams drilled a turnaround jumper and Davis scored on an alley-oop. When Gilder canned a 3-pointer with 2:48 remaining, A&M led 62-52 and the Friars were simply unable to catch up.

The first half was a back-and-forth grinder, the Aggies able to impose a slower pace that suited their big men and kept Providence from making it a 94-foot game. A&M didn't score for the first 6:33, but the Friars only managed six points in that span.

The Aggies finally found some traction and took their first lead with 4:56 left in the half on a 3-pointer by Jay Jay Chandler. Bullock's 3-point play regained the lead for Providence at the 1:31 mark, but Davis' jumper with 23 seconds remaining sent A&M to the locker room with a 28-27 edge.

--Field Level Media