Texas A&M's NCAA Tournament plans extend at least two more days.

The seventh-seeded Aggies overcame a dismal offensive start to score a 73-69 win against 10th-seeded Providence in a West Region first-round game at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday afternoon. With the win, Texas A&M improved to 21-12 and will face second-seeded North Carolina in the second round Sunday.

The win also helped the SEC's case for dominant basketball league, as the Aggies became yet another team from the conference to win their tournament opener. The SEC was 4-0 on Thursday, and Texas A&M's game was the first of Friday.

In the first seven minutes of the game, Texas A&M fans wondered if the team would score. The Aggies missed their first 10 shots before Tonny Trocha-Morelos hit a 3-pointer with 12:41 in the first half.

Fortunately for Texas A&M, Providence (21-14) only led 8-2 -- the two Texas A&M points coming from Admon Gilder free throws -- prior to Trocha-Morelos' bucket. The Aggies made 6 of 7 after that and took their first lead, 21-20, with 4:55 in the half on a Jay Jay Chandler 3-pointer. Texas A&M led, 28-27, at the halftime break.

Texas A&M made only 9 of 27 shots (33 percent) in the first half and only 2 of 8 (25 percent) from the 3-point line. Providence, however, didn't shoot much better, connecting on only 11 of 28 shots (39 percent) and 1 of 9 (11 percent) from the 3-point line.

It helped that Texas A&M outrebounded Providence, 23-16, in the half and also got offensive production from the bench. Eight of the Aggies 28 points were from reserves. All 27 of

Providence's points were from its starters.

The second half saw a different Texas A&M team -- one that made 17 of 25 (68 percent) from the field and 4 of 8 (50 percent) from 3-point land. And Providence quickly found out why the Aggies are such a respected defensive team. The Aggies had eight blocked shots for the game, outrebounded Providence, 44-26, and also held the Friars to two second-chance points.

TJ Starks was scoreless in the first half but caught fire in the second half. Gilder and Starks were problems on the perimeter for the Friars, and Tyler Davis and Robert Williams

made their case for college basketball's most imposing frontcourt with a dominant performance. Davis and Williams combined had 27 points, 29 rebounds and seven blocks.

Gilder led the offensive charge with 18 points. Starks had 15 points, all coming in the second half. Davis had 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Williams added 13 points and 14 boards.

Providence's Rodney Bullock and Alpha Diallo led all scorers with 22 and 21 points, respectively. Kyron Cartwright had 11 points and nine assists for the Friars.

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