Playing their fifth game in six days, the Aggies (24-11) looked tired and got off to a slow start against the Braves (17-17), trailing for much of the first half. A quick run gave A&M the lead late in the half, but a banked-in 3-pointer by Alcorn State's Dominic Brewton tied the game at 27 going into intermission.

A different A&M team came out after halftime, and a 10-0 run put the Aggies up 37-30. Alcorn State would cut the lead back to 5 several times as A&M went into another shooting funk from the floor, but they were lights out from the free throw line.

A&M hit all 10 of their free throws between Wade Taylor's leaner with 14:03 to go and Radford's layup with 8:08 left. In the process, a team that wasn't hitting from the floor extended their lead to 12. The Aggies, a team that struggled with their free throw shooting all season, would hit all 20 of their attempts in the second half and 26 of 28 on the night. Even center Javonte Brown, who hit just 33% of his free throw attempts on the season, sank all four of his free throws tonight.

The Aggies pushed their lead out to as much as 18, but got sloppy late in the half. The Braves cut the lead back to 10 with 1:30 remaining, but Alcorn State coach Landon Bussie picked up two technical fouls in rapid succession and was ejected. A&M guard Hassan Diarra (12 points) sank all four free throws to push A&M's lead back out to 14 and put the game on ice.

The Aggies will play Oregon in the second round, again at Reed Arena, this weekend. The time has yet to be announced.