Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy extended his job for at least a day as the Aggies handled Vanderbilt 69-52 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Nashville, Tenn.
The Aggies, who never trailed, got a game-high and career-high 29 points from sophomore guard Savion Flagg. Jay Jay Chandler scored 13 points and Josh Nebo added 11 for Texas A&M, which shot 53.8 percent from the field.
Multiple media outlets reported Tuesday that Kennedy, 55, won't return next season.
Fourteenth-seeded Vanderbilt (9-23) ended its season by extending its school-record losing streak to 20. It's the most losses in a season in Vanderbilt history.
Saben Lee led the Commodores with 19 points. Yanni Wetzell scored 10 and pulled 10 rebounds.
Texas A&M (14-17), the 11th seed, will face sixth-seed Mississippi State on Thursday evening.
After the Commodores hit their first 3-pointer on their 12th attempt just 2:12 into the second half, Flagg answered with one on the other end.
His mid-range jumper about a minute later forced a Vanderbilt timeout at 15:23, the lead up to 17.
The margin topped 20 for the first time on a Nebo dunk with 10:28 left. It never went below 10 after halftime.
The Aggies led 14-6 after Flagg hammered home a spectacular fastbreak dunk with 12:16 left in the first half, then extended the lead to double digits (19-9) for the first time with 10:13 left in the period on a Nebo jumper.
Another fastbreak dunk by Flagg, this one with 1:31 left, followed by his buzzer-beating 3-pointer, put Texas A&M up 34-19, its biggest lead of the half.
The Aggies, needing to win the tournament to have any hope of postseason play, played a pair of walk-on guards, Mark French and Chris Collins, 15 and 31 minutes, respectively. Neither scored a point.
--Field Level Media
Vanderbilt | Texas A&M | |
Saben Lee 19 | Scoring | Savion Flagg 29 |
Aaron Nesmith 2 | Assists | Wendell Mitchell 3 |
Yanni Wetzell 10 | Rebounds | Christian Mekowulu 9 |
Saben Lee 4 | Free Throws Made | Christian Mekowulu 3 |
Saben Lee 3 | Steals | Jay Jay Chandler 5 |
Saben Lee 1 | Blocks | Savion Flagg 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Vanderbilt | 52 | 37.3 | 3-24 | 11-17 | 6 | 27 | 2 | 13 | 13 |
Texas A&M | 69 | 53.8 | 6-13 | 7-11 | 7 | 31 | 1 | 11 | 15 |