PJ Haggerty Scores 22 as Texas A&M Beats Oklahoma State 88-69 for 4-0 Start

Texas A&M beat Oklahoma State 88-69 at Reed Arena on Thursday night, a 19-point win over a power-conference opponent that moved the Aggies to 4-0 — their best start since 2023-24 and the sixth 4-0 start since the program joined the SEC. PJ Haggerty led all scorers with 22 points, his third 20-point game of the young season. It was also the Aggies' first game against a power-conference opponent this season, which made Thursday the first honest measurement of McMillan's rebuilt roster — and the measurement came back 19 points clear.

The game turned late in the first half. Texas A&M outshot the Cowboys 58.6% to 32.4% before halftime, built a 50-37 lead, and pushed it to 56-39 just over a minute into the second half. Haggerty scored three straight baskets in 65 seconds off Oklahoma State turnovers during the first-half surge, finishing 7 of 14 from the field and 7 of 8 at the free-throw line.

Freshman Josh Irving supplied the night's other headline: 14 points and 10 rebounds, his first career double-double, in just his fourth college game. Irving had 12 points before halftime to lead all scorers at the break, and he was one of three Aggies to finish with 14 points, alongside Jordan Pope.

Oklahoma State, 2-1 and previously unbeaten, made one real push. Kanye Clary scored eight consecutive points in 58 seconds to cut the margin to 68-60 with 9:53 remaining, close enough to make the building nervous. The Aggies answered the way they had all night — with stops and threes — and pulled away behind two late 7-0 runs.

The shooting gap explains the score. Texas A&M finished at 51.0% from the field and 12 of 25 from three-point range, a 48% clip. Oklahoma State shot 30% overall and 20% from three, 6 of 30, in its first road game and first loss of the season. Four Cowboys finished in double figures, Clary among them in his first full game of the season, and it didn't matter — Oklahoma State's looks were contested early and rushed late, while Texas A&M's came in rhythm off turnovers and kick-outs. A road team shooting 30% needs the home team to cooperate. The Aggies declined.

Context makes it sweeter in College Station. A year ago the Aggies lost 87-63 at Oklahoma State, a trip head coach Bucky McMillan hadn't forgotten; Thursday was Texas A&M's first win over the Cowboys since 2017, snapping a two-game losing streak in the series. McMillan said afterward he felt the most joy for the returners who had lived through that earlier defeat. The Battalion reported that McMillan “remembers exactly how he and the Aggies felt” after that 24-point loss in Stillwater, and that the win was for the players who carried it. A 19-point reversal in twelve months is the cleanest progress report a first-year coach can file.

Haggerty's path makes the night read differently. The graduate guard starred at Tulsa before arriving in College Station, and Oklahoma State's own coverage noted the history — a former Tulsa standout carving up the Cowboys in a Texas A&M uniform. He has scored in bunches all month: three 20-point games in four outings, on a roster McMillan largely built in one offseason.

Thursday opened what the campus billed as a blackout weekend, and the basketball team set its tone early. Texas A&M has won all four of its games by double digits, and Saturday's football crowd will arrive at Kyle Field with the athletic department's other program already 4-0. November in College Station is supposed to belong to football. This year it's sharing.

The defense is becoming the identity. Texas A&M has held all four of its opponents under 70 points, and it entered the night averaging more than 100 points per game on offense. A team that scores like that and defends like this doesn't stay unranked for long.

Both teams play again Monday: Texas A&M closes its season-opening homestand against Southeastern Louisiana, and Oklahoma State returns home to face Central Arkansas. The Aggies' first true test of the season is still ahead of them — but 4-0 with a 19-point win over a Big 12 opponent is a louder opening statement than November usually allows. For Oklahoma State, the film will show a winnable middle stretch buried by a first half it spent chasing the game. For Texas A&M, the film is the recruiting pitch: a freshman double-double, a transfer guard running the show, and a building that sounded in November like it usually sounds in February.