Texas A&M started its game trailing 1-0 because Aggies forgot their uniforms in hotel
The Texas A&M men’s basketball team edged Florida 66-63 on Wednesday, rallying from a deficit at the opening tip.
Yeah, that’s right, the Aggies were down 1-0 before the game even started.
Texas A&M was given an administrative technical foul because they were not ready to play when the game was supposed to begin. The Aggies got to Exactech Arena in Gainesville and realized their uniforms were still in their hotel.
“I forgot the jerseys in my hotel room,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said, per ESPN. “That’s probably the right way to say it because I used to be a manager. If that would have happened, my head coach would have stuck up for me. You don’t want the jerseys to get wrinkled so they hang them in my room, and I just forgot to put them on the bus.
“It’s my fault and it won’t happen again.”
Florida’s Will Richard made a free throw before the team’s tipped off after Texas A&M was given the technical foul.
“This is maybe the 500th game I’ve coached as a head coach,” WIlliams said, per the Gainesville Sun. “Those officials were explaining to me that the league office called and said it was an administrative technical foul, which I had never heard those words.
“You get one shot and then from the point of interruption. And well I was like there was no point of interruption so what are we going to do, and then they said jump ball.”
This isn’t the first time a college basketball game has started with a free throw following a technical foul.
Kansas State was penalized when walk-on Brian Rohleder dunked during warmups before a 2014 NCAA Tournament game against Kentucky. He did it 19 minutes, 58 seconds before tipoff, and the rules say you can’t dunk inside 20 minutes.
Kentucky got to shoot a free throw and led 1-0 when the game started. K-State lost 56-49.
