Tough ending: A&M senior Josh Carter hit a 3-pointer in all nine NCAA Tournament games he played in, but he was only 1 of 6 Saturday as part of a 3-for-13 overall shooting effort.

"It's been a good four years," Carter said. "But it's just hard to swallow today. I mean, my team expects me to make shots and things like that. And they put me in great situations today. I didn't get it done. And to know I'll never have a chance to redeem myself with these guys, get them another win or something like that is just hard to swallow right now."

*

Good, not great: Even with the loss, A&M won seven of its last nine games.

"I think it was a really, really good year," A&M head coach Mark Turgeon said. "I don't want to say great year. I think everybody had us pencilled in the NIT. Obviously our league's pretty good. It was hard early [in league play]. We just kept fighting and scratching.

"This year worried me coming in. Over the last two years, the players this program has lost [is tough]. The thing I'm most proud of is we developed the guys. We really developed 'em. We became a good basketball team.

"We just weren't very good today."

*

Freshmen shine: A&M's David Loubeau was 5 for 5 from the field en route to 11 points in 20 minutes. Dash Harris hit 2 of 3 shots for seven points in 17 minutes. He also had three assists.

-- Eagle staff report