ATHENS -- Georgia basketball came from 17 points down in the second half with a furious rally, but Texas A&M’s Marcus Williams hit a 3-point shot with 1.2 seconds left to lift the Aggies to the 81-79 win.

The Bulldogs (5-9, 0-1 SEC) had taken their first lead of the game on the Aggies (12-2, 1-0) on Kario Oquendo’s three-point play with 5.5 seconds remaining in the game at Stegeman Coliseum.

“They came with energy and they fought back and I’m proud of them,” Georgia coach Tom Crean said. “They did a good job with that. We’ve just got to learn to put the game away.”

The Bulldogs hung with the Aggies for the first 15 minutes of the contest before a Henry Coleman layup sparked a 7-0 run for Texas A&M lead.

A couple of 3-pointers, courtesy of Coleman and Hassan Diarra, put the Aggies up by 15 with less than two minutes left in the first half.

Georgia, led by Oquendo’s 21 points in the game, came out firing in the second period.

A soaring Oquendo slam sparked an 11-0 run capped off by a Noah Baumann 3-pointer at the 15:35 mark.

Suddenly, the Bulldogs trailed by only 6 points.

Georgia continued to close in on Texas A&M, tying the game at 76-76 when Noah Baumann made it 19 points on the night by draining a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left.

Henry Coleman, who led Texas A&M with 23 points, hit a pair of free throws to lift the Aggies back up by two with 11 seconds left.

Georgia point guard Aaron Cook received the ensuing inbounds pass, dished the ball to Oquendo, and watched the Florida Southwestern State transfer complete a three-point play to take the lead with 5.5 seconds left.

“I get the handoff and hit the corner, or I’m coming down and trying to get to the rim,” Oquendo said, explaining the play. “I saw him stand up, I was driving, so I just took the lane and got the layup.”

Williams quickly responded, running the length of the court and sinking the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left.

A long 3-point heave from Baumann fell short as the buzzer sounded.

“We were playing for the drive because it’s a one point game,” Crean said. “In conventional wisdom, you would think he was playing it right. He’s going to go to the basket and he felt it. He made some threes, he stepped in there, and he hit it.”

Georgia, already missing team captains and power forwards Jailyn Ingram and P.J. Horne with knee injuries was also without Dalen Ridgnal and Cam McDowell.

Ridgnal was sidelined with COVID-related issues, while McDowell missed the game with a separate illness..

Georgia will face No. 16-ranked Kentucky at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.