Texas A&M
LONG BEACH STATE
Aggie Men Improve to 4-0 with 71-56 Win over Long Beach State
Nov 30, 2001 | Men's Basketball
November 30, 2001
Bernard King scored 20 points with a career-high 11 rebounds to lead Texas A&M to a 71-56 victory against Long Beach State Friday night.
King also tied a career-best with nine assists, narrowly missing a rare triple double.
The Aggies are 4-0 for the first time since 1997-98.
The 49ers (3-3) jumped out to a 10-1 lead just four minutes into the game, but the Aggies came back to take a 24-22 lead at halftime. Long Beach had a 35-29 lead with 14 minutes left, but A&M close the game with a 42-21 run for the victory.
King made two three-pointers to become A&M's career leader with 150. Andy Leatherman, the Aggies only senior, came off the bench to contribute 10 points and five assists.
Ron Johnson and James Williams led Long Beach with 16 points each and Williams added a game-high 12 rebounds. Travis Reed scored 10 points with 10 rebounds and Michael Darrett also scored 10 points for the 49ers.
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Postgame Quotes
TEXAS A&M GUARD BERNARD KING
"The first half we were a little flat, but in the second we picked it up a little more. In the first half, the offense was bad and the defense was good. In the first half, we came in really excited and we just needed to settle down. We had too much one on one and then we started to play off each other. Once our point guards get in the flow, we all get into the flow. It feels good. I'm excited about this season. The crowd was great. We'll win and give them a reason to come out."
TEXAS A&M GUARD ANDY LEATHERMAN
"Coach told me at the beginning of the year that my role would be to come off the bench. I have not problem with that. I'm excited. I have no qualms about being a bench player. Whatever it takes for this team to win. Having other options is definitely a plus. It provides more motivation for the players on the floor. I definitely think we have the ability to give players a break. We're mentally tough now. Coach has really been working on making us mentally tough and helping us learn to execute. I haven't ever seen that many people here. I thought we were playing away today."
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH MELVIN WATKINS
It was a rugged game. We were missing a lot of layups. The difference is that we did enough to get the win. We're trying to be aggressive for 40 minutes. I told the guys, don't worry about the scoreboard. We'll wear the other team down if we are aggressive for 40 minutes. You'll see us have a different distribution of points on different nights. Daryl (Mason) is really important to us because he's a part of our rotation. He's aggressive off the dribble and that's something we lacked in the first half. If you do that, you can break the defense down and spread the floor and beat them off the dribble. Daryl is a big part of that. With the pressure we are trying to apply, we can go to the bench and pull more guys. (On Ress's three-pointer) I wanted to run out there and kiss him. I think it really helped his confidence. Our point guards are getting to know me a little bit and I'm getting to know them, too. (On Bernard King) His back was a little stiff tonight. He has the ability to play like this every night. If he does, this will be a great year for him. We're not going out looking for it, he just needs to play. (On crowd) That was a great crowd for us. They helped us come back from the deficit. I don't know if the movie theaters were closed down tonight or what. We want them to come back. We can make this a norm."
LONG BEACH STATE HEAD COACH WAYNE MORGAN
"It was a hard-fought game on both sides. Both teams gave all they had. A&M had to play well to win. They have improved. They are a better team than they were last year. Melvin has done a great job. The fans have a lot to look forward to. I don't think we have the complete size and depth that A&M has. Bernard King is a very good player and offensive shooter. He's a year older than last year when we saw he and he's improved."
Notes:
Tonight's attendance of 7,075 is the fourth largest crowd at Reed Arena, which is in its fourth season as A&M's basketball home. It is the largest crowd at Reed to see a non-conference game.
A&M is 4-0 for the first time since 1997-98. A win on Sunday against Loyola Marymount would make A&M 5-0 for the first time since 1980-81.
Bernard King scored 20 points with a career-high 11 rebounds (his third career double and first since his freshman season) and tied his career-best with nine assists, leaving him one assist shy of a triple double, which would have made him the third player in A&M history to have a triple-double and the first since David Edwards in 1993-94.
King made two three-pointers, giving him a school-record 150 in his career. Tonight he passed Chuck Henderson, who owned the record at 149 set in 1990-94.
