Texas A&M
LOUISIANA-MONROE
Aggie Men Roll in 107-66 Victory over Indians
Dec 22, 2002 | Men's Basketball
December 22, 2002
Bernard King scored 17 points and took the bench with 15 minutes remaining as Texas A&M rolled past Louisiana-Monroe, 107-66.
Texas A&M (6-2) used a 3-pointer by Kevin Turner with 3 minutes remaining to become the first team to score 100 points in the five years A&M has played at Reed Arena. Turner finished with 15 points. The Aggies' 107 points was the most since the 1989-90 season.
Louisiana Monroe (2-5) was led by Larry Parker and Kirby Lemons with 14 points each.
A&M took a 60-27 halftime lead shooting 74-percent from the floor. Antoine Wright and King each scored 12 in the first half.
King helped A&M work out to a 40 point lead, leading the Aggies on a 10-0 run early in the second half. A&M's starters took the bench with over 14 minutes remaining and never returned.
A&M took the chance to send in center Andy Slocum for the first time this season. Slocum, who scored six points with three rebounds, sat out the first month of the season recovering from back surgery.
A&M took 23 free throws in the second half alone and was 25-36 at the line for the game. The Aggies finished shooting 65-percent from the floor while Monroe committed 25 turnovers.
Last season, the Indians defeated Texas A&M 76-61 in the Las Vegas Classic as the Aggies shot just 35-percent from the floor.
Texas A&M returns to play this weekend when they travel to Santa Clara, Calif., to participate in the Cable Car Classic. The Aggies will face Princeton in the first round on Friday at 10:30 p.m. (CST) at Toso Pavilion.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Melvin Watkins - "This is a pretty good 'W', especially after the practice we had the other day. For us to do what we want to do this year we had to go out and really get after it. Defense was a stress point (this week). The doctor released Slocum on Friday and he has had some good practices. We have to gradually work him into game shape. We have had enough close contests this year, we have already been challenged. We worked on some things (this week) and tried to bring it to the game floor. We tell our guys that "You have to be ready to compete every day in practice", but we had gotten away from that a little bit so we had to get back to that this week."
Freshman Forward Marcus Watkins - "He (Coach Watkins) told us to come out and play hard (off the bench). When he was subbing us in he told us "No letdowns". A win is a win, it doesn't matter who we play, or the score. As long as we win, I am happy."
Junior Guard Kevin Turner - "We can play a lot better than this. The emphasis today was to play defense and the defense got the offense going. A couple of coaches said we have to come out and play hard and get a little revenge because last time we played them, they put a little whipping on us."
Louisiana-Monroe Head Coach Mike Vining - "They were more aggressive on both ends of the floor. Once they got their rhythm we couldn't stop them. They got on a roll defensively and that got their offense going and we just couldn't stop them."
NOTES:
*The Aggies are the first team to score 100 points in the five-year history of Reed Arena.
*The 41-point winning margin is the largest by the Aggies in Melvin Watkins five years as head coach. It ties for the ninth largest margin in school history and is the largest since the Aggies beat Maryland-Eastern Shore (105-60) by 45 points in 1997-98.
*A&M's 107 points were its most since it beat Florida International, 114-90, in the 1989 Golden Panthers Classic in Miami. It is A&M's first 100-point game in two years (since a 107-106 double OT loss at Virginia Commonwealth).
*A&M made a blazing 64.9 percent from the field, the fourth best in school history and its best since it made a school record 72.7 percent against Stephen F. Austin in the 1987-88 season.
*All 14 players on the roster played today, with only one (senior Bradley Jackson with 21) playing more than 19 minutes. 13 different A&M players scored. The only non-scorer was Leandro Garcia-Morales, who contributed six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
*Junior Andy Slocum played four minutes and scored six points with four rebounds. Slocum had back surgery in late October and returned to practice earlier this week.
