Texas A&M
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
Aggie Men Open Season with 82-53 Win Over Golden Lions
Nov 24, 2003 | Men's Basketball
November 24, 2003
Kevin Turner hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead Texas A&M to a 82-53 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Wednesday before 5,020 fans at Reed Arena.
Texas A&M (1-0) got off to an early edge on the Golden Lions as Turner scored nine of the Aggies' first 10 points to open a 10-4 lead. Jesse King posted his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Leandro Garcia-Morales closed out the trio of double-digit scorers for the Aggies, scoring all 10 of his points in the second half along with four steals.
The Pine Bluff Golden Lions (0-2) were led by Justin Lloyd with 16 points and six rebounds. Chris Parker scored nine points before fouling out with 3:28 remaining.
Turner hit his first four 3-point attempts of the game, part of a 14-point half leading the Aggies out to a 37-17 lead at the half.
A&M's defense set the tone early, going on a 12-2 run early in the game while allowing just 10 points in the first 13 minutes of play.
Pine Bluff opened the second half with an offensive surge, cutting the lead to 14 before A&M went on a 19-3 run late into the game to put it away.
A&M Guard Kevin Turner: "I came out, the shot was wide open and I took it. When you make your first shot, it's going to be a good night. That's the way it went the rest of the game. In the first game, you always see things to work on. We came out a little flat in the second half, but we'll work on that in practice and come back out Wednesday (against Alabama A&M). Tonight, we needed to execute, run everything like we do in practice and do everything coach always tells us to do. We'll watch the film, and work on these things in practice and get better."
A&M Guard Leandro Garcia-Morales: "At times we were a little flat, so we wanted to step it up. We played and picked it up on defense. We got to running up and down a little bit, forcing turnovers and making easy shots. Everybody came in with different expectations, and we've got the first game out of the way. We were pretty good on defense-they only scored 17 in the first half. We played our whole team and we'll learn from that, watch the tape, and get better."
A&M Head Coach Melvin Watkins: "I've got to be tough on them. We had some lapses out there that I wasn't pleased with, so I had to get their attention out there. It was our first game so I changed the rotations up a little and we got the 'W.' Antoine Wright and Andy Slocum violated a team rule and that's why they didn't start. Hopefully that's the last time that will happen. They learned their lesson and I hope we can move forward, go to practice tomorrow and get ready for the next game. Antoine's our big gun but he didn't have a good night. I think that we have other players who can make good contributions. That's the way it's got to be if we're going to be a good team. I'm not worried about the players who are in the game as long as the point is covered. The other positions are interchangeable. Our point guards got into the offense and recognized things on defense. They controlled the game for us. I know we're going to get some good play out of those two (Acie Law and Bobby Leach). We're still learning things about ourselves. I was afraid we might get caught up in the first game jitters, but I was pleased. We just played the game."
NOTES:
Senior forward Jesse King scored 13 points with a career-high 11 rebounds, his first career double-double.
Senior guard Kevin Turner scored 17 points (one shy of tying his career high of 18 set last year against Princeton), making a career-best 5-of-7 three-pointers.
A&M coach Melvin Watkins is 4-2 at A&M in season openers and is 5-1 in home openers.
