Texas A&M
NORTH CAROLINA A&T
Aggies Take Season Opener over North Carolina A&T, 89-56
Nov 19, 2004 | Men's Basketball
November 19, 2004
Freshman Joseph Jones scored 10 points and added 10 rebounds and junior Antoine Wright poured in a team-high 16 points as Texas A&M opened the 2004-05 basketball season with an 89-56 win over North Carolina A&T Friday night before 6,939 at Reed Arena.
The first game under new head coach Billy Gillispie drew the largest season-opening crowd in school history.
The Aggies took control of a foul-plagued game with a run midway through the first half and led by as much as 22 before the break.
An Edjuan Green tip-in late in the second half gave A&M its largest lead at 38 points.
Sophomore Acie Law IV scored 13 points and dished out a team-high 7 assists for A&M, while Green and sophomore Marlon Pompey were also in double figures with 12 points.
A&T was led by Sean Booker's 19 points and 4 rebounds.
Texas A&M returns to action Tuesday when they host Trinity at Reed Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
POSTGAME NOTES & QUOTES
NORTH CAROLINA A&T HEAD COACH JERRY EAVES: "The game was physical. They came out and bumped and banged our guys. Thats what they have to do in their conference to compete. They played hard. They knew what they wanted to do. They're headed in the right direction. It's a misconception that we shoot a lot of three's. We're not big enough to post-up against these kind of teams, so the outside shot is the only thing available. It will be similar for (A&M) in conference. They will take more outside shots and the coach will say the same thing. The officials did a good job. It's though because of the size of the players. That's part of the business. We were trying to front the post. There were bodies banging and that's tough to officiate."
TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN JOSEPH JONES: On the difference between high school and college: "The pace; everything was faster. It was harder to play defense, but we played tough. I tried to play real aggressive. I tried to help out my team by going up for rebounds. I do what I got to do. Games are a whole lot easier than practice. Practice is hard. Games are a breeze, and more fun too."
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR ANTOINE WRIGHT: "We played unselfish and like we were short-handed, relying only on a couple guys. We have to rely on the whole team if we're goin to be good. We have to play hard every night like we practice. Coach tells us to practice good habits and bring them to the game. Positions don't mean anything. We have to know every position, play hard, and get up and down. A little of tonight was first game jitters. We need to learn to rely on defense, because we never know what shots we're going to get or which ones are going to go in. Maroon Madness changed to atmosphere. I didn't know there were going to be this many people here, but it feels good. Coming off the kind of season we had last year you never know. It felt good out there."
TEXAS A&M COACH BILLY GILLISPIE: "It was a heck of a fun time. I don't usually read the paper, but I read the paper today and I learned we exercised a deamon. We ended our 17 game losing streak. We made a million mistakes, but every one is correctible. They were mistakes of commission not ommission. I love Joseph (Jones). He bounces back and he's mentally tough, especially for a freshman. He's very confident, but not cocky. I love the direction he's going in. He could be a very, very special player. I was suprised by the crowd. The fans were excited and they participate. We want to build on that. We need them Tuesday and Saturday. We need to learn to play without fouling a little better. The calls tonight were right. We're still going to yell when they happen, but they're right. We need to learn to play better defense without fouls. Marcus Mcintosh is a freak athlete. He plays 100% full speed ahead. He's exciting in games and in practice. When he learns to compose himself better and learns when to go and when to whoa, he's going to be a special player. Acie Law is really good. He's extremely quick and he's learning to pick his spots better. He has a chance to be really good in conference. If he gets better on defense he could be a shut down defender because of his strength and athletic ability."
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES:
- Tonight's attendance of 6,929 was the best in a home season opener in school history. The previous best was 6,511 against North Texas in the first game played at Reed Arena in 1998-99. Tonight's attendance was also the third best for a non-conference home game in school annals behind the record of 7,192 against LSU in 1981-82 (G. Rollie White Coliseum) and 7,075 against Long Beach State in 2001-02 (Reed Arena).
- The 33-point margin of victory tonight was the best by the Aggies in a season opener since 1981-82, when A&M beat St. Edwards, 104-57. The margin was the biggest by an A&M coach in his first game since 1942-43, when Manning Smith's Aggies beat Duncan Field, 60-21.
- Sophomore Marlon Pompey scored a career-high 12 points with a career-best four rebounds, making 6-of-6 from the field. In his career, Pompey has made 15-of-17 from the field (9-of-11 last season).
- Freshman Joseph Jones made his debut with a double-double, scoring 10 points with 10 rebounds.
- A&T's 27 turnovers tied a Reed Arena record set by George Washington in 2001-02. Their 34 three-point attempts tied for the second most ever against A&M (North Texas had 35 in 1998-99 and Detroit had 34 in 2000-01.) A&T's 12 three-pointers made tied for the eighth most ever by an A&M opponent.
- Five Aggies scored in double figures and a sixth (Marcus McIntosh) scored nine.
