Texas A&M
GRAMBLING
Aggies Remain Perfect with 97-66 Win over Grambling
Dec 22, 2004 | Men's Basketball
December 22, 2004
Texas A&M scored the first 20 points of the game Wednesday night and cruised to a 97-66 win over Grambling before 5,086 fans at Reed Arena. The win pushed A&M's record to a perfect 9-0, its best start in 45 years.
The Aggies hit eight of their first nine shots in jumping out to the 20-point lead to open the game, taking a 55-33 advantage into halftime while shooting 61 percent. Antoine Wright bested his season average before the break with 18 first-half points.
The Tigers (3-3) never got closer than that as A&M extended its lead to as much as 39 in the second half. Aggie coach Billy Gillispie got all 15 healthy players on the roster into the game.
A&M's 97-point output was the second best of the year. The Aggies, who shot 58 percent from the floor on the night, are outscoring their opponents by an average of 30 points.
Wright led all scorers with season-highs of 23 points and 7 assists. Joseph Jones scored a career-high 19 on 8-of-10 shooting while grabbing six boards and blocking four shots.
Also for A&M, Edjuan Green posted his first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds while Acie Law added 10 points and six assists.
Grambling State was paced by Maurice Wright's 16 points and six assists. Andre' Ratliff scored 11 while John Dorsey added 10.
Texas A&M will break for Christmas before returning to action next Wednesday, Dec. 29 when the Aggies close their season-opening 10-game homestand by hosting the Houston Cougars. Tipoff at Reed Arena is set for 7 p.m.
POSTGAME QUOTES & NOTES
Texas A&M Freshman Joseph Jones:
"Coach wanted us to treat this game as a road game. We went and stayed at the Hilton last night and treated everything like a road game. He told us that the best way to beat people on the road is to come out with a good start and just play hard every single play. We knew they were a very good team, especially at getting thier offense running in transition and being an explosive team off the dribble. We need to work on the press, like everything else we do. Some games we break it with ease and some games we have turnovers. Tonight was a night we had a few turnovers. You learn something new from coach every day. You learn to play the game the right way and not worry about mistakes. We really didn't expect to jump out to the start we had but with the way we've been practicing each and every day, we see the reason why we're doing this to teams. It's all in how coach is coaching us and how he demands we play hard every play."
Texas A&M Junior Edjuan Green:
"The starters got off to a quick start. They jumped on them really fast. I don't think Grambling scored until I got in the game. I think the starters did really well. They played hard and took care of business. I've been practicing pretty hard to get better and its helped me get into better shape. It's working on the floor. I'm able to run harder, go after the balls harder, and just be in better shape. Coach has us very well prepared. We're playing hard and jumping out on teams. I'm not surprised we're 9-0, but I'm surprised at the margins of victory we've been having."
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Gillispie:
"This is a good win to take into the Christmas break. We came out and played really hard at the start and I'm really proud of them. We treated this like a road game. We thought that we needed to get the procedure and the routine down for a road game. We went after practice yesterday and stayed at a hotel, which we don't normally do for a home game. We learned how to do a scouting report like we do on the road and those sort of things. I think it worked out okay for us. We wanted to come out very well like you have to come out on the road. I think that our practice of 'playing on the road' went pretty well, but its always nice to be a home. It was a good win for us. This was the 11th time we've tipped it off this year, including exhibitions, and they've all been right here. I'm really appreciative of the fans. I think they're really helping us and I think they really like what they see. We executed pretty well and we guarded pretty well. Everybody you play has things they can expose you with, as we saw. They penetrated and pitched and got some threes, but luckily they didn't do it at the start of the game. We already had a good lead before they were able to score. I think that we're learning how to guard the ball. We've got to quit fouling so much. The reason we got off to such a good start is because we caught the ball, we passed the ball, we made hard cuts, we finished and we made some foul shots. I think we had a really good plan of attack. Luckily, the ball went into the basket when we shot it. Joseph (Jones) is getting better every time out. I can't imagine how good he's going to be before he's done here. He's going to be really good and I think we have some other guys who will be, too."
A&M NOTES:
*The Aggies' 9-0 start is their best since the 1959-60 team started 10-0 and was ranked No. 8 nationally.
*The nine-game winning streak is A&M's longest since 1979-80 and the nine-game home winning streak is the longest since the Aggies won 10 straight over two seasons from 1984-86.
*Billy Gillispie's 9-0 start is the second best by a first-year coach in A&M history behind the record 11-0 start by Tubby Graves in 1915-16.
*Antoine Wright scored a season-high 23 points and added a career-best 7 assists. Wright mde 3-of-6 three-pointers and was 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Wright has scored 20 or more points in three straight games.
*Edjuan Green posted his first career double-double, scoring 14 points with a career-high 11 rebounds.
*Joseph Jones scored a career-high 19 points with 6 rebounds and added 4 blocked shots. Jones made 8-of-10 from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
*Acie Law scored 10 points with 6 assists, his fourth straight game scoring in double figures.
*A&M scored 97 points, its second most of the season. A&M has scored 90 or more points three times and 80 or more in six games.
*The Aggies scored 55 points in the first half, a season high for the opening 20 minutes.
*A&M had 38 bench points, its third straight game, and sixth overall, with at least 30.
*Grambling has two technical fouls, the fourth straight game A&M's opponent has received a technical.
*A&M entered the game ranked No. 2 nationally in assists with a 21.5 average and had 24 tonight.
*A&M entered the game ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring margin at +29.9, and won by 31, its fifth 30+ margin of the season. A&M has won eight of its nine games by at least 18 points.
*A&M entered the game ranked fifth nationally in field goal percentage (.525) and shot 57.6 percent.
*A&M entered the game ranked No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.321) and allowed 33.8 percent tonight. A&M has held seven of its nine opponents under 40 percent, including six under 35 percent.
*A&M entered the game ranked No. 6 nationally in rebounding margin (+12.1) and posted a +13 margin (46-33) tonight.
