Texas A&M
IDAHO STATE
No. 10 Texas A&M 74, Idaho State 44
Nov 25, 2006 | Men's Basketball
November 25, 2006
Josh Carter tied a school record with eight 3-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points to lead Texas A&M (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today; No. 11 AP) past Idaho State, 74-44 on Saturday.
Carter was 8-of-10 from 3-point range, and Acie Law added 22 points for Texas A&M (5-0), which held Idaho State to 29 percent shooting.
David Schroeder led Idaho State (1-3) with 14 points. Akbar Abdul-Ahad and Matt Stucki had 11 each.
Texas A&M shot 62 percent and outrebounded Idaho State 36-27.
The Aggies went on a 14-3 run in the first 4˝ minutes of the second half and weren't challenged after that. Texas A&M had a 21-point lead with 2:31 left in the first half before Idaho State closed with an 8-0 run to make it 37-24 at halftime.
Texas A&M dominated in the paint, outscoring Idaho State 24-13 without an offensive contribution from All-Big 12 forward Joseph Jones. He was held to one point on 0-of-3 shooting before fouling out. He had five rebounds.
Idaho State, which lost in overtime at No. 13 Marquette earlier this season, was up 6-3 on 3-pointers by Schroeder and Stucki but never led again after Law's basket put the Aggies ahead 8-6 with 17:13 left in the half.
Postgame Notes & Quotes
Texas A&M's Acie Law IV:
"We did some things well but we've got to be better on team defense. We've got to get bodies in there and do a better job of not fouling when they drive to the basket. Our inside guys have got to be better. It's just little things we need to work on. I'm not trying to take away from our team defense but we've still got to be better. Our fans except big things. When you go up 20 they expect you to go up 40."
Texas A&M's Josh Carter:
"I wasn't aware of my numbers. I knew I was doing well but like I said I was not aware of the exact numbers. I had been shooting bad at practice all week and today during shootaround one of the coaches told me I was leaning back everytime I shot. He told me I needed to step up and focus. So today I really focused on staying straight up and focusing on the rim. I knew open shots would come. As long as we run hard and set screens, you're going to get good looks no matter what the other team's defense is running."
Idaho State Head Coach Joe O'Brien:
"I've known Billy for quite some time. We have a pretty close relationship and I have a lot of respect for him. That's the worst we've been beat at any level in a long time. In all my years coaching Division 1 basketball, Storrs (Connecticut two years ago) and here have been the most humbling experiences. Based on our scouting report we did not think they wanted to or would shoot the three. We have a different opinion now. Josh Carter was phenomenal. We tried to run a 3-2 zone to keep the post's touches to a mininum. It's designed to keep the ball of out of the middle. Acie got in the paint and scored five times, by paying attention to the bigs we let the guards come in and hurt us. We've played some good people but we're trying to compete by playing with a 3-2 zone because we can't hold for 40 minutes by playing man-to-man. Our bench isn't as deep or as big. We finished the half with three freshman out there. We're young and lacking size and we know that. A&M just has more talent, more size, and the play better defensively. I have a lot of respect for what Coach Gillispie has done here in such a quick time. This is the best team we've played, but we didn't play our best game. We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half. They were going to have to shoot the three to beat us and they did that. We're just not ready for man-to-man. Coach Gillispie is one of the best young coaches in the country, period. He has the best of both ends -- he can recruit and coach. He's got it all. He puts in long hours, has a good work ethic and that blue collar mentality. The kids are going to play like he recruits -- long and hard."
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Gillispie:
"This was a really good win for us. I never expected a 30-point margin. Ours guys defended well but allowed too many easy baskets with no help. We reverted back to individual defense rather than team defense. When you're able to take away what the other team wants to do it forces them to dribble. Our goal is to always make them dribble, we've just got to do a better job of guarding it. Josh did a great job. He shot with more confidence. He's a long way from where he needs to be but he's capable. Acie made good decisions and got Josh good shots. The other guys did a really good job of setting him up. We threw it inside almost every time in the second half and that's what we wanted. When we did that good things started happening. Joseph Jones, Antanas Kavaliauskas, and Bryan Davis have got to be better, they have to be more aggressive. But they took the play that was presented to them and you have to applaud them for that. You want every play, every possession to be perfect, right now we're not doing that. Every possession has got to be better. We are always trying to look at it like we're the hunter. You have to be weak-minded if you're going to let someone come in and dominate you because everybody has good players. We're not weak-minded, but that doesn't mean we won't get beat and that doesn't mean we're not hungry."
TEXAS A&M NOTES:
*Josh Carter scored a career-high 26 points. His previous high was 25 last season vs. Texas in the Big 12 Tournament.
*Carter made a career-best 8-of-10 three-pointers, tying the school record for three-pointers made in a game. He shares the mark with Bernard King (8-of-11 vs. Lamar in 2000-01) and Jerald Brown (8-of-10 vs. Nebraska in 1996-97).
*Carter made 80.0 percent from three-point range, which was fifth-best percentage in school annals and tied for the best by a player with at least 10 attempts.
*Acie Law IV scored 22 points, his third straight 20-point game, and added a season-high 9 assists. Law has averaged 22.0 points in his last three games.
*A&M made 75.0 percent from three-point range (12-of-16), a school record for a game in which it had at least 10 attempts. The previous mark was 67.7 percent (10-of-15) set last season vs. Oklahoma. A&M's 12 three-pointers tied for the third most in a game in school history.
*A&M made a season-high 62.2 percent from the field, making better than 60.0 percent in both halves. The Aggies have made better than 53 percent in three straight games and have not shot under 49 percent this season.
*Idaho State made just 28.8 percent from the field, the third time in five games this season the Aggies have held their opponent under 30.0 percent. A&M has not allowed an opponent to shoot better than 35 percent this season.
*A&M has won 12 straight regular-season games since an 83-70 loss at Texas on Feb. 4, 2006.
*A&M has won 27 straight regular-season non-conference home games.
*A&M is 38-5 at home under Billy Gillispie and has won 10 straight home games since an 83-73 loss to Kansas last season. The Aggies are 24-1 under Gillispie against non-conference opponents at home.
