Texas A&M
GRAMBLING STATE
Texas A&M 101, Grambling State 27
Dec 28, 2006 | Men's Basketball
December 28, 2006
Josh Carter scored 24 points and Joseph Jones added 20 as No. 11 Texas A&M pulverized Grambling with a 101-27 victory.
Acie Law IV had 13 points and Donald Sloan added 12 for the Aggies, who have averaged 100.5 points in all four series victories vs. the Tigers.
Carter, who scored 21 first-half points, made 8-of-13 3-point field goals. He missed just one other shot from the field for Texas A&M (11-2), which outrebounded Grambling, 48-34, and forced 30 turnovers.
Jones was 8-of-8 from the field for the Aggies, who led, 65-13, at halftime, holding the Tigers to just four field goals.
Texas A&M shot 52 percent (37-of-71) while Grambling finished 10-of-51 (20 percent).
Kendric Baker and Anthony Williams each scored six points for the Tigers (2-5), who did not have another player make more than one field goal the entire contest.
A&M Postgame Notes and Quotes
Senior Acie Law
"We just came out to a good start off a break. We have been playing good the last couple games and wanted to come out and make a statement. We did not want to give them any momentum. We did a good job of making shots and finishing plays. We wanted to build a lead and go from there. (On conversation with Grambling player) He said that Josh was shooting the blood out of the ball. I told him he was capable of having that and this was one of those days for him. We fed him the ball and he was making it. We were both joking how good he was shooting. (On setting up Josh) My number one priority is to run the team. We did a good job as a team getting the ball to him cause he can make the shot. It was in the back of my mind but the number one priority is to run the offense. (On the win) This is a confidence builder. It was a great team effort. We had a great game and hopefully it will carry over to Winthrop. We need to do a better job on rebounding. That is going to hurt us in conference. Conference teams are tougher and we need to improve from film. (On large scoring margin) Coach is constantly reminding us the score is zero-to-zero. He reminds us to continue to play and be aggressive. He does a good job of keeping us focused."
Sophomore Josh Carter
"I have complete confidence on the wing. I feel comfortable because there are a lot of plays that put me there. Their defense was leaving me open so I was knocking them down. The offense was going well and gave me a good look. Conference is going to be difficult. This is a good confidence builder before going into conference. We've been focusing on making good cuts and getting open. (On getting the record) I was not concerned about the record although it was in the back of my mind, but I'm a team player. That guy had a better shot than me so I got it to him. It felt like things were going well. The first thought is doing good on defense and then offense. After I make a shot my first thought is to get back and guard the man. If I am doing good on offense I am still thinking more about defense so I can stay in the game."
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Gillispie
"Any win is a good win. You never know what it is going to be like coming off a break. Our team is maturing and we are finding new weapons. Grambling had a few more days off and came out a little rusty. We got a good jump and continue to build. Acie said it best, "Nothing is easy in college basketball." They are a good team but we did a lot of good things on offense and defense. We were on a good pace and had the whole team playing well. A lot of of good things came out of this win. (On improving) Allowing them ten rebounds in the second half is not good. We had to face guard because they were spreading it out. Free throws are not good at 60 percent. We have too many missing free throws but we're continuing to improve. Acie had 14 assists. If he plays at this kind of pace and him being as good as he has the ability to score. The hard part is getting the shot the easy part is making it. Acie is passing up too many shots. Joe is also passing up too many shots. Josh is not going to pass up any shots. I would still like for us to be more ready to shoot. We played a lot of guys and this is good for our future. We are not not going to play hard whether up or down. Our guys are very mature about playing for 40 minutes. (On crowd turn-out) We have fantastic fans. I never thought that many people would come out. Up until game time I thought we would have about 500 people and I would have been ok with that based on the circumstances. We had a good crowd that was ready to help our team. I was surprised and thankful for that. (On Winthrop) It is not a good game before conference. They have a great team and great players. But that's what we've got and we'll stay with it."
A&M Notes:
*A&M's 74-point margin of victory was the largest by an Big 12 team since the league was formed in 1996-97 (previous record: 72 (110-38) by Texas vs. Prairie View A&M in 2005-06 and (107-35) by Texas Tech vs. Nicholls State in 2002-03). It also was the largest winning margin in school history (previous record: 62 (98-36) vs. Texas-Permian Basin in 2004-05).
*Grambling's 27 points were the fewest by an A&M opponent since the 1947-48 season, when the Aggies beat TCU, 48-22.
*A&M's 65 points in the first half were a school record for the opening period (previous record: 61 vs. Long Island (1989-90) and 61 vs. UNLV (1978-79). It tied for the third most points in any half in school annals.
*Grambling's 13 first-half points tied the A&M record for the fewest by an ooponent in the opening period (record: 13 by Texas Tech in 1985-86). It tied for the third fewest points allowed in any half. Grambling had 14 points in the second half, tying for the sixth fewest in a half by an Aggie opponent.
*Grambling shot just 19.6 percent from the field, setting an A&M record for the lowest percentage by an opponent. The old mark was 20.8 percent set earlier this year by Saint Louis and in 2004-05 by Texas-Permian Basin.
*A&M posted 30 assists for the second time in third games, tying for the 10th most in school history.
*A&M tied its seeason-high with 12 three-point field goals, tying for the third most in school history.
*Josh Carter made 8-of-13 three-pointers, tying the school record. Carter made 8-of-10 earlier this season vs. Idaho State. (He shares the record with Bernard King, who made 8-of-11 vs. Lamar in 2000-01, and Jerald Brown, who made 8-of-10 vs. Nebraska in 1996-97).
*Carter made 7-of-9 three-pointers in the first half, tying the Big 12 record for a half set by Kansas' Jeff Boschee vs. Kansas State in 1999-00.
*Acie Law IV scored 13 points and tied his career-high with 14 assists (vs. Missouri in 2004-05), his first double-double of the year and the third of his career.
*Joseph Jones scored 20 points with 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks, and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the field.
*Freshman Donald Sloan scored a career-high 12 points, the third straight game he's set his career-best in scoring. He had 10 in the win at Auburn last week.
*Freshman Bryan Davis posted a career-high 7 rebounds.
*A&M had 20 steals, tying for the fifth-most in school history and just one shy of tying the school record.
