Texas A&M
WINTHROP
Texas A&M 71, Winthrop 51
Jan 02, 2007 | Men's Basketball
January 02, 2007
Acie Law had 22 points and eight assists to lead No. 11 Texas A&M to a 71-51 victory over Winthrop on Tuesday night.
Antanas Kavaliauskas had 20 points and Josh Carter added 15 points, all on 3-pointers, for the Aggies (12-2).
Michael Jenkins led the Eagles (10-4) with 13 points and Taj McCullough had 12.
Winthrop shot 44 percent from the field against the Aggies, who had been allowing only 33 percent this season.
Winthrop hit two 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game, but the Aggies went on a 17-2 run over the next 6˝ minutes to take a 21-8 lead.
Winthrop took advantage of A&M overplaying the passing lanes with consecutive backdoor baskets as part of a 14-6 run.
But Law went on a run of his own over the final 1:20 of the half, hitting a 3-pointer and making three free throws after being fouled with one second left on the shot clock to give Texas A&M a 33-22 halftime lead.
Torrell Martin, the Eagles' leading scorer, picked up two fouls in the first half and didn't score until more than three minutes had elapsed in the second half. His jumper cut the Aggies' lead to 39-30. He finished with nine points.
Winthrop cut the lead to seven before Law hit a jumper and then fed Kavaliauskas for two layups to put A&M back up 49-38.
The Eagles hit two straight layups to again cut the lead to seven but the Aggies went on a 22-9 run over the last 11 minutes. They did not allow consecutive baskets by Winthrop during that run.
Texas A&M vs. Winthrop
Postgame Quotes
Reed Arena - College Station, TX
January 2, 2007
Winthrop Head Coach Gregg Marshall:
"First of all, I want to congratulate Texas A&M. They are a very fine ball club. They're athletic, they're big, they're strong and they're not complicated. They're simple, but what they do is so good. I knew it was going to be a tough game for us because of how hard they play and how physical and how tough they were. They certainly were that tonight. We've been called 'junkyard dogs' before and there are times when we've looked like that. By in large, we play harder than most teams we play, but not them. There was one junkyard dog tonight and that's all you need. It was Texas A&M."
Texas A&M Senior Antanas Kavaliauskas:
"I missed some shots. I had the ball knocked away. Also I have to give props to my guards. I was wide open and they saw me. We were playing terrible in the fist half. We did a little bit better in the second half."
Texas A&M Senior Acie Law:
"I think the sky is they limit for this team. We're winning ball games, but I feel like we have not played our best ball yet. I don't think we've had a game where we've had all five guys playing well. In a way that gives us confidence. We have to continue to work hard in practice and hope we can play as well as we were at the end of last season. If we can put together a stretch like that where everybody is on the same page, we will be a very successful team."
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Gillispie:
"It was a really good win for us against a really good team. We made a lot of mistakes, but we were able to finish out the game the way we needed to. We're heading into conference play on a positve note. We have a long way to go, but again, it was a real quality win against a well-coached team. They executed and they're experienced. They're a team that I think could be an elite eight team. They got into foul trouble early, but I think they have a great team. We have to be ready for conference. Everybody is physically okay. Marlon (Pompey) is acting like a senior should act in this second part of his senior season. I think we have great poise. It will be tested over a 16-game conference schedule. When Acie (Law) plays as well as he's played for the last several games, it makes the game a lot easier for everybody out there. The problem that we have right now is that we can't get everybody playing their best on the same night. When we do, we will really be something special."
A&M Notes:
*Acie Law scored 22 points, his 6th 20+ scoring game of the season. Law also added eight assists, his 8th game of at least 5 assists this season.
*Antanas Kavaliaukas scored 20 points with a career-high 10 rebounds, his first career double-double.
*Josh Carter scored 15 points and made 5-of-9 three-pointers. Carter has made 63.1 percent (24-38) from three-point range in the last 5 games.
*Joseph Jones posted 6 rebounds, giving him 500 in his career. He is the 19th A&M player to reach 500 rebounds and is only the 13th to score 1,000 points (1,039) with 500 boards.
*A&M has won 16 straight home games, tying for the 10th longest streak in the nation.
*A&M has won 33 straight regular-season non-conference home games.
*A&M out-rebounded Winthrop, 30-21. The Aggies have out-rebounded six straight opponents.
*A&M and Michigan State are the only two teams in the nation that have not allowed an opponent to score more than 65 points.
*A&M's 12 regular-season non-conference wins are the most in school history.
