November 01, 2007
No. 14 Texas A&M defeated Emporia State 85-73 Thursday night at Reed Arena in the exhibition opener for both teams.
Texas A&M held an 11-point halftime lead in the game which also marked the first under new Aggie head coach Mark Turgeon. ESU would cut the lead to two at 64-62 with just over seven minutes left but would get no closer.
Five Aggies placed in double figures, led by Josh Carter's 14 points and six rebounds. DeAndre Jordan and Donald Sloan each added 12.
DeAndre Townsend led the Hornets with 19 points and four rebounds.
The Aggies shot 53 percent from the floor and outrebounded Emporia State, 44-31.
A&M concludes exhibition play on Monday when the Aggies host Tarleton State at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Emporia State Head Coach David Moe: ?We had a lot of experience on the court tonight and we?â„¢ve been in situations like this one before. We struggled at times, but we responded and didn?â„¢t panic. We made some adjustments at the half that allowed us to stay in the neighborhood. We knew we were going to play fast. We play fast no matter who the opponent is. I think we did a good job tonight.?
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon: ?I thought Emporia State played great. It?â„¢s the best team (Coach Moe) has had. They were a tough match-up for us. We tried to stay big in the first half and chase those guys around. We?â„¢re one of the biggest teams in college basketball and we were chasing around a lot of guards tonight. It showed. I was disappointed in our defense because I thought our play was uncharacteristic of what we?â„¢ve done in practice. They made us do some things we didn?â„¢t want to do defensively. Offensively, you have to understand that this scheme is all new. This is about as ugly as I?â„¢ve seen one of my teams play. With that said, we still shot 52 percent. We missed a lot of free throws and a lot of open shots tonight and we still scored 85. The offense is just going to get better and better as the season goes on.?
Texas A&M Senior Guard Dominique Kirk:
?I think we were pretty shaky at the beginning. We didn?â„¢t run back on defense like we are supposed to do. As the game went on, we got better. We have to get better on transition defense.?
Texas A&M Junior Forward Josh Carter: ?There?â„¢s just more movement with everybody compared to last year. We?â„¢re moving constantly. We?â„¢ve just got to improve. It?â„¢s a new system and we?â„¢ll get better. It was just an ugly night.?