November 13, 2007
Josh Carter scored 15 points and Chinemelu Elonu keyed a second-half spurt to help No. 15 Texas A&M beat Oral Roberts 67-53 on Tuesday night.
The Aggies (2-0) came out sloppy in the second half and when they committed their fourth turnover before the 16-minute mark, coach Mark Turgeon had seen enough. He benched all of his starters except for Dominique Kirk.
By then, Texas A&M's 20-point halftime lead had shrunk to 40-26. After a jumper by Moses Ehambe, Robert Jarvis hit a long 3 to cut the Aggies lead to nine.
Turgeon started slowly putting his starters back in the game and the Aggies scored the next eight points, with five coming from Elonu. He had played just two minutes in the first half and was in for less than a minute when he sparked A&M's run to fend off the Golden Eagles. He finished with seven points.
Carter scored seven of A&M's next nine points to stretch the lead to 58-39 with about 8 minutes left and it wouldn't be close again.
Freshman DeAndre Jordan again entertained the crowd with several two-handed dunks and his block of a shot by Curtis Allen drew the biggest cheers of the night. Jordan finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Joseph Jones added 13 for A&M.
Oral Roberts (1-1) was led by Adam Liberty with 13 points and Robert Jarvis had 12.
Texas A&M will meet Texas-El Paso on Wednesday in the south regional championship. UTEP beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 77-62 earlier Tuesday. The winner of that game will advance to the NIT semifinals next week at Madison Square Garden.
The Golden Eagles were hurt by the early foul trouble of Shawn King. He had two fouls four minutes into the game and fouled out with about seven minutes left in the game. The 6-foot-10 player looked tentative while hampered by the fouls and finished with 10 points.
Oral Roberts led 12-10 before Jones hit a 3-pointer with about 12 minutes left in the first half to put A&M on top. After the 3 by Jones, the Aggies scored 10 straight points to take a 22-10 lead.
Texas A&M outscored Oral Roberts 11-2 in the last six minutes of the first half to lead 37-17 at halftime.
Turgeon, in his first year at Texas A&M, is already making fans among the Aggie students after spending $10,000 to buy tickets for them to attend this tournament.
This is the first time the Aggies have appeared in the preseason NIT, since the first year of the event in 1985.
Texas A&M vs. Oral Roberts Post Game Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon:
?We?â„¢re getting better. I was pleased tonight. We did a great job defensively. We took a very explosive offense and held them to seventeen first half points. We?â„¢re not quite clicking offensively and I can?â„¢t explain that right now, but overall it was a great win. I?â„¢ve been a nervous wreck since I saw this game on the schedule. I know how good (Oral Roberts) is and how good they are coached. I?â„¢m very relieved to be through with this game. Our guys need to play with more confidence offensively. We just need to stay healthy and keep getting better.?
Texas A&M Center Joe Jones:
?The last couple of games we?â„¢ve come out real slow. Tonight we focused on coming out better. Coach stressed that all week.?
On facing UTEP tomorrow: ?They are a very good team that has excellent guards. They will be a tough match up for us tomorrow.?
Texas A&M Forward Josh Carter:
(on a possible trip to New York) ?We?â„¢re looking forward to it a lot. We are just going to come out tomorrow and hopefully get a win.
(on his contribution to the second half run) ?I was getting great screens from my teammates. They expect me to make shots and I was able to do that tonight.?
Oral Roberts Head Coach Scott Sutton:
?We got beat by a very good basketball team tonight. They showed why they are a top fifteen team and maybe should be higher. Aggie fans need to get out here and see number twelve (DeAndre Jordan). He is an incredible player and may not be around here very long. Coach (Billy) Gillispie instilled a lot of toughness, especially defensively, in these guys and Coach Turgeon has done a great job of continuing that.?
A&M NOTES:
*The Aggies have won 36 straight regular-season non-conference games.
*Freshman DeAndre Jordan scored a career-high 12 points with a career-best 8 rebounds.
*Junior Josh Carter had a game-high 15 points, making 2-of-4 three-pointers.
*Senior Joseph Jones scored 13 points with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in just 24 minutes. Jones needs 6 points to enter A&M?â„¢s career top 10 scoring chart.
*ORU made just 36.4 percent from the field. Both of the Aggies?â„¢ opponents this season have shot under 38 percent.
*A&M posted a 42-27 rebounding margin.
*A&M plays UTEP in the NIT South Regional finals on Wednesday at 8 p.m. The winner advanced to the NIT semifinals Nov. 21 in New York City.
*A&M is 0-3 all-time against UTEP, but the Miners have never visited College Station. The teams last met in 1981-82, with the Aggies dropping a 60-40 decision in El Paso.