December 22, 2007
Donald Sloan had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists and Texas A&M (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) pulled away from UC Irvine in the second half for an 88-66 victory on Saturday.
Dominique Kirk added 14 points and DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and five rebounds for the Aggies (11-1), who have won 32 of their last 33 games at noisy Reed Arena. Texas A&M has won 43 consecutive regular-season nonconference home games.
A&M shot 68 percent in the second half (19-of-28) and 63 percent for the game. The Aggies had a 32-22 rebound advantage and have outrebounded all of their 12 opponents.
Darren Fells scored 19 points and Patrick Sanders added 18 for Irvine (4-7).
The Aggies led 44-34 at halftime and Josh Carter made two 3-pointers as A&M stretched the lead to 59-43 in the first five minutes of the second half.
Sanders hit a 3-pointer and a long jumper for Irvine, but the Anteaters couldn't keep up with the Aggies' scoring pace. A&M made 11 of its first 13 shots out of halftime and led 70-53 after reserve Beau Muhlbach hit a jumper from the wing with 11 minutes left.
Joseph Jones scored inside before Sloan flipped an alley-oop pass to Chinemelu Elonu for dunk that pushed the lead past 20.
POSTGAME QUOTES AND NOTES
UC-Irvine Head Coach Pat Douglass
"Obviously we knew coming in that A&M is one of the more solid clubs in the country. This was a test for us and we were going to try and survive. I was proud of our kids effort. We've been depleted at the post with one of our post players out for the year and then we hit foul trouble early with Kevin Bland. It's kind of hard to go small against A&M. We were hoping that maybe they wouldn't make the three and they shot the three ball well. Overall we go back home and take a little break then we start league play. We were glad to be able to be here and play against this outstanding ballclub and a well-coached ballclub."
Texas A&M sophomore Donald Sloan
"I think the opportunity was there. A lot of games I don't think the drive is there for me. I just think this game it was open for me. Of course I took the chance and went on in, grabbed the opportunity and made it. My teammates hit the open shots that were given. I give all the credit to them."
Texas A&M senior Dominque Kirk
On last minute shot before half....
"We run that in practice all the time. I think we executed it well and fortunately I got the shot off and it went in."
On his three-point shooting...
"Coach Williamson always brings the point guards out there and we shoot everyday after practice. We shoot a lot of threes and shoot a lot of jump shots and that just carries on into the game. Sloan did a good job of finding everybody. We were just ready to shoot and I felt good."
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon
"I knew coming into this game UC-Irvine was much better than their record. They've been on the road a lot and they've played some pretty good teams. We saw a really good Irvine team today. They came out and made some shots early and got their confidence up. I thought we played well. Our defense wasn't what I wanted. I thought we were relaxed a few times. We had no answer for (Darren) Fells early. Besides that I thought offensively we played about as well as we've played for 40 minutes."
A&M NOTES
*A&M's 11-1 start under Mark Turgeon ties for the best in school history by a first-year coach (Billy Gillispie, 11-1 in 2004-05).
*A&M has won 43 straight regular-season non-conference home games.
*A&M has won 11 straight home games, including a 9-0 mark this season. The Aggies have won 32 of their last 33 at home.
*A&M is 60-6 at Reed Arena in the last four seasons, the most home wins in the country in that time frame. The Aggies are 43-3 at home in the last three seasons.
*A&M posted a 32-22 rebounding edge. The Aggies have out-rebounded all 12 opponents.
*A&M had 17 assists (second most this season) and a season-low 6 turnovers, its best ratio of the season.
*A&M had 40 points in the paint. The Aggies have had at least 20 points in the paint in all 12 games.
*A&M had a season-high 9 three-pointers for the second straight game. In the last two games, the Aggies have made 18-of-36 (.500) from three-point range.
*A&M made .733 (11-15) from the free throw line, its second best percentage of the year (.737, 14-19, vs. Alabama).
*A&M had six players score in double figures for the first time this season.
*Dominique Kirk scored 14 points, tying his career high with 4 three-pointers (4 vs. Oklahoma in 2005-06). Kirk also had 2 assists, giving him 300 in his career (ninth on the A&M chart).
*With 108 consecutive starts, Kirk could tie the Big 12 record of 109 (Kansas' Aaron Miles, 2001-05) if he starts against Florida A&M on Dec. 29.
*A&M had 26 bench points, its seventh straight game with at least 20.
*Josh Carter scored 10 points, his sixth straight game in double figures.