December 29, 2007
Josh Carter scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half and Texas A&M (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) beat Florida A&M 83-54 on Saturday for its fifth straight win.
Carter, who led the nation in 3-point accuracy last season, went 4-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half against the Rattlers. He missed both of his attempts from behind the arc during limited action in the second half.
Aggies coach Mark Turgeon moved into a tie with Billy Gillispie for the best start by a first-year coach in school history at 12-1. Gillispie, now the Kentucky coach, went 12-1 to start the 2004-05 season.
Texas A&M led by 17 at halftime and outscored Florida A&M 11-5 in the opening minutes of the second half to stretch its lead to 58-35 with about 15 minutes to play.
Joseph Jones sunk a 3-pointer and he and freshman DeAndre Jordan each made a layup to help increase the lead to 65-40 a couple minutes later. Turgeon started featuring his reserves soon after that.
Jordan finished with 15 points and Bryan Davis had 13 for the Aggies. Dominique Kirk didn't score, but led the team with seven assists and six rebounds.
The Rattlers (3-8) jumped out to a 5-0 lead despite having a 12-day break since their last game. The Aggies, who have three starters taller than 6-foot-6, had trouble keeping up with the quickness of the smallish Rattlers at the start but soon adjusted.
Florida A&M led 12-10 with about 15 minutes left after a 3-pointer by Leslie Robinson but the Aggies responded with an 8-0 run.
Florida A&M got within one with about 11 minutes remaining before halftime. The Aggies then scored 10 straight points, and led 47-30 at halftime.
As usual, Jordan provided a highlight when he took an alley-oop inbound pass from Kirk and finished with a two-handed dunk midway through the first half.
Akini Akini led Florida A&M with 10 points and six rebounds and Robinson had nine points.
The Rattlers have lost four of their last five.
The Aggies' schedule heats up in the next week as they face Rice on Monday before Saturday's matchup with LSU and the start of Big 12 play against Colorado on Jan. 12.
POSTGAME QUOTES AND NOTES
Freshman DeAndre Jordan
On his free throw shooting
"I just came out and relaxed as I was shooting"
Junior Josh Carter
On Florida A&M's early lead
"We came out of the gates a little sluggish. We just had to calm down and pull it together."
On readiness for Big 12 play
"I think we're going good, but obviously we could be better."
What they did well today
"We shared the ball well. Everyone came out ready to play."
Head Coach Mark Turgeon
"I thought we were sluggish. We took some time off and it showed early. Then finally at about the 10 minute mark our guys started guarding a little bit and did well pretty much the rest of the game. Our offense at times was very unselfish, we shared the ball. We had 14 assists on 18 buckets in the first half."
On readiness for Big 12 play
"We will be. I think our guys are in need of some competition. To them the league is so far away. Rice will be a stiffer test for us and of course LSU is coming in; they are very talented and have beaten us the two times we've played them."
On what the team did well
"I thought we guarded well and rebounded well." "Dominique Kirk who shot one shot, passed up some other ones, him and Joe all the care about is winning. They are so unselfish. I'm really proud of those two guys.They are the backbone of this program and helped build this thing. That's why this program is where it is today, is guys like them." " We did a lot of nice things. We shared the ball 21 assists on 31 baskets."
A&M NOTES:
*Senior guard Dominique Kirk started for the 109st straight game, tying the Big 12 record set by Kansas' Aaron Miles (2001-05). Kirk missed his lone field goal attempt, but dished out a season-high 7 assists and had 6 rebounds. Kirk ranks ninth in A&M history with 307 career assists.
*The Aggies are 12-1 under Mark Turgeon, matching the best coaching debut in school history (Billy Gillispie in 2004-05).
*A&M has won five straight games.
*A&M has won 12 straight home games and is 10-0 at home this season. The Aggies have won 44 straight regular-season non-conference home games.
*Junior Josh Carter scored 20 points, his second 20-point game of the season and his seventh straight game in double figures. Carter matched his season-high with 4 three-pointers (4-7). He also was 4-7 against UTEP.
*Freshman DeAndre Jordan scored 15 points (6-8 FG), his third straight game in double figures and his second best scoring game overall (18 vs. Texas State). Jordan made a season-best 3-of-3 from the free throw line and added 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
*Sophomore Donald Sloan scored 6 points with 5 assists, his fifth straight game with at least 4 assists.
*Sophomore Chinemelu Elonu scored 4 points and matched his career-high with a team-best 9 rebounds, the second straight game he's led the team in rebounding (7 vs. UC Irvine). He also had 9 boards against Ouachita Baptist earlier this year.
*Senior Beau Muhlbach scored a season-high 4 points for the second straight game.
*Sophomore Bryan Davis scorred 13 points, the second best game of his career (15 vs. Ouachita Baptist).
*Senior Joseph Jones scored 12 points with 4 rebounds, his 10th double-figure scoring game of the year and the 83rd of his career. Jones ranked seventh in school history in scoring (1,452) and is 10th in rebounding (716).
*A&M came into the game leading the nation in field goal accuracy at .525 and matched that figure today (.525). It was the eighth time this season the Aggies have shot better than 50 percent.
*A&M came in ranekd fourth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.358) and held FAMU to.355, the ninth time the Aggies have held their opponent under 40 percent this season.
*A&M came in ranked fourth nationally in rebounding margin at +11.7 and posted a +18 margin (44-26) against the Rattlers. The Aggies have out-rebounded all 13 opponents this year.
*A&M's 21 assists today were its second most of the season (26 vs. Texas State).
*A&M made a season-best .750 (15-20) from the free throw line, the second straight game the Aggies have shot better than 70 percent. In the last five halves, A&M has made .739 (34-46).