Texas A&M
1-0
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
0-2
Aggies Cruise Past Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 76-47
Nov 16, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Guard Josh Carter started hot and stayed that way, scoring 23 points as Texas A&M defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 76-47 in the Aggies' season opener Sunday.
Carter finished 5 of 9 on 3-pointers, while his teammates shot 2 of 14 from the 3-point line.
The Aggies (1-0) took a 36-19 halftime lead over the Golden Lions (0-2) thanks to Carter?s 15 points, when he made 3-of-5 3-pointers in the first half.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff shot 32 percent from the field against the Aggies? stifling defense. Only Tavaris Washington scored in double figures for the Golden Lions with 11 points.
While Carter finished 7 of 11 from the field, fellow A&M guards Derrick Roland, Dash Harris, B.J. Holmes, Donald Sloan finished a combined 5 of 27 from the floor.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
Coach Mark Turgeon: "I was pleased with our defense. We gave up too many second-chance points in the second half. As far as our shooting, we missed a lot tonight. We are a much better shooting team than you saw tonight, so that was disappointing for me to see. Josh (Carter) was in a rhythm tonight and stepped up and played like a senior. (Derrick) Roland was good on defense, as always. I was very pleased with Dash (Harris) coming in and playing defense. He played very well for his first game. We weren't passing the ball well at the beginning of the game. You will learn that I want my teams sharing the ball a lot. If you look across our team, you will see a bunch of guys who will continue to get better. Sloan was frustrated because I wanted them to pass the ball and pass up the open shot a few times. I hate to say that he was bored, but you know that he will make those shots when they count. They were just a little out of rhythm, wondering whether I wanted them to shoot or not."
Senior Josh Carter: "It was good to see our younger guys playing hard. We all made mistakes, but we will improve. I like the look of this team. We are going to play good. The scouting report was good on these guys. Everybody looks good on film, and that helps you to respect your opponent, so that you come out, play hard, and not take anything for granted. The three-point line is not much of a factor. It is not that different. I just have to be aware of where I am on the court."
Junior Bryan Davis: "Coach told us to be patient and let the offense work for us. Every day I try to keep my energy up to try and help the guys around me to keep going. We have really focused on rebounding, and I think that helped us today. Every rebound has the potential to turn into points, which is good for us. I would give us a B-minus on defense. We didn't play as well as we can, but we will improve game-by-game."
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
*Josh Carter scored a game-high 23 points, making 5-of-9 three-pointers. With 227 career three-point field goals, Carter needs six more to break the school record of 232 set by Bernard King (1999-03).
*Carter now has 1,121 career points, moving to 24th on the A&M chart.
*Bryan Davis scored 15 points with 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks.
*Chinemelu Elonu had 11 points, his highest scoring game since he had a career-high 12 points against Prairie View A&M in his college debut in 2006-07. Elonu added 7 rebounds.
*Of the 17 players on the roster, 16 saw action today. Senior Bryson Graham is injured and did not play.
*B.J. Holmes had a career-high 3 steals.
