Texas A&M
8-1
Florida A&M
2-8
Aggies Bite Rattlers, 67-57
Dec 15, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2008
Post Game Audio [mp3]:
Players Elonu & Sloan
Head Coach Turgeon
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Chinemelu Elonu scored 17 points, had 14 rebounds and six blocked shots Monday night to help Texas A&M defeat Florida A&M 67-57.
Elonu's six blocked shots tied for the third most in school history.
The Aggies (8-1) also set a Big 12 game record by making all 20 of their free throws.
Texas A&M broke open a 23-19 game with 5:45 remaining in the first half by scoring the next 10 points, a streak highlighted by four points each from Elonu and Donald Sloan. Sloan scored a season-high 21 points.
Lamar Twitty led Florida A&M (2-8) with 27 points.
Florida A&M closed the gap to 46-44 midway through the second half before Texas A&M used a 13-2 run to put the game out of reach.
Postgame Quotes & Notes
Texas A&M Coach Mark Turgeon:
"I don't want to take anything away from Florida A&M. They played well. They came out ready to play us and we didn't take our chance to bury them. Donald Sloan and Junior (Elonu) were good tonight, but nobody else really stepped up with intensity. Junior stepped up and dominated where he needed to. Our free throws were good. We got into our new practice gym this last week and were able to put up a bunch of free throws. I think that really contributed to what happened tonight. We try to run a system and that system didn't work tonight. To be honest, we didn't run a lot of plays tonight."
Texas A&M Forward Chinemelu Elonu:
"Coach told us they were pretty good. We hadn't practiced for this game so I just went out and played as hard as I could. It feels good to have such a well-rounded game."
Texas A&M Guard Donald Sloan:
"It is great for our bigs to play well. When they play well, it gives us confidence and we can be a little more comfortable in the game. I never thought that this team would set a record for free throw percentage. But Coach has put an emphasis on free throws and I think it is paying off. I love playing the game. No matter where, when, or who it is against. The alley-oop plays give us a spark and make the game a little more fun."
A&M Notes:
*The Aggies made 20-of-20 from the free throw line, setting Big 12 and school records for free throw percentage (1.000) in a game. The old Big 12 mark was .962 (25-26) by Texas against New Mexico State on March 16, 2007. The old A&M record was 15-of-15 (1.000) against Oklahoma State on Dec. 30, 1988.
*The Aggies have made at least 80.0 percent from the free throw line in four straight games, making 86.4 (71-80) in that span.
*Donald Sloan tied his career high with 21 points. He also had 21 last season against Missouri. Sloan was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, the best by an Aggie since Antoine Wright was 11-of-11 against Colorado in 2004-05. It equaled the best performance from the line by a Big 12 player this season (
*Chinemelu Elonu scored 17 points (one shy of his career best) with a career-high 14 rebounds and a career-high 6 blocked shots. The 6 blocks tied for the third most in school history and are the most by an Aggie since DeAndre Jordan had 6 last season at Baylor. It equaled the most blocks by a Big 12 player this season. Elonu played a career-high 30 minutes after posting his previous high on Saturday at Alabama (28).
*The Aggies have won 52 straight regular-season non-conference home games since an 82-80 loss to A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 13, 2003.
*The Aggies have won four straight games, matching their longest streak of the season.
*A&M has won 73 home games (73-10) in the last five seasons, second most in the nation behind Memphis (76).
*Josh Carter scored 11 points, giving him 1,229 in his career and moving him into 16th on the A&M chart. Tonight he passed Randy Knowles (1,222 in 1971-74). Carter needs 15 points to pass Tony McGinnis (1,240 in 1991-95) and Damon Johnson (1,243 in 1991-95) and move into 14th.
*The Aggies had a +15 (39-24) rebounding margin, their second largest of the season (+16 vs. Kent State).
