Texas A&M
13-1
McNeese State
5-7
Aggies Hold Off McNeese State, 57-52
Jan 03, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Chinemelu Elonu scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Texas A&M to a 57-52 victory over McNeese State on Saturday night.
The Aggies (13-1) went scoreless for more than six minutes late in the game and nearly gave back a nine-point lead. Josh Carter ended the drought when he sank a jumper with 2:29 left to lift A&M to a 54-52 lead. Carter then snared a crucial rebound with 49 seconds remaining to help preserve the victory.
Elonu made two free throws with 15 seconds left to give A&M a four-point lead. A backcourt violation on Elbryan Neal on Cowboys' ensuing possession doomed McNeese State's final chance at an upset.
Diego Kapelan and Kleon Penn scored 15 points each for McNeese State (5-7), while Carter added 13 for A&M.
The Aggies have won nine consecutive games, while the Cowboys have lost four in a row.
POSTGAME QUOTES & NOTES
A&M COACH Mark Turgeon
"Give McNeese a lot of credit. They totally controlled the game. Kleon (Penn) was blocking shots and rebounding, we couldn't guard him, and we finally made some adjustments that helped a bit down the stretch. We built a 13-point lead and just didn't play well. That gave them confidence. We played most of the game without Bryan Davis and almost all of it without Derrick Roland. I was pleased with Dash (Harris) -- he gave us great minutes. Josh (Carter) hit a big shot, and Junior (Elonu) hit big free throws. Josh got the lid off the basket for us. It was not our best effort but give McNeese a lot of credit.
"We guarded well tonight for the most part. Take away the big kid and some transition and second-chance points, and we really guarded well. We had to play lot of funny lineups and never got into any rhythm in this game. We gave the big fellow (Kleon Penn) too many layups. We made our final adjustment on defense and did a lot better down the stretch. The bottom line is our guys have to play better. We play well when we have to and I want them to play well all the time. Pretty soon we'll play like that and it's not going to be good enough. McNeese is pretty good. They lost by three at LSU and have some good players. We just didn't do our job."
"I thought our crowd was fantastic. The doubleheader worked well for both of us (men and women). The crowd was enthused all night and very good."
(on Derrick Roland status) "We took some precautionary x-rays of his hip and elbow, and it's a bad bruise we think. Chin (Elonu) came down pretty hard and hit his head but he bounced back."
(on Dash Harris) "I thought he was really good at Rice with five assists and no turnovers. He probably should have played more. He really played well the first half. With D-Ro getting hurt it opened up more minutes for him. I thought he was good and thought he guarded well."
(on Junior Elonu) "Chin has really played well for a long time now. He's played a lot of really good games since Alabama."
SENIOR GUARD/FORWARD Josh Carter
"We didn't play too well obviously, but credit them. They did a good job and they are a good team. I've been feeling pretty good, but my shots are not falling for me right now. It felt good to rattle one in that we needed. There were a couple of shots where (Donald) Sloan went down the lane, and he always makes those, and then all of sudden it rattled out. We had to find a way to put it in. I knew we weren't going to give up any points down the stretch because our defense started picking up down the end."
JUNIOR FORWARD Chinemelu Elonu
(on his two free throws late in game) "I just took my time and shot them. It's part of our routine."
(on Kleon Penn) "He was pretty big, so we were trying to do our all to stop him from scoring. I've got to give it up to him -- he played a really good game. We had a hard time guarding him. He's pretty good and just real strong and knows how to swivel. When he gets near the basket he knows what to do with it.
(on the mood in the locker room after the game) "It was not too good. We're all down a bit because we didn't play a good game. We let our offense affect our defense. But everyone has just got to get ready for tomorrow's practice and our next game on Monday. It's over and what happened has happened. You've got to move on to the future."
MCNEESE COACH DAVE SIMMONS
"I thought we got the effort we were looking for. They are a great basketball team. The difference was when we fought back and got back into the game and tied it up, I thought the 12th Man was the biggest difference. It was hard to get in our sets. Our point guard couldn't hear and we missed some opportunities in the end. The crowd was a big factor when it needed to be. This is a tough place to play. I give the credit on the court too. We played about as well as we could play, and if we play like this in our league we'll be fine. It was a battle. When they made that run and got us down at the half they could have really spread that margin and made it difficult for us. But we battled and we made some shots. I'm proud of our kids for the competitive effort they gave tonight."
(on Kleon Penn) "It was a tremendous effort for him. Kleon is a big kid and when we play teams with size and he can stay in the paint, he's more effective for us. Our success comes when he plays like that and we can keep him close to the basket. For us to compete with a team like A&M he has to play like that. I was proud of him and maybe this is a boost for him. Maybe next time we come out he can do those things again."
A&M NOTES
*The Aggies have won 55 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 nine straight games this season, tying for the eighth longest winning streak in the country.
*The Aggies are 9-0 at home this season.
*Mark Turgeon's 38-12 record is the second best in Big 12 history through 50 games. Kansas' Bill Self was 40-10 in 2003-05.
*A&M is 76-10 at home in the last five seasons, the second most home wins in the country behind Memphis (81).
*Freshman guard Dash Harris handed out a career-high 5 assists for the second straight game. In the last two games, he's had 10 assists and one one turnover.
*Chinemelu Elonu scored a team-high 15 points with a team-best 7 rebounds, his third straight game in double figures.
*Denzel Bowles came off the bench to record a career-high 6 rebounds.
*A&M had a 23-0 advantage in points off turnovers. McNeese had 18 turnovers and the Aggies had only 6, their second fewest of the season.
