Texas A&M
18-8, 4-7
Texas
17-8, 6-5
Aggies Thump Longhorns, 81-66
Feb 16, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2009
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Post Game Audio [mp3]:
Head Coach Turgeon
Players Davis, Roland, & Sloan
UT Head Coach Barnes
UT Players Abrams & Pittman
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)--Chinemelu Elonu and Bryan Davis scored 15 points apiece to lead Texas A&M to an 81-66 win over Texas on Monday night to break a three-game losing streak.
The Aggies (18-8, 4-7 Big 12) led by as many as 19 points in the second half before Texas went on a 16-1 run to get back in the game.
Texas (17-8, 6-5) cut the deficit to 61-57 before the Aggies scored seven straight points to stretch their lead back to double-digits with about five minutes left.
The Aggies made nine free throws after that to secure the victory.
Gary Johnson led the Longhorns with 17 points, but had to sit for large parts of the second half because of foul trouble.
Donald Sloan added 14 points for the Aggies.
Texas A&M vs. Texas Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Rick Barnes:
"Texas A&M plays harder against us than they do anybody else. I thought they played terrific and had a great team effort. I thought we had a chance to win the game, but they got some key offensive rebounds and we weren't able to make the stop. From where we sit, there are things that we really need to work on, but I don't want to take anything away from the way A&M played. They made the plays when they had to. They do a good job mixing up their defense, but it wasn't anything we haven't seen before. You do what you have to during the season, and what you do is what you end up with at tourney time. That is how this game works."
Texas Senior Guard A.J. Abrams:
"We didn't do the job we needed to do. We didn't give what it takes to win. They came out and capitalized on their opportunities. We thought we were doing what we needed to do to stop them. I am not going to make excuses, we just didn't play hard enough to stop them and to win.
Texas Junior Center Dexter Pittman:
"I got into foul trouble early. I need start taking it easy and not going after every rebound and ball so hard because of that."
Texas A&M Junior Forward Bryan Davis
(on thoughts when Texas cut the lead to four) "Once they cut it to four, I think we had a time out and we said that we were not going to let them come back. That's something that we have been on the other side of in the past three games, fighting to come back. And we get to that point and we can't do it. We said we had to do that to them. We had to execute offensively."
(on not losing to Texas at home) "We take a lot of pride in that. One of our goals coming in was never to lose to them, but we lost on the road. We have to protect our house, not only against them but in the Big 12. You have to take care of your home court in this league and we did that today."
(on playing better against Texas than anyone else) "We do get up to play against Texas, but this was just the perfect situation. We'd lost three straight tough games that we could have easily won, and that was the situation coming into this game and with this being Texas, that explains it all. We always come out and play tough against them."
(on having time off) "That's big for us. We're able to get a good day off and get our legs back under us. Then we get back to work on Wednesday and prepare for a good Texas Tech team in their place. We have to go in there and try to get a win."
Texas A&M Junior Guard Donald Sloan
(on thoughts when Texas cut it to four) "When they went on that run late I thought this can't be happening again. The whole time I thought we executed well but we needed someone to make a shot. We executed at the free throw line and that was a big deal."
(on the team effort) "In order for us to be the team we need to be and want to be, we're going to have to have it night in and night out. We need guys to come off the bench and shoot and make plays and be scrappy. If we are consistent on that and our starting five play well, we would be a tough team to beat."
(on a desperate effort) "I thought we played hard tonight, I wouldn't call it desperate. If we continue to keep the intensity up and if we can find a way to keep that intensity on the road, and if we can play with that intensity and focus one game at a time, I think we will be fine."
(on finishing a game) "We were able to make free throws at the end. Chin (Elonu) made a couple, Josh (Carter) made some, and B.J. (Holmes). All good teams, they shoot free throws well. In order for us to get back to where we want to be, we have to finish out and shoot free throws well and not turn the ball over."
"The games we've lost have been close ones. I don't think any team we've played ran away with it. We have been right there every game. (If not for) a couple of mistakes here or missed shots there, maybe we win all those games. If we keep executing the way we're doing and with the same intensity, we'll be fine."
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon
"We had to have it. That's an understatement. Obviously playing Texas gets everyone excited around here, including the coaches and players. I thought we were pretty dialed in. We did a good job of leaving the Baylor loss in the locker room. We took about a five minute break on defense in the second half and a five minute break on offense in the second half, and besides that I thought we were really good. We survived serious foul trouble in the first half. Guys stepped up and played well. This was a really good win and obviously a much-needed win for us."
(on the defensive job Roland did on AJ Abrams) "He did a great job. I don't know if he scored on D-Ro. I know he scored on an out-of-bounds play on Dash (Harris). D-Ro was really good. Dominique (Kirk) was in the house watching, so I think he wanted to make him proud. I think A.J. is tired. He played 45 minutes Saturday. I think it's the first time all year the schedule helped us. They played at Colorado Saturday and then had to come here. That's not an easy trip. We tried to have (A.J.) chase on defense too. I felt like he got a little tired."
(on how big it was to finish) "Every game has been different, you've got to understand that. In the last two games we've just been behind and couldn't get a stop to put pressure on the other team. I know our record doesn't show it in the league, but we are getting better. I've been saying that all year. It takes us a little longer but we are getting better offensively and defensively. Hopefully we'll continue to get better down the stretch."
(on Elonu stepping up and hitting free throws late) "That was big. If you remember back to the K-State game, he missed a free throw by about five feet. We've worked really hard on free throws. We were 18-of-24 at Baylor and 18-of-21 today. We're at about 80 percent in our last two games and our guys have stepped up. That's got to continue. There's a fine line between winning and losing. Our field goals were not as good, our free throws were not as good and our defense was not quite good enough. A lot of little things contribute to close losses and we're trying to get better at all those little things. Hopefully that will make us better down the stretch."
(on Derrick Roland and Dash Harris, scored just 7 points, matching his season low (7 vs. Arkansas). Abrams made just 3-of 12 field goals, including 1-of-7 three-pointers. Earlier this season in Austin, Abrams made just 3-of-10 from the field (0-of-2 three-pointers) and scored 9 points.
*Chinemelu Elonu scored 15 points with 7 rebounds (4 offensive), his best offensive game since he had 17 against Baylor on Jan. 14. Elonu matched his career high in both free throws made and attempted, making 7-of-8.
*Bryan Davis scored 15 points with 8 rebounds, his fifth double-figure scoring game in his last six outings.
*Dash Harris matched his career high with 5 assists and 0 turnovers in 11 minutes of play. He also had five this year against Texas Tech, Rice and McNeese State.
*Donald Sloan scored 14 points, his fifth straight game in double figures.
*Josh Carter scored 11 points, his sixth straight game in double figures.
*Nathan Walkup scored 7 points on 3-of-3 shooting, his best scoring output since he had 7 against McNeese State on Jan. 3.
*A&M made .857 (18-21) from the free throw line, its second best performance of the year. The Aggies set a Big 12 record by making 20-of-20 against Florida A&M on Dec. 15.
*A&M scored 81 points, its highest total since it scored 84 against Baylor on Jan. 14. The Aggies are 12-0 this season when they score at least 72 points.
*A&M had just 10 turhovers for the second straight game. The Aggies are 15-3 when they have 13 or fewer turnovers.
*A&M scored 32 points in the paint. The Aggies are 15-1 when they scored at least 27 points in the paint.
*Mark Turgeon is 43-19 at A&M, matching the best start in school history through 62 games (Billy Gillispie in 2004-06). It is second in Big 12 annals behind Kansas Bill Self, who was 47-15 in 2003-05.
