Texas A&M
21-8, 7-7
Iowa State
14-15, 3-11
Aggies Win Fourth Straight, Topping Iowa State 87-69
Feb 28, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2009
Post Game Audio [mp3]:
Head Coach Turgeon
Players Carter & Elonu
ISU Head Coach McDermott
ISU Players
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Josh Carter had seven 3-pointers and a career-high 29 points to lead Texas A&M to an 87-69 win over Iowa State on Saturday.
The win is Texas A&M's fourth straight and Iowa State's 15th consecutive Big 12 road loss.
The Aggies used a 14-4 run in the opening minutes of the second half to stretch a seven-point lead into a a 58-41 advantage.
Texas A&M (21-8, 7-7 Big 12) made five 3-pointers in the next six minutes to push the lead to 73-46 with about nine minutes left.
Carter was 7-of-10 from 3-point range and finished just one shy of his career-high of eight 3s. Chinemelu Elonu added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies.
Iowa State (14-15, 3-11) was led by Craig Brackins who had 20 points.
Postgame Quotes
Texas A&M Coach Turgeon: (on why he changed starting lineup) "I have a great group of kids, but we had some make some guys who were later to a meeting so they had to face the consequence. Our guys don't make mistakes very often, but they have to learn the lesson."
"We talked a lot about defense for this game, and used that to get our offense going. Josh (Carter) is very confident in his shot right now, and our guys are not being selfish with the ball. That is very encouraging to me as a coach. Our guys are very motivated coming into these last two games. It was great to see Dash get those three's. He works very hard on his shot, and this helps his confidence. We doubled up on Brackins just a little to keep him off balance and to slow him down. Everything is really coming to together. We are seeing a team that is getting what we are trying to accomplish."
Senior Guard Josh Carter: "My teammates set up some great looks for me, and that enabled me to make some shots. I am more aggressive right now than I have been. I am taking shots that I wasn't taking previously. There is a thin line between winning and losing, and we have been on both sides this season. When we were on our losing streak, I knew I was going to have to step up and start playing better."
Junior Forward Chinemelu Elonu: "I wanted to start this game off aggressive on the boards and be a presence. Brackins is a good player, so we threw some different stuff at him, and I think that helped us a lot. It was good to see some of my teammates get some playing time."
Iowa State Coach Greg McDermott: "They were able to carry momentum throughout the game, and run away with it. We did not do a good job on Josh Carter. He was just able to work off the screens, and he made us pay. Craig (Brackins) makes tough shots, but they made adjustments to slow him down tonight. They executed very well, and they were able to put it away."
Sophomore Forward Craig Brackins: "In the second half they tried to double me more, and played more aggressive. They seemed to have a drive to not lose, and we were not able to slow them down. They just kept coming at us. We are young, and really have things to learn from older guys on the team."
Sophomore Guard Lucca Staiger: "Josh Carter is a great player, and we had a tough time guarding him. He does a lot of things that I think I can learn from to improve my game."
A&M Notes
*Josh Carter scored a career-high 29 points, making 7-of-10 three-pointers. His previous high was 26 points against BYU (2008 NCAA Tournament), Nebraska (2006-07) and Idaho State (2006-07). Carter was one three-pointer shy of matching the school record of 8, which he shares with Jerald Brown (vs. Nebraska in 1996-97) and Bernard King (vs. Lamar in 2000-01). Carter made 8 treys against Nebraska (2006-07), Grambling State (2006-07) and Idaho State (2006-07). It Carter's most three-pointers in a game since he made 8 in the Nebraska game in 2007.
*Carter's point total was the most by an A&M player since Acie Law scored 33 at Texas in 2006-07. Carter has scored in double figures in nine straight games.
*In the last three games, Carter has made 14-of-19 (.736) from three-point range.
*A&M is 95-35 since Carter arrived at A&M, tying him with Joseph Jones (2004-08) and Dominique Kirk (2004-08) as the winningest players in school history.
*Carter has scored 1,502 career points, moving him into seventh on the A&M chart. Today he passes Rynn Wright (1,495 in 1977-81).
*Carter has 290 career three-pointers, most in school history and fourth on the Big 12 list.
*With 488 career rebounds, Carter needs 12 more to become the first player in school history to reach 1,500 career points with 500 rebounds and 200 assists (235).
*Chinemelu Elonu scored 16 points with 10 rebounds, his ninth double-double of the year and his fifth in Big 12 play).
*Freshman Dash Harris tied his career high with 6 points (North Dakota) and made 2-of-2 from three-point range. Coming into the game, he was 0-9 for the season on three-point attempts.
*Senior Bryson Graham, sidelined for three years by knee injuries, got his first career start today. He made 1-of-3 three-pointers. Gramham has made six three-pointers in his career.
*Donald Sloan handed out 3 assists. The Aggies are 37-6 when Sloan has at least 3 assists in his career.
*A&M is 15-2 at home this season and is 31-6 in home games under Mark Turgeon.
*A&M's 21 wins ties for the sixth most in school history. This is the fifth straight year A&M has posted at least 21 wins. Turgeon's teams have reached the 20-win mark in five of the last six seasons.
*Turgeon is 46-19 at A&M, matching the best start in A&M history and the second-best start in Big 12 history. Kansas' Bill Self started with a 48-17 mark after 65 games in 2003-06. Billy Gillispie was 46-19 at A&M in 2004-07).
*A&M is 14-0 this year when it scores at least 70 points.
*A&M made 52.5 percent from the field, its best shooting percentage since it made a season-high 57.1 percent against Kent State in the South Padre Island Invitational on Nov. 28. A&M is 16-1 when it makes at least 43 percent from the field this year.
*A&M handed out 19 assists, its most since it posted a season-high 21 against Kent State. The Aggies are 20-3 this season when they post at least 9 assists and are 13-0 when they have a positive assist/turnover ratio.
*A&M had a +14 rebounding margin (37-23). The Aggies have out-rebounded eight of their last nine opponents with an average margin of +10.1 in those games. A&M is 17-3 when out-rebounding its opponent this season.
*The Aggies are 16-1 when their opponent scores 13 points or less off turnovers.
