Texas A&M
11-3
NORTH DAKOTA
2-14
Texas A&M Doubles Up North Dakota, 82-41
Jan 05, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -Texas A&M guard Donald Sloan scored a game-high 19 points as the Aggies doubled up North Dakota 82-41 on Tuesday night.
The Aggies (11-3) leaped to a 14-0 lead before many of the 7,903 fans found their seats. They led 43-22 at halftime on the strength of seven 3-pointers - including 4 of 5 by B.J. Holmes - in the first 20 minutes.
The Aggies finished 12 of 26 (46.2 percent) from the 3-point line, and nearly shot as well from long range as they did the free-throw line (16 of 31 for 51.6 percent). Holmes finished with 15 points, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
Derek Benter led the Fighting Sioux (2-14) with 11 points. North Dakota had trouble keeping its cool in the second half of the blowout, as Benter and teammate Patrick Mitchell each picked up technical fouls.
POSTGAME QUOTES
NORTH DAKOTA COACH BRIAN JONES
“I just thought A&M came out with a sense of urgency. That first four minutes of the game they really dominated us physically. Defensively they really pressured us in a way that at our level we don't see. That's always been a strength of Coach Turgeon's programs. They get after you defensively and force you into things you aren't used to doing, and we didn't respond well to that in the first four minutes of the game. That set the tone for the rest of the game. They've definitely got a chance to do some special things with the way they defend.”
On the pressure created by Dash Harris… “In our scouting report we said he was just a ball hawk. (He had) six steals and four assists. He's such an unselfish young man, he knows he doesn't have to shoot the ball to be successful. He rattled our ball-handling guards early and got them some easy buckets. Guys like that don't come along very often.”
A&M GUARD B.J. Holmes
On the defensive pressure… “Yeah, that was the game plan, so we wouldn't have to guard all that movement…the backdoor cuts and different things like that. It looks like Dash (Harris) was able to do it.”
On his shooting… “They felt the same as last game, it just wasn't going in then. I think that's something I'm going to have to do, help the rest of my teammates out by making some shots.”
A&M GUARD Donald Sloan
On the key to the fast start… “Defense. Dash (Harris) got us going early. He was tough on the ball, gritty, diving on the floor for passes he was tipping, and he kind of sparked everyone. We got out, played the passing lanes, and everything connected for us. We had great team defense I thought. Everything was kind of clicking for us defensively.” On the free throws… “You know, we do shoot them. I just think it's mental for everyone. If you make the first one, the second one definitely will go down. It's always the first one, if guys miss the first one the second one won't go down. It's all mental with us I think.”
On the defensive effort right before entering Big 12 play… “Yeah, I think we are where we want to be. With D-Ro (Derrick Roland) going down, everyone knows they have to step it up a lot. These past two games everyone on the team has legitimately stepped it up. It showed on the court.”
On Roland attending Saturday's game… “Yeah, he's looking forward to being back Saturday. I don't want him to be on the bench, but (hopefully) kind of have him behind the bench at least. He'll be in my ear, and BJ's ear, and the young guys' ears. He's still a leader. He'll be there.”
On getting ready for Nebraska Saturday… “We know it's going to get a lot tougher, that's no surprise, when we step on the court to play Nebraska. No game is going to be a cake walk. We already know that. It's going to be scrappy, going to be tough. One thing you've got to be is mentally tough to play in the Big 12. A lot of those games can be decided by one or two points. We know that and I think we'll be ready.”
A&M COACH Mark Turgeon
“I was pleased with our concentration and our defense. For 40 minutes we tried to guard. We had a few breakdowns when we subbed a little bit, and that happens when you sub a lot. For the most part we concentrated and guarded defensively. We had a great effort there and forced lot of turnovers. I thought we really shared the ball well against that zone and got a lot of good looks. I thought North Dakota had a lot of fight in them tonight. They made a lot of shots in the first half I wasn't expecting them to make. But our pressure was good and that hurt them. It was a good night for us.”
On the ball-sharing… “We really shared the ball. We're hard to guard. We can really space people out. Plus you have a guy like Sloan who can score in a variety of ways, and guys like Loubeau and Davis who are playing a lot better than they were. I know we will play against much harder defenses but we'll be hard to guard.”
On his team's effort heading into Big 12 play… “We've been pretty consistent in all our non-conference games. We just have to continue to get better. I thought we got better tonight. I thought we were good against Northwestern State but better longer tonight. We had fewer lapses. We're not on all cylinders offensively, but we're making some strides.”
On starting conference play and protecting the home court… “We're just going to try to beat Nebraska. If we start trying to protect something, we won't be very good. We are going to try to figure out how to beat Nebraska and just try and play well. I look at it as we have 16 really hard games. It's going to be a 16-game grind, a marathon. We've proven we don't have to start great, we finish great. But it'd be nice to start well too. It's hard when this league is so good. I would imagine we will beat each other up pretty good over the next few months.”
On playing the Huskers… “You look at Nebraska, in our last two games with them they beat us here and we were lucky to beat them there. It's going to be a grinder, probably in the 50s or low 60s, and whoever executes and guards at the end of the game will probably get the win. I don't think many teams have scored in the 60s against them. I like to think we're pretty good defensively too. It should be a grinder. It'll be two teams really trying to guard, and hopefully when we do get good looks we'll be able to knock them down. They're all going to be tough. We're looking forward to it, and I think we're ready.”
On the free throws… “I thought it was a little contagious tonight. If it had been a closer game, guys probably would have stepped up and made more. We shot them consistently better going into the break, and since we've come back after the break we're not shooting very well. We had 10 days off and I think we'll get better as time goes on.”
On Derrick Roland… “He was at shoot-around today, which was good. He's actually putting weight on his leg already, with crutches and a boot. It was great to see him. He has a great attitude. He knows we have to step up our intensity level so I'm sure he'll be around. I just don't know where we are going to put him. We need to get him somewhere where he can be protected from the fans and the game, and that is what we're looking into.”
