Texas A&M
9-1,0-0
WASHINGTON
6-3,0-0
Aggies Outlast No. 21 Washington, 63-62
Dec 11, 2010 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -
When Washington's Isaiah Thomas got a steal with five seconds left and his team trailing by one point to Texas A&M, Aggies' coach Mark Turgeon had one thought.
"I hope they miss a shot," Turgeon said.
David Loubeau made sure they did.
Loubeau blocked a desperation shot by Thomas as time expired and Texas A&M held on for a 63-62 win over No. 21 Washington on Saturday.
"David just made a smart play," Turgeon said. "Instead of going to his man, he came and played the shot. That was a big time block. It was clean."
The Aggies (9-1) led by seven with about four minutes to go before the Huskies (6-3) scored six straight points to pull to 63-62 with about 1 1/2 minutes remaining. Texas A&M's Khris Middleton missed a 3-pointer and C.J. Wilcox missed one for the Huskies with 17 seconds left and Washington knocked the ball out of bounds.
The Aggies got the ball down the court before Thomas stole the ball from Nathan Walkup and raced back for the shot. But Loubeau knocked it down to give Texas A&M the win.
"The crowd was going crazy and everybody was into it and it was like a nail-biter," Loubeau said of the last few seconds. "As soon as he went up, I just put my hand up and got the ball."
Turgeon couldn't believe Washington didn't foul as soon as Texas A&M threw in the ball. Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said they were trying to.
"We didn't quite get that done, but it worked out," he said. "Isaiah busted his tail and got the steal. As things were spread out we kind of slowed it down a little bit and we had two guys jump out on him. By then it was too late."
Middleton led the Aggies with 17 points and Loubeau added 15 points and nine rebounds.
The win is Texas A&M's sixth straight and its 70th consecutive regular-season non-conference win at home.
It is the third loss of the season for the Huskies, whose previous two were to No. 17 Kentucky and seventh-ranked Michigan State.
"We're still I think trying to find ourselves, but defensively we were better than we have been all year," Turgeon said.
Washington entered the game leading the nation in scoring with almost 96 points a game and had scored 100 four times this season. Their 62 points and 37.7 percent shooting were both season lows.
"They pretty much clogged up the middle and everything we got we had to work hard for," Romar said. "You're kicking yourself because you lose by 1 point and shoot 6 of 22 from the 3 and we lead the nation in 3-point shooting."
They were led by Thomas who had 13 points and Abdul Gaddy added 10.
Justin Holiday, who entered the game averaging more than 14 points, scored just four after getting into early foul trouble. He fouled out with about four minutes remaining.
"He's our smartest player and has been playing probably the best all-around basketball on our entire team," Romar said. "So if you lose somebody like that it definitely has an impact."
The Aggies were up by five points before Wilcox and Darnell Gant hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Huskies a 47-46 lead with about 12 1/2 minutes remaining.
Texas A&M scored the first six points of the second half to take a 35-32 lead with about 18 1/2 minutes remaining.
These teams also met last year in what ended up being a difficult loss for the Aggies three days before Christmas. Washington won 73-64 and the Aggies lost top defender Derrick Roland for the season when he broke both his tibia and fibula in a grotesque injury that ended the senior's collegiate career.
The Aggies were up by six points in the first half before Washington went on a 9-1 run to take a 19-17 lead about eight minutes before halftime. Washington trailed by two points near the end of the first half before scoring five straight points to take a 32-29 halftime lead. Texas A&M's Dash Harris was called for a technical after a block by teammate Ray Turner and Thomas hit both foul shots to get that run going.
It was unclear why he received a technical.
Both teams shot under 38 percent in the first half and the Huskies' 32 first-half points were a season low.
TEAM
- Texas A&M extended its win streak to 6 games, their longest since the spring of 2009.
- Texas A&M extended its home-court win streak against non-conference opponents to 57 games ... the Aggies extended their regular-season, non-conference home win streak to 70 ... the Aggies have won 24 of their last 25 home games overall.
- A&M out-rebounded Washington, 39-33 ... the Aggies have out-rebounded every opponent this year.
- The crowd of 10,293 was a season high ... it was the eighth time in Reed Arena history a regular-season, non-conference crowd hit the 10,000 mark.
- Texas A&M held Washington to a season-low 62 points ... the Huskies, who entered the game leading the country averaging 95.5 points per game, had a previous low of 67 against Kentucky at the Maui Invitational.
- The Aggies held the Huskies to a season-low 37.7 percent shooting on Saturday ... UW's previous season low was 38.5 percent against UK ... Washington entered the game shooting 51.3 percent on the season.
- A&M's defense allowed UW 6-of-22 shooting from the 3-point arc (27.3 percent) ... Washington entered the game shooting 47.5 percent from behind the arc.
- A&M forced Washington into a season-high 20 turnovers ... it matched the most turnovers by an Aggie opponent this season.
- Texas A&M has held 7 of 10 opponents to under 38 percent shooting on the season.
- Washington was a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line, setting an A&M opponent record ... the only other team to go perfect from the line against the Aggies with a minimum of 15 attempts was TCU on Jan. 25, 1983 (15-15).
- Texas A&M's 5 blocks matched a season high (vs SFA).
- A&M trailed at the half for just the third time this year (Boston College, Stephen F. Austin).
- The Aggies were 0-for-8 from 3-point range, snapping a streak of 310 consecutive games with at least one trey ... the last time A&M did not hit a 3-pointer was January of 2001 in a trip to Colorado.
- A&M improved to 2-2 all-time in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.
- The Aggies started the lineup of Dash Harris, BJ Holmes, Khris Middleton, Nathan Walkup and David Loubeau for the ninth time this year.
INDIVIDUAL
- Ray Turner recorded a career-high and team season-high 3 blocks on the night.
- David Loubeau's 17 points were one shy of his season high (18 vs Texas A&M International).
- Khris Middleton hit double figures for the 13th time in his last 15 games and the 9th time this year.POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
"Obviously it was a great win for us. I think that Washington has Final Four talent. We're still trying to find ourselves, but defensively we were as good as we've been all year. Just down the stretch, we couldn't make a play, we got really good looks, we just didn't make the play."
On the way the game ended... "I said it on TV, it's fitting that we ended the game with a Tobi Oyedeji-like blocked shot. It might have been his hand that blocked the shot, but David will get the credit."
On the last sequence... "I couldn't believe they didn't foul, I thought they were going to foul. And of course, ten thousand people were yelling Nate's name, but he didn't hear them. Then you just have to stop and say I hope they miss a shot. Nate picked him up, which wasn't the best match up, and David made a smart play. It was a big time block, it was clean, I'm glad they didn't get a shot up on the rim."
On slowing the game down... "I'm always going to take blame, but I thought we slowed it down too much in the first half. We ran a little more to start the second, and I think it opened our offense a little bit."
On the bench's play... "We tried to play our bench, it's a little easier to coach in front of your bench. They were good too, their defense and physicality was much better than I anticipated."
On A&M's three-point shooting and trying to drive... "You have to give them credit, they guarded well. Our game plan was to drive the ball more and not charge. I thought we drove the ball more, got to the basket some. We were just good enough today, we have a lot to do. They got out and pressured B.J. and Khris."
On what this win does for the team... "It's going to look good at the end of the year, it doesn't really do anything right now. We have to play better, we can't get caught up in it. We had a great home crowd in there. We had a some long faces at halftime, I was on them telling them we have to believe we can win this game. I said win or lose, this doesn't make or break our season, let's go out and play the way we're capable of."
On the defensive plan... "I think we followed the game plan. That number 2 (Isaiah Thomas) is almost impossible to guard, I thought we did a great job on him. He got a lot of fouls. I thought our intensity...our guys were dialed in. It was just great team defense. The timing and execution was really good and our guys played really smart today."
On Nate's offensive putbacks on free throw rebounds and the defense... "We work on that, but they were big. When the ball when out of bounds with 38 seconds, I thought it was fitting. The last four years, this program has been built on defense and rebounding, so I said let's do it with rebounding and defense to finish the game. I think we're a better offensive team than in the past. It was a great locker room in there."
On having the Oyedejis at the game... "It was great, it's a tough day, but to have the Oyedejis, they help me with my faith. It's just awesome that we ended with a blocked shot. Tobi has an infectious smile, and I know Tobi is smiling up in heaven."
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR FORWARD David Loubeau
On his game ending block... "It was fast paced, the crowd was crazy. Everyone was getting into it, it was a nail biter. As soon as he went up, I just put my hand up and got the block."
On the defensive game... "Washington and ourselves, we're both offensive teams. We both like to get the ball out and run. It was a very physical game, the low post, everything was hard fought."
On getting the ball to him... "You know, if I'm in the right spot, I receive the ball and do what I do. Usually, our plan is to get the ball inside, not to just me, but to the bigs."
On A&M's team development... "The team has developed everyday in practice, games, we're getting better at every little thing, in the long run, I'm seeing this team going far, we're going to surprise people in conference."
On Nate's putbacks and play... "In practice, we practice free throw offense, getting rid of your man. Those putbacks we're really big. Nate's a fighter, every play he's going to play with aggression and get it done."
On honoring Tobi Oyedeji before the game... "It was real special, this whole season is basically based on Tobi. We're playing for Tobi. He was a great kid, played hard, wish we had him here, but we keep playing."
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE FORWARD Khris Middleton
On the team's defense... "It was a really hard fought game, Washington is a very good team, we just tried to make everything difficult for them, I think we did that today. We knew they wanted to push the ball and try to find shooters, coach wanted us to be there shaking hands with the shooters when they caught the ball."
On defending the fast break... "We practiced transition defense a lot, when the shot goes up, people who are supposed to go rebound do that and everyone gets back immediately on defense."
On missing three-pointers... "I didn't think badly, I just wanted it to go in. When it didn't go in, I just ran down and played defense, can't let that sort of thing get you down. We had good looks they just weren't falling for us. After that, we just tried to make a good play, take a good shot."
On what he likes with this team... "I like our chemistry and our toughness. A lot of times when things don't go our way we tend to come together as a team, and I think that helps us a lot."
On the crowd's presence... "That crowd really helped us today, got us going early. I think it got to Washington a little, actually a lot. I think it really helped us a lot."
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH LORENZO ROMAR
"Texas A&M fought hard. Give them a lot of credit. They were patient on offense and did a tremendous job of guarding us. They pretty much clogged up the middle. Everything we got we had to work hard for. Give them a lot of credit. On our end, they score 63 points and score 41 off our turnovers and their second-chance points. If you're a Husky, you're kicking yourself because you lose by one point and shoot 6-of-22 from 3-point range, and we lead the nation in 3-point shooting. They scored two-thirds of their points on things you hope you could control. But you don't. Give them a lot of credit. No one else has forced us into 20 turnovers, so they did a good job."
On A&M's defense... "(They were saying) 'Washington is not going to beat us in the paint tonight. We know you guys have shot the ball well, and you're going to have to shoot it well tonight because we're not going to give you much in the paint.' And they did a good job. Unfortunately for us we couldn't get the ball to go down from the outside. We had a lot of looks."
On A&M's rebounding edge... "First of all, let me say this. They outrebounded us by six. They have been outrebounding teams by 14 a game, and they have not been out-rebounded all year. That's what they do. But we still should have done a better job of not allowing so many second shots."
On the loss being similar to one of the earlier ones this year... "This one is a little different. They were just more physical than us. We didn't concentrate. (The loss is) maybe more like Kentucky than Michigan State, but not as bad as Kentucky."
On Justin Holiday getting in foul trouble... "That's our smartest player. He has been playing probably the best all-around basketball on the entire team. So if you lose someone like that it definitely has an impact."
On the last sequence... "We thought we got CJ (Wilcox) a wide-open look to knock the shot down. Unfortunately, that didn't go down. We really were trying to foul them on the inbounds, but we didn't get that done. It worked out though that Isaiah (Thomas) tailed and got the steal. As things were spread out we kind of slowed it up a little bit. Then they had two guys jump out front on him."
