Texas A&M
11-1,0-0
WAGNER
4-7,1-0
No. 24 Texas A&M Tops Wagner 86-51
Dec 21, 2010 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Texas A&M had no problem keeping its focus against Wagner on Tuesday night.
David Loubeau scored 16 points and the No. 25 Aggies used a big first-half run and topped Wagner 86-51.
The game was tied 13-13 in the first half when the Aggies (11-1) went on an 11-0 run including consecutive baskets by Loubeau - to surge past Wagner (4-7).
"This is one of those games that scares you as a coach, because it's right before Christmas," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "Just keeping their attention is tough."
After the first seven minutes, it wasn't a problem. Texas A&M led 40-20 at the half, on the strength of outscoring Wagner 22-4 in the paint over the first 20 minutes.
The Aggies have won eight consecutive games, while the Seahawks have lost four straight.
B.J. Holmes added 12 points for the Aggies. Chris Martin led the Seahawks with a game-high 17 points.
Texas A&M outrebounded Wagner 47-20, including 16-3 on the offensive end.
"We were bigger and stronger, so we should have outrebounded them like that," said A&M forward Nathan Walkup, who got his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. "No matter who we play it's one of our goals to dominate the glass. If you win the battle on the boards, that gives you a chance to win each night."
Texas A&M also has won 71 consecutive nonconference regular season games at home. Texas A&M's bench outscored Wagner's 34-4, and the Aggies handled Wagner in second-chance points 19-1.
"They're physical and well-coached," Wagner coach Dan Hurley said. "They're by far the best team we've played. They present a ton of problems."
With 14:12 remaining in the game, Texas A&M's Kourtney Roberson and Wagner's Clayfell Harris became entangled, spun toward the sideline and fell into members of the Aggie Dance Team, who were sitting on the floor to the left of the basket.
No one was hurt. Roberson and Harris received technical fouls. Harris then received another as he was walking away, and was ejected from the game.
"Their arms got locked up and no one was going to let it go," Turgeon said.
Roberson was also ejected from Saturday's 71-62 overtime victory over Arkansas in Dallas for coming off the bench during a brief skirmish.
"He pleaded innocence on Saturday and he pleaded innocence today," Turgeon said of Roberson. "But I told him where there's smoke, there's fire."
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- The Aggies out-rebounded Wagner, 47-20, their largest margin of the year ... the 27-board advantage was A&M's largest since besting Louisiana-Monroe by 27 rebounds on January 3, 2004 ... tonight was A&M's second-highest rebounding total this season (52 vs Alcorn State).
- A&M has out-rebounded every team this season ... the Aggies are 75-13 under Turgeon (11-1 this year) when matching or out-rebounding their foes.
- The Aggies' shot 53 percent from the floor, a season high.
- A&M's 86-point output matched its second highest of the year (88 vs Alcorn State, 86 vs A&M-Corpus Christi).
- Texas A&M won its eighth straight game, the Aggies' longest streak since the 2008-09 season (10 straight to end non-conference play).
- The game was A&M's 200th all-time at Reed Arena ... the Aggies are 146-54 all-time in the facility.
- The Aggies won their 58th straight non-conference home game and 70th consecutive regular-season, non-conference home game ... A&M has now won 25 of its last 26 home games, including 10 of its last 11 in Big 12 play.
- A&M has won 23 straight home games against unranked opponents.
- Wagner shot just 35 percent from the field ... A&M has held 8 of its 12 opponents under 38 percent shooting ... under Mark Turgeon, the Aggies are 48-4 (8-0 this year) when holding opponents under 40 percent shooting.
- Wagner's 10 points in the paint were an opponent season low.
- Wagner's 20 first-half points matched a season low by an Aggie opponent ... Texas A&M International also scored 20 in the first frame in a loss to A&M on Nov. 19 ... the Aggies have outscored their opponents 429-310 in the first half this year.
- The Aggie senior class won its 86th career game, moving it into fourth all-time in the school annals ... the Class of '11 trails only the 2010 (100), 2009 (98) and 2008 squads (95) in victories.
- Tuesday marked the first-ever meeting between the schools.
INDIVIDUAL
- Senior Nathan Walkup recorded the second double-double of his career (10 points, 11 rebounds) ... it was his second in as many games (15 pts/12 reb vs Arkansas on Saturday).
- Junior David Loubeau scored 16 points, two shy of his season high.
- Sophomore Ray Turner matched his season high with 7 points on the night.
- Freshman Kourtney Roberson hit double figures (10 points) for the fifth time this year.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
"I was pleased. I thought we played well except for the turnovers, Nate had a lot of them. I thought we defended pretty well and concentrated pretty well. We shared the ball in the second half. These games are scary going into Christmas, it's hard to keep their attention. The guys did a good job tonight."
On the rebounding differential..."They missed a lot of shots, and we got 16 offensive boards, that happens. When one team shoots 35 percent and the other team shoots 53 percent, you get numbers like that. We continue to work on it."
On Dash Harris' play..."It was good, he's really been struggling and lost a lot of confidence. Seven assists to zero turnovers is great, it was good to see. I was happy for him. He really ran our team and did a good job with it."
On B.J.'s play and hitting three-pointers..."I thought he hit three, but two for three is pretty good. I thought he was a little bit more aggressive. Sometimes he takes a back seat in games like this and lets everyone have their day. After the first five minutes, he was back to normal B.J."
On Nate Walkup's double-double..."He was trying for a triple. He's a tremendous rebounder for his size, he's about 6-foot-5 and he'll say he's about 6-foot-7. He scored in traffic and made some nice plays. In 18 minutes too, he didn't play a lot. I wanted to get Keith and Kourtney and Ray some minutes."
On the scuffle between Kourtney Roberson and Clayfell Harris..."I think their arms got locked up and no one was letting go. I thought the referees did a great job and nobody got hurt. Some things are part of the game, and I thought they all handled it the right way."
On the team's progress..."I told them, I'm really pleased with what you've done to this point, but what we've done to this point is not going to affect what happens after Christmas. We're going to have to come back and practice hard. But, if you would've told me we'd be 11-1 going into Christmas, I'd have taken it. We're much further along defensively than I thought we would be. We're rebounding at a high level too, and I know our competition is going to increase. I'm pleased. We're going to have to get back after Christmas and really work hard."
On Khris Middleton's play..."We didn't call a lot of stuff tonight, we were basic and generic, and didn't call a lot of plays for him. He had a stretch there in the second half where he was really good. We didn't force anything. We ran some plays for David, B.J., and Naji. Khris just let it come, he's really unselfish."
SENIOR FORWARD Nathan Walkup
On his second consecutive double-double..."I was going for a triple double, but I didn't turn the ball over enough. I was just being aggressive and being active."
On rebounding dominance..."We were bigger and stronger than they are, so we should have out rebounded them. We played pretty good defense, so we had a lot more defensive rebounds than they did. We think we're a good rebounding team, we think we're really deep, we think our guards do a good job of rebounding. I think when you rebound well, it gives you a good chance of winning the game and we did that tonight."
SENIOR GUARD B.J. Holmes
On the team doing well when Dash plays well..."I think he takes it to a completely different level. When Dash gets everyone involved and limits turnovers, it's hard to beat us. Dash always takes it upon himself to help the team any way he can, shooting the ball, playing defense. Today he was just playing aggressive out there and it showed."
On making a few three-pointers..."Haven't really been looking for the three that much, but this game it felt good in pregame and in yesterday's practice, so I thought I'd come out here and see if I could get some open ones."
WAGNER HEAD COACH DAN HURLEY
"Those guys are really good. The best team that we've played physically, well coached, and their guards complement each other well. We've played St. John's, who's a middle of the road Big East team, and that's by far the best team we've played."
On Tyler Murray's limitations tonight..."He's been really good for us. We start three freshmen out there. If he was playing with a veteran cast, it'd still be difficult to come to A&M and have a great game, but the fact that he's playing with a bunch of inexperienced teammates makes it even more difficult."
On being outrebounded..."We've been a bad rebounding team, and we haven't played against a team as big and as physical as those guys. Right before tip-off, I knew it was going to be rough, looking at the size of them and at our freshman. I knew it was going to be nightmarish."
On his team's progress..."We were 5-26 last year, so we're thrilled to be 4-7 while playing so many freshmen and not having a lot of returning production. I was very impressed with how A&M shared the ball and played unselfishly. A kid like Middleton, who's going to be an NBA player down the road, just let the game come to him, and that's the sign of a well-coached team."
