Texas A&M
7-1, 0-0
PACIFIC
4-4, 0-0
Fast Start Lifts Texas A&M Past Pacific, 79-59
Dec 04, 2010 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -Texas A&M jumped on Pacific early and never let up in a 79-59 victory on Saturday night before 6,683 fans in Reed Arena.
Five players scored in double figures for the Aggies (7-1). David Loubeau and Derrek Lewis led the way with 12 each, while Khris Middleton contributed a game-high nine rebounds.
Sam Willard led Pacific with a game-high 24 points, finishing 11 of 20 from the floor.
The Aggies had started slowly in a 62-53 second-half comeback victory over Stephen F. Austin State on Thursday, prompting coach Mark Turgeon to emphasize a fast start against the Tigers. Loubeau scored the Aggies' first six points and Texas A&M sprang to a 10-2 lead about four minutes into the contest.
Texas A&M made 10 of 18 3-pointers (55.6 percent), including three each by B.J. Holmes and Andrew Darko.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- The Aggies have won four straight ... A&M has held opponents to 52 points per game in that span and 34.9 percent from the floor (74-for-212).
- Texas A&M outrebounded its opponent for the eighth time this season.
- A&M's bench outscored Pacific 31-5 on the night.
- A&M won its 55th straight non-conference home game and 68th straight regular-season, non-conference home game.
- A&M scored 79 points in the win and is now 52-5 under Mark Turgeon when scoring 70 or more points in a game.
- The Aggies had five players in double figures for the first time this year.
- Texas A&M's 10 3-pointers tied a season high ... the Aggies also hit 10 in a win over Manhattan ... A&M was 10-of-18 from behind the arc tonight ... A&M has hit a trey in 310 consecutive games dating back to January of 2001.
- A&M's 48 percent shooting was its second-best outing of the season ... the Aggies hit 52 percent from the floor in a win over A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 15.
- The Aggies shot 55 percent from the floor (16-29) in the first half, their second-best outing in the first half this season ... A&M shot 57 percent in the first half of the season-opening win over Alcorn State.
- Texas A&M held a 38-22 lead going into the locker room ... the Aggies have outscored opponents 291-199 in the first half this year.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Dash Harris, BJ Holmes, David Loubeau, Khris Middleton and Nathan Walkup for the seventh time this year ... the Aggies are 7-0 when that lineup starts the game.
- The Aggies now lead the all-time series with Pacific, 7-2.
INDIVIDUAL
- Senior Derrek Lewis' 12 points and 4 rebounds were both career highs ... his 18 minutes were also a career high.
- Senior Andrew Darko set a career high for the second straight game, scoring 9 in tonight's win.
- Junior Dash Harris matched a season high with 7 assists and was one shy of his career high.
- Sophomore Khris Middleton set a career high with 9 rebounds ... he was one board shy of his first career double-double (10 points) ... Middleton has now scored in double figures a team-high 7 times and in 11 of the last 13 games dating back to last season.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
"(Tonight was) Much better obviously, much more energy, much more effort. I told the guys yesterday that we defended well against SFA, but we didn't have the energy or togetherness. I told them we were going to have a deep bench, I decided we would play 10 or 11 guys. Pacific is tough, they only play about seven guys out there."
On the first half tonight being the best of the season... "We had a good half at Corpus Christi, but I think that Pacific is a better basketball team. A lot of guys played well. The one thing tonight is that our post defense was really bad. But Sam Willard can hurt you in a lot of ways."
On Lewis' and Darko's play... "D-Lew, I'm really happy for him. I wanted to play him the other night; I was going to play him in front of Darko. But same thing tonight, I thought Darko played really well. They both played really loose, they were both relaxed, let it fly. They both played great defense, D-Lew was great getting through screens; his offense was good too. We did a lot of good things tonight, and those two guys were a big part of it."
On whether he will continue to use large numbers of subs... "I don't know if it's going to be a season long thing, it all depends. I still think we're trying to find ourselves. I think we can hang our hat on B.J. and Nate and Dash for finally getting back to the old Dash. But the rest of the guys haven't been consistent, we need more consistency. I'd like to play the bench. I think our defensive energy tonight helped our offense. To score 79 against Pacific, it was a lot of points."
On Roberson's and Davis' defense against Willard... "Keith used his height, so he was able to do some things against him. He let him in once for a layup. I just think Ray and Kourtney hopefully will understand the importance of each possession, working hard in practice, working on those things, staying attached, a lot of things those two guys have to get a lot better for us to be a postseason team."
SENIOR GUARD Derrek Lewis
On how it feels to contribute... "To see that we contribute, it was good. We're all here together, everyone plays their hardest. The win reflected that tonight. All you can do in the position that Darko and I are in is just go out and play. Any moment you can have your number called, tonight it was ours."
On making shots... "Tonight it was just of those days. Everyone's going to have them, fortunately it was us today. Tomorrow it might be someone else."
On playing defense to stay on the court... "Defense is what Coach prides himself on, and what we like to pride ourselves on. Doing the little things, helping on defense, those kinds of things. Everyone does them, I guess we just did them well tonight."
On Willard's play... "Coach wasn't happy about that. Give him credit, they're a really good team. They hit a lot of good shots on us. Sam Willard was causing some serious problems. But give credit to him for sure."
On helping in practice and now on the court... "Last year, I got hurt, a really bad ankle injury, and I couldn't be on the maroon team to help the white team out. When I'm playing on the maroon team, it helps because we try to give the white team the best look as possible. I still did scout team for this game, though. I know my role behind the scenes, it's just changing a little and I'm getting a few more minutes."
SENIOR GUARD Andrew Darko
On contributing to the win... "It's pretty gratifying, the work we put in, both of us. It feels good to contribute on the floor for the team."
On making shots... "They were just falling today. The ball felt good, the basket seemed like the ocean."
On playing tight defense... "Coach emphasizes defense, and I think Derrek and I are some of the best defenders on the team. Coach is very confident in our defense, I think that's what keeps us on the floor, rather than offensively."
On the first half... "I think it was that we had an emphasis on coming out and throwing the first punch. The defensive intensity, Dash was building out and we came off of the bench and carried that on. I think coach wanted our bench to be deep tonight, wanted us to play defense, keep the defensive pressure up."
