FRIBOURG, Switzerland—Texas A&M placed three players in double figures and held a big advantage on the boards, but it was not enough to overcome the Swiss National Team in an 85-73 defeat Friday afternoon at Saint-Leonard in the second game of the Aggies' European Tour.
The Aggies showed solid improvement from Thursday's first game, especially on the glass and in minimizing turnovers, committing 10 fewer than the night before. The squad also shot better from the floor and free-throw line and dished out more assists.
“I thought we got better today,” head coach Billy Kennedy said. “That was our goal, to get better today and get some production from some guys that didn't help us a whole lot yesterday. I thought our guys did some positive things. I think we made the adjustments we needed to make from yesterday to today. We were playing a true road game. Not only are we far away from home, but the officiating's different, the game's different, and I'm different. So they're having to adjust to a lot of things, and their attitude and character's been really good.”
The Swiss, who shot just 33 percent on Thursday, were much hotter from the floor this time out. Following an early back-and-forth battle in the first period, the home team dashed out to a quick 17-9 lead. Once again, A&M battled back, scoring 7 straight to pull within one. The Aggies trailed 21-18 after the first period.
Another Swiss run, this late in the second period, gave them a 45-34 lead heading into the locker room.
A&M mounted a fierce comeback in period three, using an 11-3 run to pull to within 3 at 52-49 with about 4 minutes to go. Switzerland, however, powered the ball inside to former University of Iowa All-Big Ten standout Greg Brunner, and the big man helped extend the lead to 63-53 after three. The Aggies would get within 7 (70-63) with 5:11 to play in the game, but the Swiss drained a couple of key 3-pointers to put the game away.Switzerland shot 46 percent on the afternoon, including a 54-percent effort in the second half of the game. The Swiss connected on 4 of 6 treys in the game's final 20 minutes.
The Aggies shot 39 percent from the floor, 70 percent from the line and out-rebounded the Swiss, 47 to 33.
Junior Khris Middleton—who was celebrating his 20th birthday on Friday—and junior Elston Turner each poured in a team-high 16 on the day, while sophomore Kourtney Roberson added 11 and 7 boards. Junior Ray Turner had a game-high 8 rebounds for the Aggies.
Brunner scored a game-high 22 and added 7 rebounds to lead Switzerland.
For the second consecutive day, Kennedy and the staff used a steady rotation of 11 players throughout the action. Of the 11 players that saw the court Friday, eight contributed at least 4 points in the game.
“Our guys have been solid,” Kennedy said. “I don't think we have a guy at this point that's going to get you 20, especially when we're playing 11 guys. We've got some guys who are capable, but the strength of this team will be the depth and the balance that we have, and that's how we're going to approach it.”
Fans will be able to watch video highlights of the game—including interviews with several players—and view a photo gallery a bit later this afternoon on the brand-new aggieathletics.com.
Texas A&M will travel from Bern, Switzerland to Paris on Saturday and then take on AMW Elite on Sunday afternoon in the French capital city. The squad is made up of primarily French Pro-A and Pro-B players, the top two professional basketball leagues the country. Scoring updates will be provided on the official Twitter feed at @AggieMensHoops.