Texas A&M
13-1,0-0
NICHOLLS STATE
6-5,0-0
No. 16 Texas A&M Rolls Past Nicholls State 66-55
Jan 03, 2011 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - David Loubeau scored 18 points and Khris Middleton added 17 to help No. 16 Texas A&M to its 10th straight win, a 66-55 victory over Nicholls State on Monday night.
The Aggies (13-1) trailed for much of the first half but took a lead they wouldn't relinquish about eight minutes before the break.
Nicholls State (6-5) cut the lead to three points with about 13 minutes remaining, but Texas A&M used a 9-3 run to push the advantage to 57-48.
The Colonels got within seven points with about two minutes remaining but B.J. Holmes made a pair of free throws to close out the win.
Fred Hunter scored 17 points to lead Nicholls State. Anatoly Bose, who entered the game ranked third nationally in scoring with 25 points a game, was limited to six points.
Bose, who had scored at least 15 points in each game this season, put up 28 against LSU and 37 against Oklahoma State. But he was shut down by Texas A&M's defense led by Walkup. He missed all eight of his field goals in the first half and finished making just 1 of 12 with four free throws.
It wasn't just Bose who struggled offensively. Nicholls State making just 17 of its 43 shots.
The Colonels trailed by eight points before scoring five straight points, including a 3-pointer by Justin Ayers, to get within 48-45 with about 13 minutes left. But a dunk by Kourtney Roberson started the A&M run that fended off the charge.
Nicholls State may have been helped by a 13-day layoff since its last game and looked well-rested as it jumped out to an early lead. The Colonels had an 11-3 advantage early as Texas A&M missed its first seven shots and committed three turnovers. The Aggies didn't make a field goal until a basket by Middleton with about 13 minutes remaining in the first half.
That shot started an 8-0 spurt by the Aggies to tie it at 11-all.
Texas A&M gained its first lead on a three-point play by Walkup that made it 17-16 about eight minutes before halftime.
The Aggies led by seven about 2 1/2 minutes before halftime but Nicholls State outscored them 9-6 in the last bit of the first half to cut their halftime lead to 35-31.
TEAM
- Texas A&M's defense held the nation's leading scorer, Anatoly Bose (25.0 PPG), to just 6 points on 1-of-12 shooting ... 4 of Bose's 6 points came from the free-throw line ... Bose had hit double figures in 23 consecutive games dating back to last year and had not scored fewer than 15 points this season ... his only field goal came with just under 17 minutes left in the game.
- Texas A&M's 13-1 record matches the second-best start in school history ... the 1919-20 team went 19-0 on the season, while this year's team is one of four (1959-60, 2007-08, 2008-09) to open by winning 13 of its first 14 games.
- The Aggies' 10 game win streak is their longest since the end of non-conference play in the 2008-09 season, and matches the longest in the Mark Turgeon era.
- A&M will carry a 60-game home non-conference win streak into next season, having gone a perfect 9-0 this year at Reed Arena ... the Aggies have also now won 73 straight regular-season, non-conference home games.
- Texas A&M has won 27 of its last 28 home games and 25 in a row against un-ranked opponents.
- The Aggies opened the game 0-for-7 from the floor, but hit 11 of their final 16 shots (.688) heading into the locker room.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup of B.J. Holmes, Naji Hibbert, Khris Middleton, Nathan Walkup and David Loubeau for the first time this season.
INDIVIDUAL
- Sophomore Naji Hibbert made the first start of his career.
- Junior Dash Harris matched his season high with 7 assists.
- Junior David Loubeau tied his season high with 18 points (8-of-10 shooting), and was two shy of his career best.
- Sophomore Khris Middleton hit double figures (17) for the 16th time in his last 19 contests.POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
"We're not playing great right now. I thought they controlled a lot of the tempo in their offense, we had some tough matchups out there. (Justin Ayers) came in and really hurt us, scoring 14. We're not playing the way we did before Christmas. We lost some of our intensity on defense, some of our toughness, and even some of our confidence. We have to get it back before Saturday."
On what turned things around defensively... "We started to guard. They were shooting close to 50 percent, and then they ended up at 39.5 percent. I thought our execution was good. 18 assists on 22 buckets is pretty good. We shortened our rotation in the second half, and I think that helped us."
On what needs to be done before conference... "We just have to get back to being us. We're just not us right now, hopefully we will be come Saturday. Maybe it was the environment, maybe that our guys are ready for a challenge. We practiced well yesterday, we've gone 7 days of practice in a row. We're a little dysfunctional. We're a little mentally fatigued too. I think a day off will help us, and then three days to work on us and get better for Saturday."
On whether the holiday games worry him... "They worry me, but you only get four years, it goes fast, and you only get to play so many games. They worry me because I don't want to pick up bad habits, but I love this time of the year because you get to practice more. I think we have to get more out of our practice. Unfortunately, it's felt like we started over, and it doesn't need to be that way. Hopefully, it's just a switch that these guys can turn back on."
On Dash Harris not starting... "It wasn't because of the way he's been playing. He had something that happened yesterday, nothing major, just something that made him come off the bench. I thought Dash was great tonight. He defended, only took one shot, had seven assists and only two turnovers."
On 10 wins in a row... "I'm happy, 10 in a row is big. When we lost to Boston College, I thought 'Are we ever going to win another one?' But we have some good wins in there."
On Kourtney Roberson's play... "He was really good. He's not in great shape, he pulled himself out tonight. He strong, he can finish. The one he missed was a layup that he made a great decision on. First half, he struggled on defense. Second half, he was better defensively. He's going to be a big part of what we do."
A&M JUNIOR FORWARD David Loubeau
On Coach Turgeon's words at halftime... "Coach really laid out the real deal to us at halftime, let us know what we're not doing as a team. (In the second half) I think we guarded some. It could've been better, I think we executed better on the offensive end."
On defending Anatoly Bose... "On screens, we made sure there was no help and switching and everything. We didn't give him anything easy."
On the first half trouble against the trap... "The trap, we usually work on it in practice, but we had some miscommunication out there. Coach was pretty upset, It was something we talked about at halftime and did better in the second half."
A&M SENIOR FORWARD NATE WALKUP
On defending Anatoly Bose... "I paid attention to the scouting report a lot, made sure I knew what plays they run, you get used to that shuffle system. I just beat him to his spot tonight, he's a good scorer. He can make it from everywhere. I tried to make it difficult, and as a team, I thought we did a good job cutting off all his lanes, shadowing him, limiting him."
NICHOLLS STATE HEAD COACH J.P. PIPER
"Overall, I'm pleased with how our team played, given how good Texas A&M is, and their ranking, I thought we showed well. It's tough when your best player is 1-12 and 0-8 behind the arch. You have to credit A&M for a tremendous defensive game plan. We learned a lot about ourselves."
On his team's good start to open the game... "I wish we could've ran and got on the bus. We knew we would get off to a good start, and we had some confidence to execute and make plays. We knew they would make adjustments and up their intensity level and come at us. I told the guys, if we're going to find victory here, it's not going to be by 20 points. It wasn't a surprise that they made the run, and eventually pulled ahead. The reality is, they're just too talented."
On Anatoly Bose's struggles in the game... "A lot of the shots he took tonight, he usually makes. They look like bad shots, but he makes them. He's had teams be physical with him, that doesn't usually bother him. There was nothing that surprised us, he just didn't make shots tonight. I thought he became a little frustrated with himself and became passive. He's all about the team. It was good in a mean kind of way to see him work through those struggles."
SENIOR FORWARD ANATOLY BOSE
On what A&M did to limit him... "Basically, I was struggling, they're a very good team. I think they had a good plan to step up defensively and not allow me to get in my rhythm. They gave me hard shots to take. I struggled all night. I have to do better than that. I thought my teammates stepped up. I just have to find my teammates more."
On whether this game helped for conference play... "No doubt about it. I think all our games before conference prepare us well. We have a very tough schedule leading up to conference, and I think that prepares us for conference play."
