Texas A&M
14-1, 1-0
Oklahoma
8-7, 0-1
No. 16 Texas A&M Dominates Oklahoma, 69-51
Jan 08, 2011 | Men's Basketball
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - After what he deemed lackluster performances in wins over McNeese State and Nicholls State, Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon put the Aggies through more-demanding-than-usual practices this week, even going to two-a-day drills on one occasion.
The Aggies' response to Turgeon's tough love relieved their coach. Khris Middleton scored 16 points and added five assists and No. 16 Texas A&M won its 11th straight game, beating Oklahoma 69-51 on Saturday in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.
"I was a nervous wreck today because I wasn't sure what I was going to get," Turgeon said.
What he got was a team that shared the basketball - recording assists on 17 of its 25 baskets - crashed the boards and slowed the Sooners so much that Oklahoma had zero fast-break points. The Aggies also won away from home on a day that two other ranked Big 12 teams - Missouri and Kansas State - lost on the road to conference foes.
"We worked hard this week and it showed," Turgeon said. "The guys played well. They deserve this. They had a tough week."
Texas A&M beat McNeese State by nine points on New Year's Eve and Nicholls State by 11 on Tuesday. What ensured during the Aggies' subsequent practices was "pretty rough," said Naji Hibbert, who came off the bench to score 14 points against the Sooners. Asked what that meant, Hibbert only smiled and said, "No comment."
Turgeon called the practices "demanding." He said the Aggies practiced twice Wednesday and "got after it again hard" on Thursday.
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By beating Oklahoma, Texas A&M (14-1, 1-0) matched the third-longest winning streak in school history and dealt Oklahoma its first loss in nine games this season at Lloyd Noble Center. The Aggies have won six of their last nine games against Oklahoma (8-7, 0-1) after losing 25 of their first 26 against the Sooners.
The Aggies, who shot 54.3 percent from the field, have won four of their last five Big 12 openers.
Texas A&M's only loss this season came by two points to Boston College on Nov. 25 in Orlando, Fla. The Aggies won the next day against Manhattan and haven't lost since, a run that includes wins over ranked foes Temple and Washington.
They have a ways to go before matching the two longest winning streaks in school history, though. Texas A&M won 25 straight games from 1919 to 1921 and 20 in a row from 1914 to 1916. The Aggies also had 11-game winning streaks in the 1921-22 and 2004-05 seasons.
Texas A&M, which entered the game second nationally in rebounding margin at plus-12.6, outrebounded the Sooners 30-20. The Aggies have outrebounded all 15 of their opponents this season. The Aggies also entered the game second in the Big 12 in scoring defense at 56.6 points per game. During the first 10 games of their winning streak, they held opponents to 37.1 percent shooting and Oklahoma hit 40 percent (18 of 45) from the field.
"That's where it starts with us, but I like to think that we're good offensively, too," Turgeon said. "We share the ball offensively. We've got a lot of good scorers. We've just been so inefficient on offense. It's nice to see us be a little bit more efficient."
Oklahoma had won five of its previous six games. Although undefeated at home before Saturday, the Sooners hadn't played anyone of note there and had only three players - Steven Pledger, Andrew Fitzgerald and Cade Davis - who'd ever seen significant action in a Big 12 game.
That inexperience showed.
Texas A&M made eight of its first 10 shots and never trailed. The Aggies sprinted to an 18-6 lead in the first eight minutes as Oklahoma hit only three of its first 10 shots.
"When you get down to a team like that, it's hard to play from behind," said Fitzgerald, who led the Sooners with 17 points.
The Sooners pulled within 22-16 on Pledger's 3-pointer with 7:27 left in the first half but Texas A&M eventually pushed its lead to 13 points and was ahead 36-28 at halftime.
Oklahoma was within six at 42-36 after a 4-point play by Davis with 15:52 left, but the Sooners managed only one basket during the next 7 1/2 minutes. The Aggies went on a 16-2 run to build their lead to 58-38 after two free throws by Ray Turner with 8:28 left. The Sooners came no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
"We let the fact that we didn't score as well in the second half affect our defense," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said.
B.J. Holmes had 13 points and five assists for the Aggies. Davis scored 13 points for Oklahoma and had a team-high six rebounds.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Turgeon
Opening comment:
"I thought that we were pretty good the first half and really good in the second half. I thought that our defense picked it up in the second half. We did a much better job on (Andrew) Fitzgerald and our team defense today. We really shared the ball. We ran and we shared the ball. We had 17 assists with 25 buckets. We worked hard this week and it showed. The guys played well and they deserve this. They really had a tough week."
On Texas A&M getting better throughout the season:
"I didn't know. We are really inconsistent and I was a nervous wreck before the game because I didn't know what I was going to get. It depends on how much energy I have. If I can keep a foot up them all year, I think we have a chance to get a lot better. We are really a young team that is kind of immature. One day a player practices really hard and then the next day he won't give me everything. That is just a wasted day and that is what I am trying to correct. We have some young talent and some pretty good depth. I think that we can get a lot better. It depends on how hard we work."
On the game:
"I was happy. It was Oklahoma's first conference game and they had a pretty good crowd out there. There is a lot of fight in them still. You look around the country and it is tough on the road, and for us to handle them like we did is a good sign. I said to the guys that it is a marathon and not a sprint and that we have to get ready for the next one."
Senior Guard B.J. Holmes:
On playing point guard:
"When Dash (Harris) goes out, I come in and play some point guard. Today was kind of slow but we tried to speed it up in the second half. I think that we did a good job of controlling the game."
On Oklahoma's Cade Davis:
"Yeah, me and Cade were able to play in New Zealand last summer. He really worked on his game this summer. They have him playing the four right now and their team is a lot like ours with Nate (Walkup) playing an undersized four. They find a way to get it done and Cade did well today."
Sophomore Guard Naji Hibbert:
On his game:
"I try to be aggressive in all areas of the court and not just shooting. If I see an open lane, I try and take advantage of it."
On Oklahoma's Andrew Fitzgerald:
"We started playing together during AAU ball when we were 13 or 14. We played high school ball together for a year and he is probably one of my good friends. It was good to play against him because I haven't seen him in a while. He has lost a lot of weight."
OKLAHOMA POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening comment:
"First of all, congrats to A&M. They're a good team, very well coached, mature, very good leadership on the floor. They have a group that seems like they're all about winning. I thought we did some good things in spurts, but when you're playing against this kind of team it's not good enough to do it in spurts -- you have to do it all the time. I thought we did a decent job in the first half offensively; our defense was something to be desired all game long. We have to get better there, but the second half I was disappointed. I thought we let the fact that we didn't score as well in the second half really affect our defense, especially late there in the game. We'll learn from this, we'll get better. Our schedule doesn't get any easier. This league is a very tough league, but we'll be prepared and we'll be ready to go out and play well on Tuesday."
On if his team just suffered a poor shooting day or if A&M's defense was to credit:
"It was a little bit of both. Some of that credit goes to Texas A&M; they took us out of some stuff. They knew the stuff that we were running, were jumping plays and stuff. But still, we didn't screen, we weren't as effective screening as we need to be in order for our offense to be effective. We were just kind of rolling around out there instead of putting bodies on people."
On Texas A&M offensively:
"The guy that I thought really hurt us, especially in the first half, was (Naji) Hibbert. He came off the bench and really got going and got some confidence. If you look at the first half, 24 of their 36 points came from two guys. I thought we did a pretty good job on (David) Loubeau. We were going to double him off of (Dash) Harris and I thought that game plan was pretty good. I thought it helped to get Loubeau out of the game with two fouls. But they got some transition baskets, just straight-line-drive layups. You know, us not doing a good job of keeping the guy in front. That's an area where we have to be good at -- we just have to be good at. At times we have been and tonight we didn't do a good job of that."
On upcoming road games against Baylor and Texas:
"Two tough places, two good teams. But we'll be prepared. We'll be ready to get after it."
Senior Guard Cade Davis
On the Sooner's offensive performance:
"We just didn't execute. Our screening was off; I think part of that was our defense. We lacked on defense, we weren't getting rebounds and we weren't getting out and pushing it in transition. They were making their shots and executing and they were running on us and getting layups, so that takes us out of what we're wanting to do a little bit. We we're slow getting into the offensive flow."
On what the team can take from this game:
"We still need to get better. We still have a lot of things we need to work on. We were confident coming into this game. Before the game, we felt that we could beat them. Something we've struggled with early on this year, they came out and punched us in the mouth early. We've been in that situation before and we've come back from it. During that time we still felt that we could come back. We had to play defense and play things the right way, but in the end they just wanted it more. But it's not going to get any easier from here, going to Baylor and to Texas. This is a taste for the young guys of how tough the Big 12 is and hopefully they know now what to expect and we'll just try to get better from here."
On his experiences of playing with Texas A&M guard B.J. Holmes:
"We went on a mission trip to New Zealand with each other. It was me, B.J and Bryan Davis, who used to play for them. It was a month-long mission trip. We put on clinics for the kids in several towns. So he and I have a great relationship. I love him to death and have a lot of respect for him and his team. They're a solid ball club and he's a great guy."
On how this team can improve on the road moving on into Big 12 play:
"We just have to want it more; we have to want it more than the other team. A&M wanted it more; they did the things to get the job done. You've got to have a tougher mindset, mentally and physically. We just have to understand that we have to do everything right and we haven't done that all year. We've just got to make sure everything is solid from here on out and do everything we can to win."
Sophomore Forward Andrew Fitzgerald
On having to play behind the whole game:
"The majority of the game we were playing catch-up; just really trying to fight and play as hard as we could, trying to catch up. But when you're down to a team like that it's hard to catch up."
On if the performance of Texas A&M guard Naji Hibbert surprised him:
"No, it didn't surprise me. Naji's a good player. I've known him since I was 12 years old, playing on the same AAU teams. When he gets hot, he's hot. So I wasn't surprised at all."
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas A&M's 19-point win was the Aggies' largest ever in 35 games against Oklahoma, besting last year's 15-point victory in Norman (69-54) ... A&M has won three straight against the Sooners and 6 of the last 8 meetings overall
- Saturday's win was A&M's second straight in Norman after dropping 14 of its previous 15 visits.
- The Aggies' victory was the first by an OU opponent in Norman this year ... the Sooners had entered the game 8-0 at home.
- Texas A&M has won 11 straight games, tied for the third-longest win streak in program history ... it is the longest win streak for an Aggie team since 2004-05 (11 games) ... the school record is 25 from 1919-1921 (19 straight by the '19-20 team, first 6 of '20-21 season)
- The 11-game win streak is the longest of coach Mark Turgeon Aggie career, and matches the longest of his overall coaching career (2006-07 Wichita State team opened year 11-0).
- Texas A&M has matched the second-best start in school history by winning 14 of its first 15 games ... only one team in school history posted a better start than this year's Aggies, the 1919-20 squad (perfect 19-0 record).
- The Aggies have won 42 Big 12 games since the start of the 2007 league season ... prior to that, A&M had totaled only 43 victories in the first 10 years of Big 12 play.
- Texas A&M is 1-0 in Big 12 play for only the fourth time in league history ... the Aggies have won 4 of their last 5 Big 12 openers after losing their first 10.
- The Aggies have won 11 of their last 15 games away from Reed Arena dating back to February of last season.
- The Aggies' 54.3 percent shooting on Saturday was a season high ... it's the best A&M has shot in a Big 12 game since a 62 percent effort in a 96-86 win over Missouri on March 7, 2009.
- A&M out-rebounded OU, 30-20 ... the Aggies have out-rebounded every team this season.
- Oklahoma managed just 20 rebounds on the afternoon, the fewest allowed by A&M to a Big 12 opponent since January 12, 2008 (Colorado, 16).
- Texas A&M's 57-percent shooting in the first half matched a season high (11/12 vs Alcorn State) ... the Aggies also had two in double figures at the break (Middleton 12, Hibbert 12) for just the second time this year (1/3 vs Nicholls State).
INDIVIDUAL
- Naji Hibbert hit double figures for the sixth time this year ... his 14 points were three shy of his season/career high.
- B.J. Holmes was in double figures for the ninth time this season and third time in his last four games ... his 13 points were two shy of his season best.
- Khris Middleton recorded his team-high 13th double-figure scoring game of the year ... Middleton has gone for 10 or more points in 17 of the last 20 contests.
