Texas A&M
8-1
ULM
1-8
Middleton Leads Aggies Past ULM, 67-54
Dec 10, 2011 | Men's Basketball
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
Team
- The Aggies won their 67th consecutive non-conference game at Reed Arena (dating back to start of the 2005-06 season) and their 80th consecutive regular-season, non-conference home game (dating back to 2003).
- Saturday's crowd of 6,875 was a season high.
Individual
- Khris Middleton scored a game-high 24 points ... it was the fourth 20-point outing of his career and his highest total since scoring 28 in an overtime win against Missouri on Jan. 15, 2011 ... it was also the most points by an Aggie this year.
- Middleton returned to the floor after missing 7 games with a partial meniscus tear in his right knee ... his last (and only other) action of the year was in the opener vs Liberty (Nov. 9).
- Keith Davis grabbed a career high 9 rebounds.
POSTGAME QUOTES
A&M HEAD COACH BIILY KENNEDY
Opening statement
It was good to see Khris back, obviously in the second half he got more comfortable. You have to give Monroe credit, they were hard to guard. I was glad to see we ran offense when we needed to, made some nice shots, and got to the free throw line more than we have been.
What can Khris do for this team?
Obviously I think he scored 9 straight on one stretch and it was all out of our offense. It makes us better, especially when we're struggling in the post. They were doubling the post, so we had to make outside shots. You can't really just have one shooter on the floor against anyone, so it helped to have more than one.
On forcing turnovers
We have a hard time pressuring the ball. Athletically we're not playing in the passing lanes all the time. That's not what we do. We'd love to score more points on defense and force more turnovers, but that's not what we do. We have to be compact defensively and protect the paint.
What can your team still do to improve?
I still think defensively we have to guard the ball and do a better job on the defensive end. Tonight our post guys struggled defensively. We had to go small in the first half. We have to be more consistent on our defensive effort, and offensively we have to have a post presence. I really like the fact that we got to the free throw line 23 times. We aren't getting to the free throw line because we drive and make athletic plays, and it's something we have to get better at.
JUNIOR FORWARD KHRIS MIDDLETON
How good did it feel to get out there with the team?
It felt real good. Just sitting and watching practice for three weeks and seeing where I can help my teammates out, I just wanted to be out there. It felt good to actually play a game with them.
Where did you see that your team needed you?
I had to think a lot. I saw where they needed me out there, as a scorer and as a leader to open things up for everyone. They have to pay attention to me a lot and a lot of attention to Elston as well. With me back, it opens up things for both of us.
Were you a little nervous out there at the start of the game?
In the first half, I wasn't nervous, but I guess it was just my nerves. I think I played really sloppy until that technical foul.
JUNIOR GUARD ELSTON TURNER
Did the team start off a little sloppy?
You're going to have games like that where stuff doesn't go your way. And they were hitting a whole bunch of shots for a while there. Once we got settled in, we realized we could control the game.
On having Khris Middleton back in the lineup
It helps a lot. It opens up a lot of offense for us and now other teams can pay attention to not two or three guys but multiple players that can do a lot of things on the court. With me and Khris on the outside and Dave and Ray on the inside, that's a pretty tough matchup for anyone. It's good to have him back, and you saw that he was ready for this game.
ULM HEAD COACH KEITH RICHARD
When did you find out Khris was going to play? What did you see from him out there?
I had heard today that he was going to play. Obviously he was the story and the player of the game and really flexed his muscles in the second half and took that thing over.
What can your team take from a game like this in an atmosphere like this?
Not so much the atmosphere because we've played three SEC schools already on the road, we've been in this environment already. The thing I was worried about is A&M is the 6th ranked defensive team in the country; you're scared you won't score a point in 40 minutes. Let alone try to guard them. But I'm proud of our guys. I thought for us, we improved on some things we've been working on all week defensively. A normal team without Middleton, we might have taken this thing to the wire, but Middleton was too much.
How did you stay close in this game until the later minutes?
We've been a very poor defensive team this year and we haven't been bad on offense. I even thought they shot a decent percentage, I thought we did a decent job for a while there defensive. I knew to stay in a game like this throughout the whole game, we'd have to make some three point shots and a lot of them. I told our guys: you get an open look, you shoot it. We've been shooting a good clip, about 40 percent. You have to give them credit, they're going to win a bunch of games. They played great defense
On Hugh Wingo's performance
That was Hugh's best game of the year, he's a senior. I'm happy for him because he's struggled all year. Minutes have been down because he hasn't been very productive, but it was nice to see him play that was tonight. He really looked like he belonged out there in the game. If he can keep that up, that will really help us in conference play.
