Texas A&M
4-1
New Orleans
1-2
Men's Basketball Cruises to 87-65 Win over UNO
Nov 28, 2014 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)-- Texas A&M relied on a season-best nine 3-pointers to run away from New Orleans 87-65 on Friday.
The Aggies made 9 of 21 3-pointers in breaking open a game that had stayed close for much of the first half.
Peyton Allen led the Aggies with 16 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers. SMU transfer Jalen Jones added 15 points. The Aggies (4-1) led 29-25 before closing out the first half on an 11-3 run to lead 40-28 at the break. A&M didn't ease up in the second half, holding a double-digit lead over the last 18 minutes.
Christavious Gill led the Privateers (1-2) with 16 points.
A&M newcomers Danuel House and Tonny Trocha-Morelos, each cleared to play by the NCAA last week, made their home debuts at Reed Arena after playing in the final game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Sunday. House finished with 14 points and Trocha-Morelos nine.
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement…
“It's good to be back home. I'm thankful for the people who stayed and came to the game today, I thought we had a good crowd. It's good that our fans are recognizing that we are playing better basketball. It wasn't real pretty early, but I thought New Orleans did a good job of driving the ball. They had four small guards and we were big. We fouled some shooters and you can't do the first 10 minutes. Some of that, I have to give them credit for driving the ball. Peyton Allen, I can't say enough about him and Kourtney coming off the bench, they did a really good job for us, and gave us a big lift in the first half.”
On Tonny Trocha-Morales' performance…
“He's still trying to figure out the speed of the game. He swears he's going to make a three at the top of the key, and he's capable of making them. I wish he'd be a little more patient, but he's just got to get a feel for how to play. He can block shots because he has good length. He is much better than what he has played. He's inexperienced so it's going to take him some time.”
On having more scoring threats…
“Alex Robinson can score. Peyton Allen can score. Danuel House can score. Trocha can make a play. Alex Caruso can get them the ball in the right spots. Davonte, he's playing the three or he's playing the four, he's a tough matchup, and he can shoot the ball and put the ball in the hole. We have more bodies, better players. We have better options.”
TEXAS A&M JUNIOR GUARD DANUEL HOUSE
On the team's depth…
“This team is very deep. Everybody plays a very important part on this team. We go by the name '17 Deep', because it takes all of us to contribute in practice, putting up extra shots, having good character on and off the court and inside the classroom in order to be successful. We're fighting for minutes, but we are doing it in the right way to make each other better. It's all about getting better by pushing one another, so that when we come out to battle we're prepared.”
On getting to play this season…
“This is a lot of fun. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to have a chance to play and to play with a special core group of guys as my teammates. Especially, the senior crew, Kourtney and Jordan, because this is their last season. I'm very excited and I'm willing to do anything to help the team get better.”
TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN PEYTON ALLEN
On the team's depth…
“When my teammates move the ball around and we play as a team it helps us get open shots. I just try to knock them down by always getting extra shots at the gym like everybody else. Spending time with Jordan and House working on my shot, working on my game helps me be ready for the game."
On today's performance…
"It was a blast playing today; everybody made an extra pass, we knocked down our shots and everybody shot it well. Everybody played hard, we have great character kids so it was fun playing today."
On playing for the upperclassmen on the team who've been around…
"We know it's their last year, they're trying to put everything out there, trying to get better, trying to win, trying to get to the tournament. You know, Jordan hasn't done that so we're trying to get him there. We're working as a team and they told us we've got to be ready every day, we've got to give it our all. We're just working for them and our other teammates."
NEW ORLEANS HEAD COACH MARK SLESSINGER
Opening Statement…
"It was a great opportunity for us to come over here and play against Coach Kennedy and his staff. Obviously, Coach Kennedy being a New Orleans native and from same high school as my president, Holy Cross, he's just a first class person. He and I go back all the way to 2000 when he was at Centenary and I was at Northwestern State so I've got the utmost respect for him and his staff and what they do and we're very blessed to come over and play. I think what you guys saw was a really young team with us, you know seven of our ten scholarship guys this year are freshmen or sophomores. I think we made a lot of experience errors, not necessarily effort errors but we were right there, just didn't finish. I was really pleased with how the team developed and where they were. As the game went on, they kept digging and kept fighting and showed tremendous character, but A&M's a good ball club we give them a lot of credit, they had a really good game."
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
● Texas A&M improved to 4-1 on the season with Friday's matinee win over New Orleans at Reed Arena … UNO, meanwhile, saw its ledger on the year drop to 1-2.
● The victory was the first by A&M in the all-time series between the schools, which UNO leads 2-1.
TEAM NOTES
● After trailing by two points with just over 10 minutes to play in the opening half, the Aggies went on a 26-12 run during the period's final 9:50 to take a 40-28 lead into the intermission.
● For the game, the Aggies shot 52.4 percent (33-for-63), marking the second time they've been better that 50 percent from the field in a game this season (56.8 percent vs. Northwestern State on Nov. 14)
● From 3-point range the Aggies made 9-of-21 shots for a .429 long-distance shooting percentage.
● The contest saw Texas A&M set a season-high in blocked shots (7) and committed a season-low 10 turnovers.
● Displaying great ball movement, Texas A&M was credited with 22 assists on 33 made field goals.
● Texas A&M used the starting line-up combination of Alex Caruso, Jordan Green, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Tonny Trocha-Morelos for the first time this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
● Freshman sharpshooter Peyton Allen enjoyed an outstanding afternoon, scoring a season-best 16 points … the Springfield, Ill., native made 6-of-7 field goal attempts with a 4-of-5 mark from 3-point range.
● Rookie point guard Alex Robinson distributed a personal-best nine assists in the contest … his performance marked the first time someone other than Alex Caruso has led the Aggies in assists since Feb. 20 of last season.
● Junior guard Danuel House scored 14 points on the day to give him 32 points in two games this season (16.0 points per game).
● Junior forward Jalen Jones reached double-digit scoring for the fourth time in five games this season, finishing with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 7-of-11 mark from the free throw line.
● Junior guard Alex Caruso dished out six assists in the contest to produce his eighth consecutive game of five or more assists in a streak that dates back to last season.
● A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is now 54-50 in his fourth season at Texas A&M and 265-229 in 17 years as a head coach.
UP NEXT
● The Aggies' three-game homestand continues next Wednesday (Dec. 3) when they host Sam Houston State in a 7 p.m. contest inside Reed Arena. The contest will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
