Texas A&M
14-5, 5-2
Auburn
10-10, 2-5
Red-Hot Men Win Fifth in a Row, Down Auburn 71-61
Jan 27, 2015 | Men's Basketball
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Danuel House scored 23 points and hit six 3-pointers to lead streaking Texas A&M to a 71-61 victory over Auburn on Tuesday night.
The Aggies (14-5, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) never trailed on their way to a fifth straight win.
House got off to a hot start and missed only one 3-point attempt after coming in averaging 18.6 points over the last five games. The rest of the damage was mostly done in the paint, where Texas A&M outscored the Tigers (10-10, 2-5) 42-14.
Auburn has lost three straight games.
Jalen Jones added 13 points for the Aggies while Alex Robinson drove to the basket repeatedly and scored 12.
Antoine Mason led Auburn with 16 points and Cinmeon Bowers finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. KT Harrell scored 11.
The Aggies made half of their 56 field goals while holding Auburn to 15-of-44 shooting (34.1 percent).
TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
● The Aggies ran their winning streak to five games with a 71-61 victory at Auburn Arena Tuesday night … Texas A&M is now 14-5 on the season and sits in second place in the SEC standings with a 5-2 league mark.
● The five-game winning streak in conference play is the first for the Aggies since winning five consecutive Big 12 games from Feb. 9-23, 2011.
● Texas A&M now leads the all-time series with Auburn by the count of 6-3.
TEAM NOTES
● Texas A&M shot 50 percent from the field on the night (28-of-56), marking the sixth time that A&M has made at least half its field goal attempts in a game this season.
● Auburn, conversely, was limited to 15-of-44 shooting (34.1 percent) … it stands out as the fourth game this season A&M has held an opponent to under 35 percent shooting.
● In the paint, the Aggies enjoyed a decisive 42-14 edge in interior points … A&M also owned an 8-0 advantage in fast break points.
● Auburn never led in the contest … Texas A&M, meanwhile, enjoyed its biggest advantage of the night at 15 points (67-52) with 4:00 to play.
● The Aggies got off to a hot start in the game, scoring the contest's first eight point … Danuel House began the game at a torrid pace, scoring 13 points in game's first 5:16 by going 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
● Texas A&M owned a 34-27 halftime advantage with Alex Caruso converting a lay-up as the final seconds of the first period expired.
● The Aggies used the starting line-up combination of Alex Caruso, Jordan Green, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Kourtney Roberson for the 11th time this season (9-2).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
● Junior guard Danuel House enjoyed a banner game, scoring 15 points in the opening period en route to a 22-point showing … the Fresno, Texas, native was 7-of-10 from the floor with a 6-of-7 mark behind the 3-point arc.
● Freshman point guard Alex Robinson provided the Aggies a big lift in the contest, as the Arlington, Texas, product made 6-of-9 field goal attempts to contribute 12 points.
● Junior forward Jalen Jones scored 13 points to reach double-digit scoring for the 14th time in 17 games played this season.
● Junior Alex Caruso dished out a game-high five assists on the night … he now has 383 assists, moving Dash Harris (379 assists from 2008-12) and Dominique Kirk (382 assists from 2004-08) into sixth place all-time at Texas A&M.
● A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is now 64-54 in his fourth season at Texas A&M and 275-233 in 17 years as a head coach.
UP NEXT
● After two straight road games, the Aggies return home to Reed Arena Saturday to host Vanderbilt in a 3:30 p.m. contest that will be nationally televised by the SEC Network.
Auburn Head Coach Bruce Pearl
Opening Statement…
“Texas A&M is one of the best teams we have played so far. You can see how well drilled they are. They play really well together, and they are poised on the road. We didn't play with the same effort and energy that we have been playing with. We didn't play well together offensively. Defensively, their guards are able to rip and take it to the basket. We didn't rotate well and we didn't defend the rim. It Is a real challenge. My biggest concern moving forward is I have to find a way for our team to play better offensively. We need to get each other open and find each other. It has been a challenge.”
On defending KT Harrell…
“They have great length, so there were some opportunities for KT where he was hesitant. They just make you score over great size and great length. KT wasn't as aggressive looking for shots. They took him away and forced some things. He has to make plays for others. For example he had one assist. That's when he needs to go get other guys shots. It wasn't just KT. We were pretty disrupted offensively for most of the night.”
On Trayvon Reed getting limited play…
“He just isn't ready yet.”
On Tahj Shamsid-Deen's injury…
“It hurts because his shoulder hurts again. Tahj helps our perimeter. He is an important defensive player for us because he is a great communicator, he is quick and he makes plays. It hurts when you don't have him out there…it is his same shoulder that he hurt earlier. That shoulder hasn't popped out in several weeks, so I am sure they are worried about it. He went up for a rebound and it extended a little bit. I don't know the full extent of it, but it is not good that it continues to occur.”
On the bench…
“We have to get more from the bench, so do we try to speed that process up? I will continue to look at Trayvon Reed. His attitude has been great.”
On Texas A&M's size…
“We deserve to get criticized for not playing well. It was a little frustrating because we have lost three in a row now, so the guys are frustrated. This is not where we want it to be. We played well last Saturday at Alabama. We made progress, and this was just a step back. You can just see the losses wearing on them…Danuel House is a pro. He was terrific. You can just see that with his size, his body and his game. At point guard, Alex Caruso is a good five inches bigger than my point guard. At two Jordan Green is bigger. At the three spot, House is four inches bigger. Jordon Granger and Jalen Jones are about the same. At the five, Kourtney Roberson is bigger. So it has a cumulative affect on us. It has a lot to do with 42-14 in the paint. They executed. They got to the rim and their guard turned corners on us. It was just really hard to keep them out in front. We didn't get back in transition. This was a step back for us.”
Antoine Mason, Sr., G:
On Texas A&M size advantage…
“It caused trouble, especially on the baseline. They just out muscled us and on rebounds they had their advantage, so it was difficult.”
What comes to mind when seeing 42 to 14 in the paint…
“We shot too many shots… we should have drove. Especially me, I shot eight threes. I could have gotten to the hole, but we can't just rely on jump shots. We have to attack them and get them in foul trouble like they got us.”
On how hard it is to keep confidence when on a losing streak…
“It's a whole lot of season left. We can't look down, we just have to look forward, and we have the next game against Tennessee and we just have to build off of that.”
On KT struggling to find shots and how that affects the team…
“We have enough people to step up. We just have to play our part. Any given night somebody could go off, so we just have to play our part.”
On how much Bruce Pearl has discussed Tennessee with the team…
“He showed us some clips, defensive clips, to show us how were supposed to play, but he hasn't really brought it up. We know how much it means to him and that could change our whole season around.”
On how Texas A&M slowly pulled away…
“We just didn't get enough stops. We were right in the game. If we could get like two or three stops in a row that would've changed the whole game. The crowd would have gotten into it, but we just didn't do that tonight.”
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Kennedy
Opening Statement…
“We started off the game, and I am sure it is a line that he has heard before, but the house was on fire. It was a great environment. They are building a good culture here and great, tough environment to play in. I thought our guys showed good resiliency and played good defense and did a really good job with KT Harrell as a team. That was critical for us.”
On guarding KT Harrell…
“We guarded him with our normal rules, we just did not dig off of him in the post. I really thought our guys bought into the game plan. Jordan Green did a good job guarding him. He hit the three at the end there that was deep, but other than that I thought we did a really did a good job of guarding him. Nothing special.”
On the height advantage…
“We did not settle for jump shots. I thought Danuel House was critical. He was the one making shots and obviously had the green light when he makes six threes. I thought all of the guys did a good job when we did not have open shots of driving the lane and getting in the paint. We did not shoot as many free throws as we have been and we gave up more free throws than we would like, but Auburn is a tough team to defend off of the bounce and we have been playing well. Our guys have a lot of confidence right now and you can tell the team that has been winning and the team that is struggling.”
On scoring in the paint…
“We did not have Jalen Jones in the first half. We really wanted to make an effort with him and Kourtney Roberson. We did not think we got the ball inside enough. Both of those guys got two fouls in the first half so we went straight to the post and our guys, when we missed some layups around the basket and when we missed some free throws, we could have actually been better. But we did a good job of attacking the paint and most nights that is going to get you the win.”
Danuel House G Jr.
On feeling his shot…
“I kind of felt it in the warm-ups because we got extra time to come over here and shoot. My teammates were helping me get the ball at the free throw line and make shots on the move. So the credit really goes to my teammates because they were helping me during the pregame getting shots and telling me how I should shoot and how low I should be at the time.”
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
