Jones Powers No. 18 Aggies to Win over FGCU

Wednesday, December 2

College Station

7:00 PM

Texas A&M

7-1

FGCU

4-4

FGCU

Texas A&M

Dec 02, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Associated Press/Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)-- Jalen Jones scored 22 points to help No. 18 Texas A&M beat Florida Gulf Coast 75-65 on Wednesday night.

Danuel House added 15 points for the Aggies (7-1). Texas A&M had only 10 turnovers to 21 for Florida Gulf Coast, and outscored the Eagles 21-5 on points off turnovers.

Christian Terrell led Florida Gulf Coast (4-4) with 14 points.

Aggies guard Alex Caruso scored all seven of his points in a 50-second-span in the second half. He grabbed an offensive rebound following D.J. Hogg's missed 3-point attempt and quickly put the ball in over several players. Caruso stole Reggie Reid's pass near midcourt and dunked for the loudest roar of the night, then grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back for a score and a three-point play.

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
#18 Texas A&M 75, FGCU 65
Dec. 2, 2015 ? Reed Arena

RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
? No. 18 Texas A&M improved to 7-1 on the season with a 75-65 win over FGCU Wednesday night at Reed Arena … The win was A&M's sixth victory by 10 or more points in eight games this year.
? The Aggies are 5-0 at Reed Arena this season and 131-13 all-time inside the facility against non-conference opponents.
? The meeting was the first between the schools on the hardwood, leaving A&M with a 1-0 advantage in the series.

TEAM NOTES
? The Aggies tied a season high with 12 steals in the contest, forcing 21 FGCU turnovers which led to a 21-5 A&M advantage in points off turnovers.
? Texas A&M received a team effort on the offensive end with six players finishing with seven or more points.
? Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Anthony Collins, Alex Caruso, DJ Hogg, Jalen Jones and Tonny Trocha-Morelos for the first time this season (1-0).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
? Senior Jalen Jones made his first start of the season and recorded his fifth 20-point game at Texas A&M … The Dallas native was 7-for-11 for 19 points during the opening period en route to finishing 8-of-14 from the floor … Jones added a team-high seven rebounds.
? Jones' 19 first-half points were the most by an Aggie in an opening stanza since Elston Tuner's 22 against Ole Miss on Feb. 13, 2013.
? Fellow senior Danuel House shook off a sluggish first half that saw him score only two points to record 13 points after halftime … House was 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the contest.
? Senior Anthony Collins enjoyed a solid all-around game, finishing with a season-best nine assists against only two turnovers while adding a game-high three steals.
? Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 78-62 in his fifth season at Texas A&M and 289-241 in 18 seasons as head coach.

UP NEXT
? The Aggies will travel to Tempe, Ariz., to face Arizona State on Saturday … The game will be televised by ESPN2 and tip off at 9:30 p.m. (CT).

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Quotes
#18 Texas A&M 75, FGCU 65
Dec. 2, 2015 ? Reed Arena

BILLY KENNEDY, TEXAS A&M BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"Happy we won. I knew it was going to be a struggle. I knew Florida Gulf Coast [University] was a better team than some of the teams we played at home. I knew our guys coming off that trip; I was concerned about us being tuned in and to everything that we needed to be. We didn't prepare ourselves well this week and therefore we didn't play as well as we are capable of. But I thought Jalen (Jones) brought us some good energy in the first half. Danuel (House) got going in the second half. From there I thought we did some good things but we couldn't sustain it."

On starting Jalen Jones…
"He played really good the last game and we knew eventually he would get that spot. The other two guys that didn't start was just a coach's decision. I wasn't pleased with some things during the week and so I wanted to give some other guys an opportunity. I thought Tyler [Davis] and Daniel [House] handled it well coming into the second half and being ready to go."

On improvement of turnovers and free-throws from previous seasons…
"We still did some good things. This team was up one at Florida just last Saturday. It wasn't a slouch team we were playing. That team will compete to win their league, so we did some good things. We just didn't have it revved up with the energy on both ends of the floor. And when you start with a different lineup it's an adjustment and guys get out of their flow. You would hope you can handle that well but we didn't handle it the best we could possibly do it, but hopefully this will help us down the road. We have three tough games in a row starting with Arizona State, that if we play like this at Arizona State we won't have a chance to win."

ANTHONY COLLINS, TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD
On getting turnovers…
"Coach just told us to put ball pressure and be in the gaps. We just stuck to our principles and executed the game plan and the turnovers just happened."

On being unable to grow the lead…
"Florida Gulf Coast in a good team, they were up on Florida at half time at their game. We were a little discouraged and wanted to go up by more points, but they're a good team and they kept fighting back like any other good team would do."

JALEN JONES, TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD
On the over-all performance of the Aggies…
"We didn't perform to the best of our ability. We came out a little sluggish and we have to give a lot of credit to Florida Gulf Coast (University). They came out and they played hard and they played to the end. We just have to go back to practice tomorrow, regroup and get ready for Arizona State."

On playing at Reed for the first time this year…
"I think my teammates just found me in the right spots. I was able to knock down a couple shots and a couple went in; I just got a little flow and went with it."

On how different it is to play for a ranked team…
"Of course with being a ranked team now the expectations are higher for you. Everybody expects you to blow out unranked teams and dominate them. Sometime you have to pull out a tough victory and that's what we did tonight. We just have to regroup and get ready for Arizona State. This one is past us and we can't help their victory and move on."

JOE DOOLEY, FGCU BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"The big thing is when you play a really good team, which A&M is, you can't give them turnovers and have those turn into points. You look at the stats and have those turnovers turned into points in the paint, 40, points off the turnover were 21. I thought those were the huge differences in the game. I thought especially in the first half, Jalen Jones just controlled the entire tempo of the game and was a beast in the post. We really struggled guarding him."

On Texas A&M's options…
"They are well balanced. You have to pick your poison. They've got bigs that can shoot and bigs that can score inside. Collins controls the tempo and House and Caruso are really good. We've been impressed watching them on tape and watching them throughout. I think Billy (Kennedy) has done a great job and they've got a really good team. We got some really good learning points from this game."