No. 8 Aggies Remain Perfect in SEC Before Record Crowd

Tuesday, January 19

College Station

8:00 PM

Texas A&M

6-016-2; SEC

LSU

4-211-7; SEC

LSU

Texas A&M

Jan 19, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Associated Press/Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Jalen Jones scored 20 points and freshman Tyler Davis tied a season-high with 18 to lead the No. 10 Texas A&M to a 71-57 victory over LSU on Tuesday night, extending their winning streak to nine games.

The win improves the Aggies (16-2) to 6-0 in Southeastern Conference play, which is their best start to league play since they won their first seven in 1993-94 when they were in the Southwest Conference.

The lead changed several times throughout the first half and the early part of the second half and it was tied at 44-44 with about 15 minutes left.

The Aggies took over, using a 16-3 run to make it 60-47 with about 9 minutes remaining. Alex Caruso scored four points in that span and he was under heavy pressure from Ben Simmons when he passed to Jones, who finished with a two-handed dunk to highlight the run.

Tim Quarterman had 12 points for LSU (11-7, 4-2).

Simmons, LSU's freshman star, entered the game averaging 20 points but was held to 10 points with 11 rebounds and Craig Victor added 10 points while dealing with foul trouble most of the game.

The Aggies haven't lost since Dec. 5, and their winning streak is their longest since the team won 13 straight from Nov. 26, 2010 to Jan. 15, 2011.

LSU had three turnovers and went more than 5 minutes between field goals as A&M built the lead. Simmons made a layup with about 13 minutes left and the next basket for LSU didn't come until Quarterman's layup with less than 8 minutes left made it 60-50.

But the Tigers couldn't build on that and A&M used a 6-2 spurt after that to push the lead to 66-52 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.

LSU led by two points after a 3-pointer by Antonio Blakeney with about 6 minutes left in the first half before A&M scored the next eight points to take a 38-32 lead.

Simmons added two free throws a few seconds later and neither team scored for the rest of the half to leave the Aggies up 38-34.

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
#10 Texas A&M 71, LSU 57
Jan. 19, 2016 ? Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)

RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

Texas A&M won its ninth consecutive contest Tuesday night at Reed Arena, defeating LSU 71-57 to improve to 16-2 on the season and remain perfect in SEC play with a 6-0 league mark.
The 6-0 beginning to SEC play marks A&M's best start to conference action since the 1993-94 season when the Aggies won their first seven Southwest Conference affairs … Additionally, the nine-game winning streak is the program's best since a 13-game streak in 2010-11.
The sellout crowd of 13,888 was the largest in Reed Arena history and the 19^th overall crowd of more than 13,000 since the facility opened in 1998.
Texas A&M's victory was their third straight win over LSU, cutting the Tigers' lead in the all-time series down to 17-15 … The schools will square off again in Baton Rouge on Feb. 13.

TEAM NOTES

Texas A&M owned a 42-28 edge in points in the paint and dished out 21 assists on 28 made baskets.
Down the stretch the Aggie defense clamped down, forcing the Tigers to miss fire on 17 of their last 21 shot attempts during the game … LSU shot just 32.1 percent during the second half and made only 1-of-8 3-point attempts after converting 5-of-11 chances from long range during the opening period.
Texas A&M owned a 38-34 halftime lead, shooting 57.1 percent from the floor during the opening 20 minutes of competition … During the second period, the Aggies outscored the Tigers 33-23.
Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Anthony Collins, Alex Caruso, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Tyler Davis for the sixth time this season (6-0).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Senior Jalen Jones hit the 20-point mark for the seventh time this season, finishing with a game-high 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field.
Aggie freshmen contributed 37 points in the win with Tyler Davis (18), Admon Gilder (13) and DJ Hogg (6) all contributing … For both Davis and Gilder, the game stood out as their highest-scoring against an SEC opponent this season.
Despite only scoring five points senior Danuel House was a factor in the game, finishing with career-highs in rebounds (10) and assists (6).
Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 87-63 in his fifth season at Texas A&M and 298-242 in 18 seasons as head coach.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M's two-game homestand continues when it hosts Missouri inside Reed Arena Saturday at 3 p.m. … The contest is slated to be televised by SEC Network.

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Quotes
#10 Texas A&M 71, LSU 57
Jan. 19, 2015 ? Reed Arena

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening statement…
"Really impressed with our crowd, I thought they gave us a lot of energy with our students, and it's good to have them back. I thought our seniors, and really our young guys, played with great composure the first half when we were in foul trouble and we had to play zone, we had to play some different lineups being a little shorthanded. Just weathered the storm. LSU's a young team and I think playing in this environment helped us for sure."

On the big win…
"We just win. That's all. I told our guys just do your job, don't get caught up in the hype or rankings. Just focus on doing your job and the rest will take care of itself. I was really proud of our guys, Danuel (House) didn't shoot the ball well, but having six assists and 10 rebounds. Admon (Gilder) and DJ (Hogg) and really everybody gave us good minutes. Our bench was a big difference; our freshmen scored 27 points in a game at this level. It's pretty impressive."

On the team's mentality…
"It's about the team. We've said that from last year on. It's about the team. These freshmen came in here and bought into it, in the culture of winning and sharing the ball and playing hard defensively. It has taken shape. "

On guarding Ben Simmons and Craig Victor II…
"Obviously it was pretty good. Ben Simmons creates a lot of help. We were able to rotate, get some deflections, and get some steals. They missed some shots in the second half that they made in the first half. LSU is a scary team. They're very talented, they're young and they're still searching it looks like at times. Getting Victor in foul trouble was a key because Craig Victor is a very good player."

TYLER DAVIS, TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN CENTER
On tonight being a statement win…
"I think we just played well. I think we've played well all year, but I think we had a pretty good game. The team just found us in the right spots, speaking for myself, and putting me in position to score the ball. It was a really hyped up game, but Coach Kennedy kept telling us it's the next game. The next game is the most important game. We just went out there and played our game. I think we executed well. We kind of had a messy game, but I think at the end we stepped up, we took a nice lead and we kept it."

On the atmosphere…
"The energy was insane. It felt great. Everything you did the crowd was going nuts. Anthony Collins had a behind-the-back pass that he does on the regular and the crowd went nuts. Everything felt great. I was into it. It felt good. I tried not to look, I try to focus on what's on the court. I know if I get caught up in the crowd, I'm going to get lost in it, but I did take a few glances. We ran out before the game started, and I was like 'Wow', I hadn't seen something like that. It was a whiteout too so it looked amazing out there. The crowd was jumping tonight."

On looking ahead…
"We just focus one game at a time. Conference play first, make it to the tournament, then still one game at a time. Just execute, do what coach says, and follow the game plan."

On his own performance…
"I feel good. Like I said, I just went out there and did my job, did what I was asked to do by Coach Kennedy. I was in the spots I was supposed to be in, and my teammates found me. Ben (Simmons) has the hype because Ben works hard. He earned it. My job tonight was to run the floor, get position under the basket, seal, and get my teammates good angles to get me the ball, and we did that."

On Coach Kennedy…
"Coach Kennedy is the man. He's like a father figure. He's got the kindest heart out of anyone I've ever met and he's a great leader. He's always talking to us, he's not just a coach, he's a friend too. Someone that we know we can come to and trust, so it just makes it easy, when you're in that huddle listening to him or when you're on the court during practice listening to him, you never put off what he says. It makes it a lot easier with the person that he is."

ADMON GILDER, TEXAS A&M FRESHMAN GUARD
On tonight being a statement win…
"We've been playing good all year, so I don't think it's a coming out party. We're just going to keep on working hard at what Coach has us doing. We're just going to keep on doing what we're doing."

On Ben Simmons of LSU…
"He's a remarkable player and well-coached by their team. We have to go to LSU so therefore, we have to make sure we go back to work and take it next game at a time. Also thankful for the Reed Rowdies, they came out and supported us, and if the games are like that every time, it should be amazing."

On halftime adjustments…
"Coach said stick with the game plan. A couple of people were struggling with their shots, so we got the ball into the paint and got it to Tyler (Davis). Everybody started making shots, started speeding up the game a little bit and everything started going our way."

On the winning streak…
"We're all playing as a team, everybody is sharing the ball. Multiple people can score so therefore it's hard to guard all of us. I believe we can do something special."

JOHNNY JONES, LSU BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"I knew coming in it was going to be a hard fought, tough basketball game. Tonight, that it was. We were playing a Top 10 team, a team leading the conference and I think they did a tremendous job tonight. I thought we did a good job there in the first half, but the second half I thought they did a great job. After about the first six to eight minutes of getting a spurt, they wind up getting a lead and did a great job of executing on their end of the floor and defending against us on our end. I didn't think we were patient enough offensively against a really good, solid defensive team like this tonight to grind it out. I thought they did a great job of showing their patience, the resilience they have in making the plays they needed to down the stretch and to get a big victory here tonight."

On what went wrong for the team…
"It just didn't make shots. Again, we weren't patient enough to grind it out and make plays. They're a good, solid defensive basketball team. We were missing some shots early and I thought we were shooting the ball a little early and not allowing ourselves to get into the clock to force their defense to have to work. Then we did not rebound the ball well in the second half as well."

On home crowd impact…
"Great atmosphere. I mean not problems but I thought it was a great atmosphere in there tonight. I thought they did a tremendous job. I think that's a credit to Coach Kennedy and what he's done during his time here and created that type of environment. I'm happy to see that and I thought they certainly have a chance to impact the game because I think they can certainly motivate runs and give those guys energy when needed."

On Craig picking up his fourth foul…
"Craig has been playing and been really solid for us all year and he does a great job in the paint for us and he's the force, inside force both offensively and defensively. Without him, we probably did not have what we needed inside. We thought Elbert Robinson came in and gave us quality minutes there in the first half, a little bit there in the second. But for Craig to sit that long, we hadn't been used to it but we've got to have other guys make plays."

CRAIG VICTOR II, LSU SOPHOMORE FORWARD
On foul trouble…
"It's a bit frustrating because I've been dealing with foul trouble pretty much a lot lately but it's just a discipline thing and just have to stay down on defense. I think some of their calls, you know went their way but at the same time they're at home, they're the home team and that's just how they play it off."