House's 20 Leads No. 5 Aggies to 72-62 Win over No. 14 Cyclones

Saturday, January 30

College Station

1:00 PM

Texas A&M

18-3

Iowa State

16-5

Iowa State

Texas A&M

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Jan 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Associated Press/Texas A&M Media Relations

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Danuel House scored 20 points, including a go-ahead 3 late in the second half that sent No. 5 Texas A&M over No. 14 Iowa State 72-62 Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

The Aggies (18-3) trailed 58-56 before House hit from beyond the arc with about four minutes left. On their next possession, the senior guard worked his way inside for a layup.

House's two free throws with 2:29 remaining made it 63-58. House later missed a short jumper, and freshman Tyler Davis tipped it in for a seven-point lead.

Star forward Georges Niang scored 15 points for the Cyclones (16-5). He picked up his fourth foul with 11:43 left in the second half, and fouled out with 1:39 to go and A&M leading 65-60.

Niang, guarded most of the game by Jalen Jones, was held five points below his average.

Jones had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Davis scored 15 points for Texas A&M.

The Aggies, who left the Big 12 for the SEC in the summer of 2012, finished 4-0 against the Big 12 this season. They defeated old conference foes Texas, Kansas State, Baylor and now Iowa State.

The teams hadn't played since February 2012, just prior to the Aggies leaving the Big 12.

Deonte Burton added 11 points for the Cyclones. They had 16 turnovers, including five by Abdel Nader.

The Aggies dominated in points off of turnovers (21-4), and held a 40-34 edge in points in the paint.

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
#5 Texas A&M 72, #14 Iowa State 62
Jan. 30, 2016 - Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)

RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

Texas A&M improved to 18-3 on the season following a 72-62 win over No. 14 Iowa State at Reed Arena Saturday during the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
The victory was A&M's third over a ranked opponent this season – having already defeated No. 10 Gonzaga (62-61 on Nov. 26) and No. 16 Baylor (80-61 on Dec. 19).
Additionally, the victory was the Aggies' fourth over a Big 12 squad this season … Texas A&M is 4-0 vs. its former conference in 2015-16 with wins over Texas, Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State.
The all-time series between the Aggies and Cyclones now stands at 11-9 in favor of Texas A&M.
The crowd of 12,473 was the largest to attend a regular season non-conference game at Reed Arena, topping the previous high of 12,255 vs LSU on Jan. 5, 2008.

TEAM NOTES

The tightly-contested affair featured nine ties and 15 lead changes with the biggest advantage for either team being 10 points by A&M in the game's final minute.
The Aggies forced 16 Cyclone turnovers, leading to a 21-4 advantage for A&M in points off turnovers.
The game was deadlocked 30-30 at the intermission.
Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Anthony Collins, Alex Caruso, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Tyler Davis for the eighth time this season (7-1).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Senior Danuel House lead all scorers, contributing 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field … It stood out as the 12^th time House has hit the 20-point mark during his A&M career.
Fellow senior Jalen Jones notched his 14^th career double-double [third this season / fifth at Texas A&M] by scoring 13 points and pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds.
Freshman Tyler Davis also reached double-digit points, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy captured his 300^th career victory, improving to 89-64 in his fifth season at Texas A&M and 300-243 in 18 seasons as head coach.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M jumps back into SEC play next week with a road trip to Nashville when the Aggies will face Vanderbilt on Thursday inside Memorial Gym … Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Quotes
#5 Texas A&M 72, #14 Iowa State 62
Jan. 30, 2016 ? Reed Arena

BILLY KENNEDY, TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"It was great to be a part of a good, hard fought game. Iowa State is very aggressive, how good they are offensively. I thought maybe they wore down a little bit but they're a very good team and I'm just really proud of our guys for not shooting the ball well and staying disciplined offensively and taking good shots and running good offense at the end and our defense was pretty good too."

On Danuel House taking over in the last four minutes…
"That was huge. He took over and what was really good with him is he was patient. He didn't force anything, he made a big shot and he let us run stuff and get him the ball in the right places. He did a heck of a job being disciplined and being patient and making the right plays."

On bouncing back from Arkansas loss…
"I thought we would. Our guys were excited to play and they knew how big of a game this was and they were back home. What a great environment, the students the fans definitely made a difference in helping us."

On emotions coaching on opposite bench as Steve Prohm…
"Once the game started, I know he was fine and I was fine. That's what we do. We've coached a lot of games, we've won a lot of games but we've lost a lot of games too so we've been through some tough times and I'm just proud of him because the situation he's in to inherit a job like that with so much pressure and so many good players and expectations, he's done a tremendous job."

On what achieving his 300^th win means to him…
"A lot of good players, a lot of good coaches, a lot of good help and survival. It's about survive and advance in our profession and we've been blessed."

On momentum of the win…
"It's a grunt, we've got a lot of games left. We've just got to keep getting better one day at a time and stay healthy and make good choices on the court and off the court and we'll be alright."

JALEN JONES, TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD/FORWARD
On Texas A&M dominating in the final minutes…
"Well, it was an overall team win. We really had to dig deep and see what we really were about because Iowa State's a good team and I think, in my opinion, they'll probably win the Big 12, them or Kansas. Everybody just dug deep, the coaching staff did a great job of being patient with us and keep motivating throughout the game. We were able to pull out a tough victory today and this is great for our confidence."

On regaining confidence after Arkansas loss…
"It just gives us an extra boost of confidence. We know that we wanted a better team. We let one go in Arkansas and that was really tough having to let that go and then come back and play a tough team, Iowa State, so this just boosts our confidence and we feel a lot better about ourselves."

On moving forward in the season…
"We've got to continue to build on this and stay focused and not get bored with winning."

DANUEL HOUSE, TEXAS A&M SENIOR GUARD
On how this win feels…
"This win is really big. It feels really good because it sets the standard high for our team but then it lets us know that we can compete with anyone in the world. That's a great team and as you've seen they took down Kansas and Oklahoma, so now it may raise the eyebrows of people like what can Texas A&M really do."

On his performance at the end…
"I was just being patient, playing within the team concept, trying to let it all come natural instead of trying to just force everything. I was grateful that my teammates and everybody in the staff, they ran plays for me and they found me and got me the ball."

On Big 12/SEC Challenge…
"Playing in your former conference makes it a little bit more special if you know what I mean. The fans, especially A&M fans, they used to love the Big 12 competition and being able to move to the SEC and coming back and playing a Big 12 [team] was a bit of excitement for the fans and the staff around here."

STEVE PROHM, IOWA STATE HEAD COACH
Opening Statement
"Congratulations to Texas A&M. In the game there were a couple a possessions where we had a chance to score and we have to do a better job of execution, and I have to a better job of putting people into better positions. Give A&M a lot of credit. You have to get stops. We weren't able to control tempo at times. It's a credit to Texas A&M. They really clogged that paint. I thought when we got down five we were still a little three-happy with still 1:40 to go and that's a lot of time left. We were looking for the home run and that should have been emphasized to get some paint touches, but we will learn from that."

How does A&M compare with the other top teams…
"I don't know but, they are good. (Danuel) House is the kind of guy who can go get his own basket. (Tyler) Davis is really good in the front. They are really good defensively and we did a good job guarding them for the most part we let it get away from us in the last couple of minutes. It's hard for me to compare them to the other teams. I think when all is said and done they will be a one, two, or three seed in the NCAA tourney."

Tough loss today…
"Yeah probably because it's an out-of-conference game. I think they are disappointed. This was a big opportunity to get a big road win against a really good team. And we weren't perfect offensively but we played hard and competed for the most part. They weren't the better team until the final few minutes. We can take some positives from this."

Relationship with Coach Kennedy…
"Before the game it's different, we were talking, but once you start the game you are more engaged with your team. We talked right before and he got a little emotional, but once the game started it was all business. We talk twice a week and text during the season. I'm happy for him to get his 300th win. I've worked with him for a long time. He's been nominated for coach of the year for a couple different programs. Taking mid-major programs to the NCAA tournament is really difficult and he has won every where he's been. Last year they would have been an NCAA tourney team if House didn't get hurt but that is part of the game."