Texas A&M
26-7, 13-5
LSU
19-14, 11-7
No. 17 Men Dominate LSU in SEC Tournament Semifinals
Mar 12, 2016 | Men's Basketball
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tonny Trocha-Morales scored 13 points as No. 17 Texas A&M trounced LSU and freshman star Ben Simmons 71-38 on Saturday to reach the Aggies' first conference tournament championship game since 1994.
The Aggies (26-7) will play for the Southeastern Conference Tournament title on Sunday after sharing the regular-season crown with No. 16 Kentucky. They will face either the Wildcats or Georgia.
Texas A&M hadn't reached a conference tourney championship since losing to Texas 22 years ago in the Southwest Conference. Now, after its eighth straight victory, it is one win away from adding its first tournament title since 1987.
The Aggies announced a new five-year deal with coach Billy Kennedy before tipoff, and then they proved he deserved it by routing the last team to beat them back on Feb. 13.
Jalen Jones added 12 points and Admon Gilder had 10. The Aggies not only held LSU to a season-low in both points and made field goals (13) but also the fewest points scored by a team in any major conference this season, according to STATS LLC.
Simmons finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for fourth-seeded LSU (19-14).
The Tigers beat the Aggies 76-71 in Baton Rouge but looked nothing like that team in this game.
The Aggies missed five of their first six shots before Trocha-Morelos hit a 3-pointer that woke them up with 13:29 left, starting them on what wound up a crushing 32-5 run. Gilder punctuated the performance by beating the buzzer with a 3-pointer for a 35-13 lead at intermission.
LSU led 8-3 in the opening minutes and had a 13-5 edge in rebounding when Tocha-Morelos hit his second 3 to tie it up at 9 with 11:40 left in the half. That's when the Tigers' mistakes caught up with them and LSU fell apart with a simply ghastly performance. The Tigers wound up with more turnovers (11) than made shots (five) by halftime as they missed their final 14 shots.
Tim Quarterman hit two 3s within the first 2 minutes of the second half to pull the score to 39-19. The Tigers never got any closer. Texas A&M spent much of the second half throwing down big dunks that had the Aggies jumping up and down on the bench. A free throw by Kyle Dobbins off a technical on Simmons gave the Aggies their biggest lead at 68-28 with 3:05 left.
Texas A&M Basketball Postgame Notes
#17 Texas A&M 71, LSU 38
March 12, 2016
Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, Tenn.)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M improved to 26-7 following a 71-38 victory over fourth-seeded LSU during the semifinals of the 2016 SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena.
- The win was A&M's eighth in a row and left the Aggies just one victory shy of the school record of 27 set by the 2006-07 squad.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT NOTES
- Texas A&M will appear in a conference tournament title game for the sixth time in school history and the first time since 1994 … A&M has won two league tournament titles, 1980 and 1987 under former coach Shelby Metcalf.
- The 38 points allowed is the fewest for Texas A&M in conference tournament action … Additionally, the win marked the largest margin of victory for the Aggies in league tournament action since a 33-point win over Colorado at the 2006 Big 12 Tournament.
- A&M is now 25-38 all-time in conference tournament games, including a 3-3 mark at the SEC Tournament.
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M limited LSU to just 38 points, the fewest points scored by a team in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 or SEC this season … The previous low was 40 points by Boston College at Syracuse … The Tigers' previous season low for points scored was 57, when they lost to the Aggies on Jan. 19 in College Station.
- LSU was limited to just 20.6 percent shooting for the game, the lowest for an A&M opponent this season as well as the lowest by an SEC opponent against the Aggies in program history.
- A&M enjoyed a 52-40 advantage in rebounding, marking the seventh game this season that the Aggies have outrebounded their opponent by 10 or more.
- The play of the Aggie bench was also a huge factor in the game as the A&M non-starters outscored their Tiger counterparts 42-10.
- Texas A&M used the starting combination of Anthony Collins, Alex Caruso, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Tyler Davis for the 19th time this season (15-4).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Sophomore Tonny Trocha-Morelos led the Aggies in scoring, contributing 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a 3-of-6 mark from 3-point range.
- A trio of Aggies share top-rebounding honors as Jones, Kobie Eubanks and Danuel House each finished with seven boards.
- Senior Alex Caruso, meanwhile, dished out a game-high five assists while committing just one turnover.
- Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is now 97-68 in his fifth season at Texas A&M and 308-247 in 18 seasons as head coach.
UP NEXT
- Texas A&M will play for the SEC Tournament title on Sunday, facing either Kentucky at Noon … The game will be carried live on ESPN as the Aggies take aim at their first post-season conference tournament title since bringing home the 1987 Southwest Conference crown.
