Texas A&M
Penn State
No. 16 Basketball Wins Progressive Legends Classic
Nov 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK (AP)-- Without prompting, Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy and Robert Williams and Duane Wilson took turns speaking about the long term aspirations for the Aggies.
The words they used were `'special" and "March."
No false modesty here. The 16th-ranked Aggies know they're good and have set their sights on the NCAA Tournament, facts that they unequivocally reiterated after a 98-87 victory over Penn State in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
"It shows we're capable of doing something special," Kennedy said.
Indeed.
All it takes is a brief glance at the final stat sheet to support his argument. Five Aggies finished in double figures. Williams finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Wilson led the Aggies (4-0) with 22 points while Tyler Davis chipped in 15, Admon Gilder had 14 and Tonny Torcha-Morelos finished with 11.
"We're deep. We're talented. We can make special plays," said Kennedy, who later added, "We have a deep team. We have a lot of guys.
"We have a lot of weapons."
A fact which wasn't lost on Penn State coach Pat Chambers.
Despite getting a career-high 31 points from Tony Carr, Penn State (5-1) lost its first game of the season. Lamar Stevens added 25 points for Penn State.
"Our halfcourt defense, specifically our ball screen defense has to be better," said Chambers, who jabbed the table with his fingers for emphasis. "If you told me (DJ Hogg) was only going to have seven (points) and we scored 87, I'd (have) thought we'd be sitting here with a win."
The Aggies took a 42-40 lead into halftime due to Williams' two-hand follow jam with 4 seconds left in the half. Seven of the eight players who got into the game in the first half for Texas A&M scored, led by Williams' 12.
And the Aggies needed every point, as Carr was a one-man offensive onslaught for the Nittany Lions. Carr had 21 points in the opening half on 7-of-8 shooting including 2 for 2 from 3-point range. He made 5 of 6 free throws.
Texas A&M took a 63-51 lead on Wilson's scoop layup 6:41 into the second half. Wilson's layup was the culmination of a stretch in which the Aggies outscored the Nittany Lions 21-11.
Following Wilson's layup, Chambers called time out. DJ Hogg hit a 3 for the Aggies, Gilder made two free throws and Williams finished a 2-on-1 break with a two-handed jam off an alley-oop pass which pushed the lead to 70-53.
Cleared for take off. ????
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) November 22, 2017
Check out @rob_williamsIII big time slam off the @teedino_ assist. #DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/mpQqsh3FLy
"Give Texas A&M credit. They jumped us," Chambers said. "They got to a big lead."
Penn State used an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 70-61.
After a layup by Gilder pushed the lead to 72-61, the Nittany Lions scored the next five points on a layup by Carr and three free throws from Stevens. That was as close as they would get.
"Keep your composure at the end," Williams said. "Don't lose it."
Williams was named tournament MVP, and was joined on the all-tournament team by Wilson, Carr, Stevens and Oklahoma State's Jeffrey Carroll.
"That's the goal this year, bring home more trophies." -@LegendsBBall tourney MVP @rob_williamsIII. Ags home Friday 8pm vs Pepperdine (tickets: https://t.co/HOPVFCmOO9) #DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/KEMBBScPIt
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) November 22, 2017
"I feel like we kept our composure and competed as a team." -all tourney selection @SwaggyDu1 (22 pts, 6 ast) #DoMore #12thMan pic.twitter.com/k7u4JhFlGf
— Texas A&M Basketball (@aggiembk) November 22, 2017
POSTGAME NOTES
TOURNAMENT & SERIES NOTES
- The Aggies improved to 4-0 and claimed the title of the Progressive Legends Classic on Tuesday night, defeating Penn State, 98-87, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
- The tournament victory was the Aggies' 18th overall during an in-season tourney (does not include conference tournaments) as well as the first for the program since winning the 2007 NIT Season Tip Off.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies boasted five double-digit scorers vs. the Nittany Lions, their most since five players accomplished the feat on Feb. 18 of last season vs. Auburn.
- The first half featured 11 lead changes and seven ties, but ultimately saw the Aggies take a 42-40 lead into the intermission after a Robert Williams put-back in the period's closing seconds.
- A&M wrestled control of the game with a 21-6 run that started early in the second half … The Aggies' lead swell to as many as 17 on Williams dunk with 12:09 to play.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Duane Wilson, Admon Gilder, DJ Hogg, Tonny Trocha-Morelos and Tyler Davis for the third time this season (3-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Sophomore Robert Williams and senior Duwan Wilson were named to the Progressive Legends Classic All-Tournament.
- Williams notched his 13th career double-double and second in as many games since returning to the A&M lineup … The Oil City, La., native finished with 23 points on 11-of-13 shooting to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds.
- Wilson enjoyed his best game as an Aggie, finishing 22 points, six assists, two rebounds, a block and a steal in 30 minutes of action … He was 7-of-10 shooting from the floor.
- Billy Kennedy is now 119-85 during his seven-year tenure at Texas A&M and 330-264 in 20 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
- Texas A&M returns home to Reed Arena where it will host Pepperdine on Friday at 8 p.m. (CT).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Kennedy
On the game: "Obviously, we are real happy we beat a real good Penn State team that fought defensively and offensively gave us some problems. Tony Carr was a handful, 21 points in a half on any level is pretty special. Fortunately, in the second half we had (Admon) Gilder back and I thought Gilder did a really good job of keeping him from catching it and disrupting him a little bit. What can I say, we're deep, we're talented and our guys can make special plays. When we get point guard play from Duane Wilson who made tough play at half court when there was a loose ball, I thought that sparked out intensity defensive wise. That was a big play to help us win the game."
On Robert Williams: "He makes the game easy for our guards when you can just throw it up there at any time, he can go get two points and dunk it. He effects the game defensively in so many ways, people are looking for him, he had a couple of steals in transition and he's a really good passer and unselfish. He's a special player and we're fortunate to have him and fortunate not many teams in the country can bring in a guy like that of the bench to get that kind of lift like we did."
On Duane Wilson: "Bringing Duane in with the experience he had at Marquette and playing in high level games is something we missed on our team. Bringing him in and his toughness has been a big bonus for our team; especially some of the tough plays he made, driving the ball to the basket and putting pressure on their defense, and like I said his maturity and experience is something we needed in our program and he's been a big lift for us."
Robert Williams
On advantage in the post playing along with Tyler Davis: "I felt like for the most part we took advantage of it one-on-one, but we just have to learn how to play with each other more. I have to learn how to give him space when he's working and I catch it in the high post he has to learn to dive or let me work it out."
Duane Wilson
On Penn State: "I think they're a great team. They got a group of young guys starting, especially with (Tony) Carr. I think he's a pro; He's good, 6-5-point guard, he knows how to get to his spots anywhere and they got a great team. They know how to play with each other. They are great defensively, they got great team chemistry…I think they are going to be a surprise team in the Big Ten and there's been a lot of people who've counted them out already. I see they can be an NCAA tournament team in the Big Ten."
Penn State Head Coach Patrick Chambers
Opening Statement: "Thanks for having us. It's just awesome; I really appreciated this experience for our team to be in Brooklyn and to go against Pitt and now Texas A&M, a top 15 team. So many lessons to be learned today, so many great experiences that we will look back on and say, okay this is what we've got to work on once I watch the film on the way home on the bus. Obviously, Lamar and Tony were terrific but we can't survive that way in the Big Ten. We need better balance. Our identity is defending and rebounding and to give up this many points is not what we want to do, especially not against high major teams, but I give Texas A&M credit. They jumped us in the second half there and they got to a big lead, but I was really, really proud of our group and how they responded. We had a shot to cut it to three and the shot didn't go down but they kept battling, kept fighting. I look forward to watching the film and we'll get better. "
On measuring up to Texas A&M: "I think we have the speed and the quickness as well, and the size. I just got to get my size more reps. I think my size needs to be a little more like them where they're making an impact on the game other than Mike Watkins. We need more from Satchel and we need more from Julian. I showed you Johnny today, Johnny Harrar, he was terrific. He's going to continue to get more minutes. There are no moral victories; we thought we were going to win this game. I think we have the talent to really compete at a high level in our league. I was ready, we were ready and we were mentally prepared to play this game."
