Texas A&M
2-0,0-0SEC
Tarleton State
1-1,0-0WAC
Miller, Flagg Lift Aggies Past Tarleton State, 73-66
Dec 02, 2020 | Men's Basketball
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Emanuel Miller had a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds, Savion Flagg added 21 points and nine boards, and Texas A&M rallied from a 10-point, second-half deficit to beat Tarleton State 73-66 on Wednesday night.
Miller made 15 of 16 from the free-throw line, and Flagg 7 of 8 as Texas A&M hit 19 of 21 from the stripe over the final 10 minutes.
Konstantin Dotsenko hit a jumper that gave Tarleton State a 10-point lead with nearly 13 minutes to play but Jay Jay Chandler answered with a 3-pointer that sparked a 13-2 run capped when Chandler made a layup to give the Aggies a 47-46 lead less than four minutes later. A layup by Shamir Bogues put the Texans back in front at 49-47 but Andre Gordon converted a three-point play with 7:30 left to give Texas A&M the lead for good.
Montre Gipson made 4 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 23 points for Tarleton State (1-1). Dotsenko finished with 15 points and Bogues scored 11.
The Texans, who shot 48% (21 of 44) overall, were called for 29 personal fouls and had four players foul out.
Texas A&M made just 18 of 48 (38%) from the field but outscored Tarleton State 15-3 in second-chance points and was plus-15 (31-16) from the foul line.
Texas A&M Men's Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 73, Tarleton State 66
Reed Arena (Bryan-College Station, Texas)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M defeated Tarleton State, 73-66, Wednesday night at Reed Arena.
- The all-time record between the two teams is now 1-0.
TEAM NOTES
- With the Aggies trailing 46-37, Savion Flagg spurred a 10-0 run with dunk with 11:33 remaining that gave Texas A&M its first lead of the half.
- The Aggies made 31 free throws, the most since 2010 when Texas A&M made 34 against Alcorn State.
- Emanuel Miller (23) and Savion Flagg's (21) scoring performance is the first time that two Aggies scored 20-or-more in the same game since since last season at Arkansas (3/7) when Wendell Mitchell and Josh Nebo scored 25 and 20, respectively.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Jonathan Aku, Savion Flagg, Andre Gordon, Quenton Jackson and Zach Walker for the second time this season (2-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Emanuel Miller led the way for the Aggies, recording his third career double-double with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Miller shot 15-of-16 from the line, tied for 10th in Aggie history in free throws made in a single game.
- Savion Flagg scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Flagg's scoring performance marks the 12th time in his career scoring 20-or-more points.
- Andre Gordon dished out a career-high four assists.
- Buzz Williams is 18-14 in his career at Texas A&M and 271-169 in his 14 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M hosts UTRGV on Sunday, December 6 at Reed Arena at 3 p.m. on SEC Network.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Buzz Williams
On responding to Tarleton State's aggressive style of play…
"A lot of the figurative fists that were thrown our way tonight will be really healthy for us. They [Tarleton State] competed much harder. Our kids are aware of that. They were much more competitive per possession on both ends of the floor than we were. So, if we can learn this lesson in game two against Tarleton, as opposed to losing three in a row in Orlando last year, then it was a good investment of our time and for our game. I hope going forward, if we learn the lessons from tonight that it was worth all the stress we went through."
On coaching against Billy Gillespie…
"Obviously, I've never competed against Coach [Gillespie] or coached a game against him. I've only worked for coach. I don't want any of this to be about me, and I have so much respect for him as a coach given my relationship with him. Coach [Lonn] Reisman, who was the long-time coach at Tarleton, now the Athletic Director, has known me since I was a manager at Navarro College. So, it was really unique getting to talk to them. I made sure to get a picture with them and some of the members of our 2006 recruiting class here at A&M, so there were a lot of special moments tonight."
On Emanuel Miller's return to action…
"You could argue that these two games have been the best games that Savion [Flagg] has had for us in terms of production, but if we didn't have E-man [Emanuel Miller] back tonight, we would not have won. He could have played on Sunday, but he wasn't quite 100 percent. His spirit is what he does best. He plays incredibly hard. We didn't have to shut him down, and he was a bit upset with me. But I believe it was the right play, not only for this game but long term as well."
Sophomore Forward Emanuel Miller
On his offensive performance with his teammates help…
"My mentality was to help my teammates. Without my teammates, none of this would have happened. I will say that over and over again. The things we have been through and the adversity we have overcome are amazing. It comes down to my teammate's help, it makes a huge difference."
On the conversation throughout the game…
"During halftime, we talked about our will and want to play. It didn't center around getting to the free-throw line but more so about being ourselves. We looked uncomfortable in the first half and didn't play as we should. At the start of the second half Q [Quenton Jackson] came out with that vicious dunk that got everyone going. It changed our mindset and the perspective of the game. It showed us it's still a game and we are capable of winning."
On the team's approach to this game…
"The practice going into this game, coach told us that they are a gritty and tough team that is well-coached. At the end of the day, we knew this was going to be a fight. At the start of the fight, we were hit, but the way we responded was good."
On the difference between the first half and second half…
"I think in the second half we found our will to play. The first half, we didn't put up much of a fight. Second half, we were able to calm down. We fought until the end, just like what this program stands for. Every possession matters. In the second half, we were able to get to the bonus early. From there the paint is able to open up more since the defense isn't going to play as tight as they did before."
Senior Guard/Forward Savion Flagg
On trying to get into a rhythm in the game…
"In practice, we make sure to call a lot of touch fouls to prepare us for games like these. I felt like we were pretty prepared for it. They were full-court pressing us. A lot of whistles were blown putting both teams into a one-and-one early in both halves. It was tough to get into a groove, but as I said, we are used to it with the touch fouls in practice."
On the learning experiences from this game…
"We needed to respond to being hit first. We didn't come out and punch the other team first as we should have. They were able to throw the first punch in the first half and we needed to respond quicker."
On the importance of being able to get to the free-throw line…
"It's our mentality to get to the charge circle and get fouled. We pride ourselves on that. We have a certain number of free-throws we have to get to every game. I feel like we met that goal tonight. E-Man [Emanuel Miller] was tremendous at getting fouled and getting to the free-throw line, as you can see from the stat line. I think everyone was doing the same since we knew our field goal percentage was down. We were fouling the other team, which we try not to do as much but we capitalized at the line."
Tarleton State Quotes
Head Coach Billy Gillespie
Opening Statement…
"What a fun night it was. Unfortunately, we wouldn't bring it to you expecting to lose. We came in with a decent plan, and I thought our guys played their tails off. I'm proud of every single person on our team for the effort they gave. We played a good team that made the right adjustments to do what they had to do to win. We aren't satisfied with the loss, but we'll take a lot from it and try to get better as we go. We are very grateful for the opportunity that Coach [Buzz] Williams afforded us to come in here and play his team as he moves his program forward. It was a fun night, even though we lost. We will try to get better from it and move forward."
On his team's improvement through this point in the season…
"We got a lot better after our season opener. The goal was to use that first game as a learning experience, because we had some guys that weren't practicing like they needed to. This team has made some adjustments in that time, and we're finally settling down on a rotation to use for the rest of the season. We had to get much better than we were in the opener, and we've got a long way to go. We made so many mistakes, we need more practice and cohesiveness."
On his return to Aggieland…
"It was great walking out there. I saw a lot of people, and there were a lot of nice things said. But, when the ball is tipped up at the start of the game, all of that left my mind. It's about the competition and nothing else matters at that point. I would've given anything for this to have been a normal game, because this place [Reed Arena] would have been filled up and it would have been a joy to see, because that's exactly how we left it. It was an emotional game."
