Texas A&M
4-1
Manhattan
2-3
Aggies Rebound with Rout of Jaspers
Nov 26, 2010 | Men's Basketball
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP)--Khris Middleton scored a career-high 20 points and Texas A&M beat Manhattan 74-45 Friday in the second round of the Old Spice Classic.
B.J. Holmes and Kourtney Roberson both added 12 points for Texas A&M (4-1), which was coming off a disappointing 67-65 loss to Boston College on Thursday.
After Michael Alvarado's three-point play pulled Manhattan within 43-38 seven minutes into the second half, Middleton gave Texas A&M some breathing room with five straight points. He hit a 3 right after teammate Ray Turner misfired on a slam dunk attempt and then added a rebound basket that made it 48-38 with 11 minutes to play.
Texas A&M extended its advantage to 60-42 when Middleton connected on a 3-pointer with 6 1/2 minutes remaining.
Holmes had 10 first-half points to help Texas A&M take a 39-25 lead into the locker room.
Manhattan (2-3) got 11 points from Rhamel Brown. The Jaspers have lost three in a row.
Team
- The 29-point margin of victory was the largest in the five-year history of the Old Spice Classic ... it also marks A&M's largest margin of victory in an early-season tournament under Mark Turgeon.
- Texas A&M led the entire game ... the Aggies led by as many as 17 points in the first half (23-6, 9:05 and 39-22, 2:05) ... A&M's largest lead was at the final buzzer (29).
- A&M led by just five (43-38) with 12:20 to play, then went on a 31-7 run to close out the game ... the Aggies allowed the Jaspers just two buckets and three free throws in the final 12-plus minutes on Friday.
- Texas A&M is now 51-5 under Mark Turgeon when scoring at least 70 points and 63-11 when leading at halftime.
- Texas A&M out-rebounded Manhattan, 43-31 ... the Aggies have out-rebounded their opponent in every game this season.
- A&M's bench outscored Manhattan, 26-6.
- Texas A&M's 10 3-pointers were a season high ... the Aggies have now hit a 3-pointer in 307 consecutive games dating back to January of 2001.
- After allowing 25 points off 14 turnovers on Thursday in a loss to Boston College, A&M gave up just four to Manhattan off 13 turnovers.
- The Aggies are now 10-3 under Mark Turgeon in early-season tournament play.
- Manhattan's 45 points were the fewest allowed by an Aggie team under Turgeon in an early-season tournament ... the previous low was 47 to Ohio State in the 2007 NIT Season Tip-Off finals.
- A&M carried a 14-point lead into the locker room and has now outscored opponents 199-125 in the first half this year through five games.
- Texas A&M has now won 8 of its last 12 games away from Reed Arena dating back to early February of 2010.
- Texas A&M rebounded from its first loss of the year with a win....the Aggies were 8-1 last year following a loss and now 1-0 in 2010-11.
Individual
- Sophomore Khris Middleton set a new career high with 20 points ... his previous was 19, set in the NCAA Tournament last year vs Utah State and matched Thursday against Boston College ... Middleton's 8 rebounds tied a career high.
- Middleton has scored in double figures in all 5 games this year and in 9 of the last 10 dating back to last spring.
- Junior Dash Harris' game-high 7 assists was one shy of his career best ... Harris had one more assist than the entire Manhattan team ... A&M is now 28-5 over his career when Harris has at least 3 assists.
- Senior B.J. Holmes hit double figures (12) for the third time in the last four games.
- Frehsman Kourtney Roberson scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in just 15 minutes off the bench ... both numbers were two shy of his season/career highs.TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Turgeon
"I thought we played in spurts today. We started well, then didn't play well, then finished the half well. We started the second half really poorly, and I wasn't going to call a timeout to bail the guys out. We have to toughen up. We had a stretch there where we really guarded and we got aggressive defensively and rebounded better. Then we stated to really share the ball. We started to finish better. We didn't finish well most of the game but there we were able to finish. Manhattan got tired. They have some injuries and don't have the depth they need and they got tired. I thought they played well to keep it close as long as they did. We finally got more aggressive when they cut it to five and were able to do some things. I think we learned a lot about our team today. I just wish we were more consistent. That's what I have to keep harping on with them and hopefully we'll get better with it."
On the scoring drought to start the second half and then the offense taking over... "Well, that's who we are. It's going to kill me. We practice that way. I told the guys at halftime that we can't have dips. We have to keep going upward and then have small dips. We have major dips. We have them in practice and have them in games. Against good teams you don't overcome those. We had two dips yesterday (against Boston College), at the start of the game and the start of the second half. That was the difference and that was why we didn't come out on top. Hopefully I can coach them better next week at practice when we get back home and we can become more consistent as the year goes on. That's who we are right now and we have to get that fixed."
On the play of the bench... "What I was most proud of Keith (Davis) and Kourtney (Roberson) today is the first four minutes they went in, they were atrocious. And then they played well after that. And I think that's a good sign. Ray's (Turner) trying so hard he's messing up. I told him to play hard but don't try so hard, if that makes sense. I think his minutes were much better. Kourtney missed two shots he shouldn't have missed, he's just got to feel around the basket and good hands. We've got to be a deeper team. I'm disappointed. We seemed deeper in our first three and we haven't been as deep down here as we need to be. Hopefully today gave some guys some confidence where we can become a deeper basketball team, because we need to be a deeper basketball team in order for us to be successful."
Sophomore Khris Middleton
On his 38 points in the last two games... "I think it's more just teammates finding me and putting me in a situation where I can score. I think that's mainly it."
On his improved ball handling... "I think it's helped me out a lot. I think teams can't focus on me as just a spot-up shooter. They now have to respect my drive because I can shoot it, go all the way or dish off to an open teammate. I think that helps out a lot."
On the team's breaking of the scoring drought in the second half turning momentum... "I think it did. We were able to get ourselves in control of the ballgame and just keep playing hard."
