Texas A&M
17-6, 6-3
BAYLOR
17-5, 4-4
Texas A&M Defeats No. 20 Baylor, 78-71
Feb 06, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2010
The Bears (17-5, 4-4 Big 12) led for most of the game until Baylor was able to rally behind the key 3-pointers by Holmes.
Texas A&M (17-6, 6-3), the Big 12's worst 3-point shooting team, stayed true to form for most of the game, finishing 4 of 18 from behind the arc. But Holmes, a 5-foot-11 junior, made 3s with 5:19 and 4:52 remaining to bring the Aggies within one point each time.
The Aggies, who won their third straight, took the lead at 65-64 on a free throw by Davis with 3:21 remaining, and Donald Sloan the went 7 of 8 from the free throw line over the final 3:02. Holmes came through again from long range with 1:31 remaining, when his 3-pointer gave A&M a 72-66 lead.
LaceDarius Dunn led the Bears with 23 points.
Sloan finished with 20 points.
POSTGAME QUOTES
A&M GUARD Donald Sloan
On telling BJ Holmes to shoot the 2nd-half threes… “He's our shooter. He's our go-to guy when we need a three. Just because he misses a couple, that won't change. I felt like if he could get the ball with any kind of space, even just an inch, he should be able to put it up. He's a good shooter and was able to hit a couple late for us. That's what we needed and it got everyone back on their feet.”
On whether playing from behind phases the team… “Not us Aggies. We're used to being down and playing with our backs against the wall. It's been like that the last few years with our program. Aggies have always found a way to get the job done. We have a great team with great chemistry.”
On how important it was to win at home… “(It was) very important. After the Missouri game we kind of lobbied on not letting that be the high point of the past couple of weeks. We had to drop that game and get ready for a good Baylor team that was coming in. We were down 12 and luckily we didn't let it get past that. Guys stepped up and made big plays. They came in and did what they had to do.”
On the crowd… “We play for them. They give us our energy. They're committed. People are sleeping in front of Reed to just to get good seats. We do it for them and they treat us well.”
A&M FORWARD Bryan Davis
On the free throws… “We just stepped up and made plays. We've put in a lot of work in the past week shooting them. Guys are coming up here late at night and shooting, or before practice, after practice and even during practice. That's one reason why we were successful today from the line.”
On struggling at the start of the game… “Actually, we came together as a team and said we need to move on to the next play. We're going to make bad plays and turn the ball over, and teams are going to make threes, so we have to move on. Even if we have a good play, we have to move on and be able to defend.”
A&M GUARD B.J. Holmes
On his three-pointers late: “They felt pretty good. In the first half I felt I was rushing them a bit. In the second half (Donald) Sloan got me on two of them. I just rhythmed it up, put some air under it and it went in.”
On having any hesitation shooting late: “No, not with someone like Sloan telling you to shoot the ball. I shoot it when he tells me to.”
BAYLOR GUARD LACEDARIUS DUNN
“I was feeling alright. My foot started hurting toward the end but I knew I had to go in there and try to give my team a lift. But credit to A&M, they finished strong. They did a good job taking it home. Credit to them.”
On the 3-pointers by Holmes: “That was big. Both of them were big. We didn't rotate quick enough to contest the shot and he did good job knocking it down.”
On his play in the second half: “I wanted to stay aggressive and try to give my team a lift. The players on my team did a great job getting me the ball when I was scoring.”
BAYLOR GUARD TWEETY CARTER
On not being able to close out the game… “We couldn't make a stop. They did a great job executing, moving the ball and finding the open guy. We did a poor job rotating. Credit to them for attacking the zone and moving the ball. We didn't get stops when we needed to.”
On the toughness of the Big 12 night in and night out… “It is very tough, but at the same time as a senior I've been through it. We've got to do a better job of getting my team prepared, and talking to the young guys, those who haven't been through the fires in the Big 12. I've got to do a better job getting them ready to go. If you don't come ready to go for 40 minutes you're going to get beat.”
BAYLOR FORWARD/CENTER EPKE UDOH
On whether A&M defended him differently in the second half… “No, (it was the) same defense. I didn't stay as aggressive as I should have been.”
On A&M's offensive rebounds: “It's always frustrating when a team gets more offensive rebounds than you. They scored on most of those rebounds. If they were long rebounds it's probably not as bad, but when you get those 'and-1s' it takes the air out of your defense.”
BAYLOR COACH SCOTT DREW
“I think A&M did a great job every time we went on a run. They would call a time out and answer our run. The game for us was decided on the boards. We've been good all year long but today they really took it to us on the glass. That was the area of biggest disappointment. Again, credit A&M shooting free throws, making free throws and hitting big shots. They are a good team.”
On Holmes' three-pointers: “His threes ignited them and we didn't have the answer on the other end. He doesn't hit those threes and everything is fine. Credit him for making those shots. With a good offense, you're going to get something. You can't take away everything. I would have liked to contested his threes more than we did. But you're going to shoot, and they're either going to go in or they are not. They went in.”
On the toughness of the Big 12: “Top to bottom, you could go up and down the line of just how tough all these Big 12 games are. Every game is going to come down to a couple of possessions, and who makes shots and who doesn't. Who gets loose balls and who doesn't. You definitely don't want to focus on the last game you played. If your mind is there you're in trouble.”
On the second-half defense on Ekpe Udoh: “They just made it tougher and bodied him up a little more. I think Ekpe had some good looks, and normally I think he'd make those. Some days they go in and some days they don't. He did a great job finding other people. It's tough scoring over (Bryan) Davis. He blocks shots, he's physical, and he's athletic. He doesn't get enough publicity and respect as he warrants sometimes.”
A&M COACH Mark Turgeon
“That's a great win. We beat a heck of a basketball team in Baylor. I think they're really good. What a week for us. We beat two really good teams. Today we didn't start the game well, I was over-coaching. We had all these things they were going to do against their zone and I had our guys so messed up. I finally got out of the way and our guys started playing better. I think we were so hyped up. I think it was my fault. I told the guys I'd give anything to trade places with them and get a chance to play in a game like today. We came back three times tonight and that's hard to do. There's something about this group, they figure out how to win games. And who says we can't shoot free throws? I'm really proud of our defense, really proud of our rebounding and really proud of our execution against that zone.”
On his team's inside scoring: “It was great execution. We had a game plan, to play inside-out against the zone. We haven't made shots all year and that's the only way we can do it. We have to win that way. Give credit to the players, they figured it out. They never panicked and never rushed shots. We had some tough matchups. We got through really the last two games without Dash (Harris). He's really hurting and hopefully we can get him healthy by next Saturday. I thought our seniors really stepped up.”
On the play of Ray Turner… “I knew he was athletic. He's such a better player than I thought I was getting and he's such a smart basketball player. We don't win the game without him. That was an unbelievable 10 minutes he played. He's changing our team. We're becoming a big team. I can't believe how good we'd be as a team if he would have been able to practice all year. It's exciting for me as a coach because we're getting better every day. He's a great athlete, can really shoot the ball and is a brick wall. Hopefully he can continue to give us good minutes.”
On Holmes' last three: “I thought it was great execution. We had spacing set up and David (Loubeau) set a great ball screen, and it was set up just perfect. The thing that made the play was Sloan's pass was right on target. It was a bounce pass right in the shooting pocket. B.J. went out and knocked it down. We executed. It's about defense, rebounding and execution. Nothing else matters. I thought we did those three things well enough today to beat a really good team.”
On the win validating the win at Missouri… “I don't know, we just keep figuring it out. We lost at Texas and I told guys, 'I think we're pretty good. We can get a lot better but I think we're pretty good. Let's try to get on a little bit of a roll.' That's five out of six, and that's pretty good especially in this league. This was an unbelievable week for us and our program. Thank God we have time off. We can enjoy it and then get back to work Wednesday for this stretch run. I think we can get a lot better during this stretch. Did it validate? I don't know. This is two great wins. Baylor is really good. Not kind of good, really good.”
On the students… “Our students have been great. Thank God for Tweeter or whatever they call it. It's just changed our relationship so much. I can't tell you how much it means to us to have our fellow students here watching us play. I can't tell you. It means the world to us. We work hard for them. We never quit, we play hard and a lot of it is because of our student body supporting us the way they support us.”
A&M NOTES
*Bryan Davis scored a season-high 22 points with 8 rebounds. He also played a season-high 34 minutes. His previous season high in scoring was 17 against Angelo State and Texas.
*Donald Sloan scored 20 points, his eighth 20+ game of the season, his fifth in Big 12 play.
*David Loubeau scored 13 points, his fourth straight game in double figures.
*B.J. Holmes scored 12 points. His three three-pointers (7 attempts) were a season high in Big 12
play. Holmes also tied his career high with 4 assists.
*Freshman Ray Turner scored 7 points, setting his career high for the second straight game. Turner scored 4 at Missouri on Wednesday. He also tued his career high with 5 rebounds (Washington).
*A&M has won 16 straight home games, including eight straight in Big 12 play.
*The Aggies are 12-3 in their last 15 conference games.
*A&M has won five of its last six games since the 72-67 overtime loss at Texas.
*A&M is 13-1 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
*A&M has posted an average rebounding margin of +12 in the last three games.
*A&M made 28-of-33 free throws (.848) its best percentage of the year. The previous best was
.833 (20-24) against North Texas.
*A&M is 32-1 at home under Mark Turgeon when scoring at least 70 points and are 44-3 at home when they score at least 60.
*Turgeon's teams are 37-3 at home when making at least 40 percent from the field.
*A&M is 38-2 at home under Turgeon when it has fewer than 14 turnovers.
*A&M had 36 points in the paint today and has averaged 40 in the last three games. A&M is 44-4 at home under Turgeon when it scores at least 20 points in the paint, including a 12-0 mark this season.
*A&M had four players score in double figures. The Aggies are 16-3 this season when at least three players reach double digits.
*A&M is 14-1 this season when it has at least 12 assists and are 39-1 at home under Turgeon when they have at least 13 assists.
*Today's attendance of 13,021 was A&M's second straight sell out at Reed Arena. Last Saturday, A&M set a school record with 13,648 against Texas Tech.
