COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Tyler Davis scored 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting as Texas A&M defeated South Carolina State 83-76 on Saturday night.
Texas A&M (7-2) led by at least eight points through the second half until a last-second 3-pointer by South Carolina State’s Greg Mortimer. Eric Eaves scored 23 points and Edward Stephens added 18 for the undersized Bulldogs (2-7).
The Aggies doubled up SCSU 48-24 on points in the paint.
Admon Gilder contributed 16 points for A&M and teammates D.J. Hogg and Robert Williams added 15 each.
A&M coach Billy Kennedy freely used his bench and the Aggies’ reserves outscored SCSU’s reserves 18-7.
The Bulldogs stayed within striking distance by shooting 52.2 percent from the 3-point line (12 of 23), compared to 20 percent for the Aggies (4 of 20). Stephens made 6-of-11 3-pointers for the Bulldogs.
Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
Texas A&M 83, South Carolina State 76
Dec. 10, 2016 – Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- With the win Texas A&M improved to 7-2 on the season, marking the 12th consecutive season that the Aggies have won at least seven of their first nine games.
- The Maroon & White improved to 1-0 all-time against the Bulldogs.
TEAM NOTES
- A balanced Aggie offensive attack placed four players in double-figure scoring – Tyler Davis (22), Admon Gilder (16), DJ Hogg (15) and Robert Williams (15) … Saturday’s contest marked the third time this season that a quartet of Aggies reached double-digit scoring.
- The Aggies’ 54.9 percent (28 of 51) field goal percentage marked the high-water mark for the season, topping the 54.4 percent Texas A&M shot against A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday.
- Texas A&M frequented the charity stripe 37 times against the Bulldogs and made 23 free throws; both numbers are season highs for the Aggies.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of JC Hampton, Admon Gilder, DJ Hogg, Tonny Trocha-Morelosand Tyler Davis for the ninth time this season (7-2).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Sophomore DJ Hogg scored in double figures for the fifth time this season, tallying 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a trio of three point baskets.
- Sophomore Admon Gilder corralled a career-high six rebounds to go along with 16 points against the Bulldogs.
- Rookie Robert Williams scored a career-high 15 points in the contest and recorded his ninth consecutive game with a blocked shot, the longest streak since Bryan Davis swatted a shot in 17 consecutive games (2009-10)
- Sophomore Tyler Davis notched his second career 20+ point game, scoring 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor … The Preseason All-SEC honoree scored a career-best 25 points in Monday’s win over A&M-Corpus Christi … In three games this week, Davis averaged 18 points, eight rebounds and a block per contest.
- Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 106-72 in his sixth season at Texas A&M and 317-251 in 19 seasons as head coach.
UP NEXT
- After a week off from competition, the Aggies will face their third Pac-12 opponent of the season next Saturday when they make the short trip to Houston to face No. 20 Arizona inside the Toyota Center … Tip-off is slated for 11 a.m. with television coverage on ESPN2.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement…
“We saw about ten minutes of really good basketball and probably ten minutes or more of bad basketball. We have to get to where we play at a high level for forty minutes, and we didn’t do that today. We played immature. We played like the game was over, especially the second half and we just played like an immature basketball team.”
On team’s performance…
“I think we just have to go through things. Just like we lost to USC, we made mistakes. The first half for about fifteen minutes, I thought offensively and defensively we were really good. We moved the ball. Defensively, we guarded. Some of it is my fault too because I tried to play the big lineup more than we practiced. We weren’t trained or ready to do that. I thought we were mature enough to execute it, but we weren’t. It is all my responsibility. I have to recognize that this team is not ready to do things that they have not worked on a lot. South Carolina got some confidence and they took advantage of it.”
On effort…
“Our effort wasn’t great. I didn’t think our effort was good. At times in practice we have to coach effort. That is the sign of a team that is young, relaxes and thinks the game is over, so they can do whatever they want and still win. That will get you beat by Arizona by twenty-five. JC [Hampton] and Tyler [Davis] for the most part give us the best effort every day. We have to get the other guys to step up. They do. They haven’t not done that on a regular basis, but they are offensive minded. They have to be excited to play on both ends. They have to understand that this is high level basketball. It’s business and it’s about production. You can’t play one half one way and relax and not play the same way the second half. That is kind of how we played.”
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE TYLER DAVIS
On his feelings about the game…
“Not good. When you’re better than a team, you’re supposed to play like you’re better than a team and you give up 48 points in the second half to a team that you just killed in the first half you know something’s wrong.”
On what is wrong…
“Maybe focus. Coach Kennedy said, I think, the right thing in the locker room. He said we were playing with the game. He said we weren’t doing the little things right, so I think it’s our focus, our effort it’s all got to stay the same style.”
On first half threes…
“I think in the first half our effort was good. Our energy was good. We could do whatever we wanted with the ball. We put up a pretty high number of points, but like I said you just can’t turn the switch on and off.”
TEXAS A&M SOPHOMORE ADMON GILDER
On thoughts on the game…
“I think we came out with great energy and as you can see, we took the lead on them early. Then the second half, we got complacent, basically letting them come out and get what they want knowing that we could get anything we want on the offensive end. I think we did not do a good job of getting stops on the defensive end. We let them get that confidence and that’s why the game was pretty close.”
On defensive performance…
“We’ve just got to do a better job on the defensive end, take pride of just trying to get those types of principles as a defense. We’ll probably do a better job after we do that.”
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HEAD COACH MURRAY GARVIN
Opening Statement…
“Can [Tyler Davis] transfer to us? He is a load in the paint. We knew coming into the basketball game that we were going to have a hard time dealing with him. He posts so deep that it is hard to get there on the double team. We are going to have to go back and feed some of our guysbeans and rice and try to get some weight on them so that they can compete against a guy that size and that talented of a basketball player.”
On close game…
“I just told our guys in the locker room that there is no moral victory tonight. We aren’t going to have cake and ice cream tonight or anything like that. Coming from where we have come from this season, it is definitely growth. It is something that we can build off of. I’m proud of the fight. At the end of the game we had a freshman attack the rim twice. Anytime you see growth in your basketball program, you have to celebrate that and it gives you encouragement that the next play will be better than the last play. We want to keep it moving. We aren’t celebrating because we came close. We just want to get better every forty minutes that we have the opportunity to play.”
On dominant players…
“We were going to challenge them to hit three point shots. Tyler [Davis] posts so deep that we don’t have time to react or send a double team. We were hoping to get him in some type of foul trouble by putting him in ball screens, but Coach Kennedy does a good job of hiding his best guys in the defense. Tonight, I am so happy to see Ed Stephens. This was his best shooting night of the season. I hope he stays on track because that is what he brings to our basketball team. I was excited to see his performance tonight. Also, Eric Eaves. Eaves is a preseason all-conference player, and I thought that he showed that tonight. He was much better on the defensive end. He got a couple of steals and strong finishes. We just have to continue to get better. It doesn’t get easier for us. Every forty minutes we have to get better and thank God we don’t have to beat Texas A&M to win our conference.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics