COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Tremont Waters scored a season-high 36 points with a career-best six 3-pointers to give No. 19 LSU its 10th straight victory, 72-57 over Texas A&M on Wednesday night.
Waters was hot early, making five of seven 3-point attempts and piling up 23 points by halftime. He cooled down a bit after the break, but did enough to lead LSU (17-3, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) to the victory on a night when much of the team struggled offensively.
Skylar Mays, who had a career-high 24 points in an overtime win against Missouri on Saturday, missed his first nine shots, including seven 3s. He finally scored when he grabbed a steal and was all alone for a layup on the other end for his only points of the game with less than three minutes left to make it 70-55.
The Tigers led by three early in the second half before using a 10-2 run to make it 51-40 with 15 minutes to go. Naz Reid took over during that stretch, scoring seven points with a dunk and a three-point play.
A 5-0 run by Texas A&M, capped by a dunk from Wendell Mitchell, cut the lead to 56-51 midway through the second half, but Darius Days made a 3 to stretch LSU’s lead. That was the first 3 for the Tigers by anyone but Waters, after the rest of the team missed their first 13 attempts from beyond the arc.
Javonte Smart added a layup after a turnover by TJ Starks to push LSU’s lead to 10 once more, and the Aggies didn’t get close again.
Texas A&M (8-11, 1-6) got 21 points from Starks but lost for the fourth time in five games.
The Tigers led by seven with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half before the Aggies used an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 37-36 at halftime. Josh Nebo scored four points in that stretch, highlighted by a soaring, two-handed dunk.
Texas A&M Basketball Postgame Notes
#19 LSU 72, Texas A&M 57
Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
ABOUT THE GAME
- The Aggies drop to 8-11 on the season, 1-6 in SEC play after falling to LSU Wednesday night.
- A&M used an 8-2 run to close out the first half and make it a one-point game at the break as LSU led 37-36.
- The Tigers used a 13-4 run to open the second and quickly extend their lead to double figures.
- The Aggies scored eight straight points to get back within five with under 10 to play, but LSU quickly responded to keep its lead in double figures for the final five minutes of play.
TEAM NOTES
- The Aggies used the starting lineup of TJ Starks, Wendell Mitchell, Brandon Mahan, Savion Flagg and Christian Mekowulu for the fourth time this season (2-2).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Sophomore TJ Starks led the Aggies in his second 20-plus point game of the year, fourth of his career, as he finished with 21 points. He kept A&M alive in the first half, putting up 15 in the opening period.
- Junior Josh Nebo gave the Aggies a spark late in the first half, scoring 12 of his 16 points. He recorded his second double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds as well as four blocks.
- Billy Kennedy is now 145-109 in his eight-year tenure at Texas A&M and 356-288 in his 21 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
The Aggies remain at home to host No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday, Feb. 2 at Reed Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available here.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Kennedy
Opening Statement…
“Turnovers in the second half and our inability to keep them off the glass allowed them to control the second half and get the win. Tremont Waters is obviously a special player and played very well. I thought the first half we paced the game how we wanted and did some good things.”
On LSU’s performance …
“When you bring in Darius Days and Javonte Smart off the bench, they are quality guys that give you something. That is why they are a good team; they have more depth.”
On Josh Nebo stepping into leadership role…
“Josh is doing it by example. He had a heck of a game. I thought defensively he was the one guy that was throwing his body around. He had four blocked shots and 11 rebounds. He was a major factor in the game.”
Sophomore Guard TJ Starks
On keeping up offensively in the second half…
“Our decision making, [and] our shot selection had to be the two things that just sum it up. If we took better shots and made better passes I feel like we would have had a better chance to win that game.”
On elevating his play against competition…
“I don’t really worry about the [other players]. I try to do what I do. I focus on my team and do whatever I can do to help us win. In my opinion, I feel like I just come out and play every night. No matter what I do offensively, I just try to help my team win.”
Junior Forward Josh Nebo
On giving up offensive rebounds…
“LSU wasn’t too much to deal with, it was just tough on us because all of those shots were coming from three so all the rebounds were long. I was kind of weird the way balls were flying back. That’s not an excuse for us not to rebound, though.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics