COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) Josh Nebo scored 15 points and Texas A&M used a big second half to rally from an 11-point deficit and beat Oregon State 64-49 on Saturday night.
Quenton Jackson and Savion Flagg added 13 points apiece for Texas A&M.
Tres Tinkle paced the Beavers with 21 points.
Tinkle’s three-point play to open the second half gave Oregon State (9-2) an 11-point lead but Texas A&M scored the next seven points to make it 33-29 and used a 20-3 run to take a 51-41 lead with four minutes left. The Beavers trailed by at least eight the rest of the way.
In the weeks leading up to Saturday’s victory, A&M head coach Buzz Williams had harped on his team’s deficiency in offensive rebounding. The Aggies (5-5) pulled in 12 offensive rebounds to seven and scored nine second-chance points. A&M’s 12 offensive boards is the second most this season, behind the Aggies’ 13 in a 63-60 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday.
Freshman forward Emanuel Miller led A&M with 13 boards, four offensive. Nebo grabbed seven rebounds and had a career-high eight blocks – second most in program history.
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
- Texas A&M defeated Oregon State, 64-49, Sunday at Reed Arena to move to 5-5 on the season.
- The Aggies are now 2-1 all-time against the Beavers.
TEAM NOTES
- The Maroon & White erased an eight-point halftime deficit as they outscored the Beavers, 42-19, in the second half. Texas A&M utilized a 20-3 run that spanned 8:46 in the second half and was highlighted by a pair of Josh Nebo dunks.
- Texas A&M grabbed a season-high 46 rebounds, the most since last season’s 54 rebound performance against Marshall (12/22/18).
- The Aggies scored 27 points off the bench, marking a new team-high this season.
- Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Savion Flagg, Jay Jay Chandler, Emanuel Miller, Mark French, and Josh Nebo for the first time this season (1-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Josh Nebo led the Aggies in scoring with 15 points, while grabbing seven rebounds.
- Nebo blocked eight shots, the most in a game by an Aggie since 1990, when David Harris had a school record nine against Baylor. The Houston native’s eight blocks ties a career high, which was set while he was at St. Francis (PA).
- Nebo’s +/- of 21 is the most by an Aggie this season.
- Emanuel Miller hauled in 13 rebounds, marking the second game this month with 10-or-more rebounds.
- Miller grabbed eight rebounds in the first half, matching his season high rebounds in a half, set against Texas on December 8.
- Savion Flagg scored 13 points, tallying his fifth game of the season with 10-or-more points.
- Quenton Jackson recorded 13 points off the bench, tallying his fourth game this season with 10-or-more points. The Los Angeles native grabbed six rebounds, tying his season high.
- Buzz Williams is 5-5 in his first season at Texas A&M and 258-160 in his 13 seasons as a head coach.
UP NEXT
- The Aggies remain at home to host Texas Southern on Monday, December 30 at Reed Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Buzz Williams
On the ability to control today’s game…
“Our turnover rate was still very poor, but what gave us a chance, number one, we did not allow them to get very many offensive rebounds, and we got a high percentage of offensive rebounds. So that gives us a chance to have the same number of field goal attempts. We didn’t today because that number was skewed because they were having to foul towards the end, but that was the difference.”
On playing a much taller, post-dominant team…
“We played incredibly hard. I thought that it’s the hardest we’ve played and none of it was necessarily pretty to watch, but I found the effort was outstanding and I do think that (Josh) Nebo and Eman (Emanuel Miller) in this month have sure created a bench that we rely on and have been able to help us change the complexion of our team.”
On the importance of today’s win…
“I think it’s the best Christmas gift of 2019. So thankful. Great way to end the semester, so-to-say, excited, and thankful that our kids are able to experience a win and then be able to be with their families. Against a team that’s been playing at a very high level, I think Coach Tinkle’s son (Tres Tinkle) is very efficient, one of the top PER (Player Efficiency Rating), he’s ranked in the top 30 in the country, and we only have one player in the power five in the top 100. The efficiency of No. 3 (Tres Tinkle) and No. 5 (Ethan Thompson) is very good and I thought the guys competed very hard.”
Forward Josh Nebo
On the win over Oregon State…
“It was a big win for us especially since the last few games have been kind of a struggle for us. To try and win and try to score, today has been a good game to have a breakthrough with all the work we have been putting in in practice and see it come to life against a really good team.”
On defending the boards…
“That area was definitely something we focused on. Lately, we have been missing a lot of shots so our focus was just to get the ball on the rim and see if our guys can try to get the rebound and give ourselves another chance with the ball.”
Guard/Forward Savion Flagg
On the change between first and second half…
“Our fight. We fought on defense which allowed us to get out on transition. Of course [Josh] Nebo has eight blocks which allowed us to have the ball go towards our rim and out guys like Quenton [Jackson] and Jay Jay [Chandler] took the ball out into some easy transition which allowed us to get to the rim.”
On the importance of rebounding…
“They’re the 17th tallest team in the country. That was a stat we went over before the game and I felt like that should be a focal point for all of our games. If we outrebound teams by 14 rebounds and not turn the ball over, we’ll put ourselves in a situation to win every game.”
Oregon State Quotes
Head Coach Wayne Tinkle
On team’s performance in tonight’s matchup…
“Obviously not happy, not satisfied. I was with the first half, I thought we executed really well on both ends, the game plan. Second half they went on a run, and we lost our composure. It’s the first time we’ve been on the road this year when we were down, you know a true road game. So we faced some adversity and I’m disappointed with how we responded.”
On the importance of rebounding in tonight’s game…
“Always, always that’s always a key. We said the three keys were going to be free throws, rebounding, and turnovers, and they manhandled us on the glass.”
On the preparation for conference play…
“I mean we’ve had a good stretch we’re not going let this one game ruin the work that we’ve done. This this is going to be a real lesson for us, a learning lesson. We’ve got to get tougher. We got to get more discipline, and our leaders need to lead. We didn’t get great contributions from some key guys that we normally have, but we’ll learn from it. After we get back from Christmas, we’ll make sure that we are continuing to make strides in the right directions. We have one more non-leaguer and then prepare for conference.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics