BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M men’s basketball team defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville, 76-72, Monday night inside Reed Arena.
Seven Aggies made their debut in the Maroon & White, including three freshmen.
Marcus Williams, Tyrece Radford and Hassan Diarra paced the Aggie offense with 13 points each. Radford added a team-high seven rebounds, and Ethan Henderson finished with three blocks.
Nearing the 8:42 mark of the first half and down 24-17, the Aggie offense found its groove and went on an 8-0 scoring run to take a 25-24 lead. After a few back-and-fourth buckets by both teams, the Aggies stringed together a five-point swing to give them a 35-31 advantage with 3:15 left in the half. The Javelinas responded with their own 7-0 run, taking it down the 2:01 mark.
Quenton Jackson followed with a layup before Kingsville responded with a jumper. A&M closed out the half with back-to-back threes, starting with Diarra followed by Radford sinking a deep three as the buzzer sounded to give the Aggies a 43-40 lead.
After a Javelina three, the Maroon & White began the second stanza with a quick 7-0 run over 1:03 to regain and extend the lead, 50-43. The Javelinas clawed back and took the lead, but were met with a five-point swing by the Aggies to recoup a 64-61 advantage with 6:03 remaining. After a few back-and-fourth scores, the game was knotted at 69, but the Aggies pulled away with a 7-0 scoring run over the last two minutes of the game to secure a 76-72 victory.
The Aggies open the regular season Nov. 10 with a 7 p.m. matchup against North Florida at Reed Arena.
For more information on Texas A&M men’s basketball, follow @aggiembk on Twitter.
Post-Game Quotes
Texas A&M Head Coach Buzz Williams
On his Initial takeaways…
“I thought our spirit was great. I thought we competed hard. We were really poor in our turnover rate in the first half, and were really good in the second half. Eleven turnovers in the first half, 3 turnovers in the second half. I thought they obliterated us on the glass. First time playing in a long time publicly. I thought it was good, obviously, a lot of guys playing for the first time and the rep of this is what we needed.”
On what he expected from the game…
“I was hoping it would be this game because I think we know where our deficiencies are, regardless of who we play. We had a scrimmage last Saturday – the same things that bothered us last Saturday with a different opponent are what bothered us tonight. So, I think it was reinforcement of what we need to practice and why we need to practice them.”
On what bothered him about tonight’s performance…
“As I’ve been saying to our team, that’s the line of our team, currently. The line is going to be determined by our turnover rate and our ability to rebound on both ends of the floor.”
Texas A&M Guard Tyrece Radford
On the the team’s overall performance tonight…
“I still feel like we’re putting pieces where they need to be and hopefully this next week, we’ll be able to do that.”
On what he thought went well for the team tonight…
“I think today, just learning to fight back and not give up on one play. Continuing to play with each other. We’re sharing the ball well, but that could get a little better.”
Texas A&M Guard Hassan Diarra
On all the new faces among the team…
“I wouldn’t say it’s like starting over, but I’m glad these new faces are around. I feel like we’re a pretty good team. We have to clean up a few things, but the new faces, they’re ready for the spotlight.”
On if this team will continue to rely heavily on the 3-point shot…
“Offensively, we have a rule that is to shoot your shot. Whatever your shot is, you shoot it. If that’s a three, you shoot it. If that’s a layup or a dunk, that’s what you do. So, I wouldn’t say the 3-point is our identity, but I think if you’re open you should shoot the ball.”
Texas A&M-Kingsville Head Coach Johnny Estelle
On last year’s team compared to this year’s…
“This team is, I think, much better. I think it’s much better because there’s more athletes, more talent, they can be more skilled. This was a tough game – we only have two new players. And no matter what the level is, there’s experience, and it’s different.”
On if he saw what he wanted to see from his team…
“Well, we could’ve done something better because we lost but I was very proud of them. This is their Super Bowl. Sometimes kids don’t get as motivated but for our kids, they’ve been looking forward to this game and that’s why I feel blessed that they had the opportunity to come in on this stage with an SEC, very high-level program against an unbelievable coach.”