COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)– Jalen Jones and Danuel House scored 17 points apiece, and No. 24 Texas A&M beat No. 16 Baylor 80-61 on Saturday night.
The Aggies scored 14 of the game’s first 16 points and led 51-30 at halftime. Jones scored 14 in the first half.
Lester Medford scored 16 points for Baylor, which beat Texas A&M 77-63 at home last season in their first meeting since the Aggies bolted the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference in 2012.
“Every game is a big game for us, but this one stood out,” Jones said. “We had a bad taste in our mouths from last year, and we wanted payback.”
The Aggies had trouble matching up inside with the Bears last year in Waco, but this time around held a 38-22 advantage in points in the paint.
“A&M has a nice blend of upperclassmen and new guys,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Both teams will be better after this game. Hopefully we’ll learn a lot from it.”
The Aggies outscored the Bears 25-15 in points off turnovers. They also held Baylor to 36 percent shooting (21 of 59), while making 48 percent (30 of 63) of their shots.
“This was a resume builder,” House said. “Two ranked teams playing as hard as possible tonight. This was a good win for our school.”
The Aggies are 3-0 against former Big 12 opponents this season, with Iowa State visiting Reed Arena on Jan. 30. A&M defeated Texas 84-73 on Nov. 25 in the Battle 4 Atlantis, and beat Kansas State 78-68 on Dec. 12.
“Our guys were ready to play, and that was the great thing,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said Saturday. “Our seniors did a good job of setting the tone.”
Texas A&M Basketball
Postgame Notes
#24 Texas A&M 80, #16 Baylor 61
Dec. 19, 2015 – Reed Arena
RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
> Texas A&M improved to 9-2 on the season following an 80-61 victory over No. 16 Baylor Saturday night at Reed Arena … The Aggies are now 7-0 on their home court this season and 133-13 (.911) all-time inside the facility against non-conference competition.
> A&M also improved to 3-0 vs. the Big 12 this season with wins over Texas, Kansas State and Baylor … The Aggies will host Iowa State in College Station on Jan. 30 during the Big 12-SEC Challenge.
> The all-time series between the long-time rivals stands at 128-79 in favor of the Aggies.
TEAM NOTES
> The victory was the Aggies’ second over a ranked team this season … A&M defeated then 10th-ranked Gonzaga 62-61 on Nov. 26 during the Battle4Atlantis.
> The 19-point margin of victory over a ranked opponent was the biggest since Texas A&M defeated No. 25 Texas Tech, 85-63, at Reed Arena on Feb. 26, 2005.
> The Aggies were credited with 23 assists on 30 made baskets in the game
> After gathering only one offensive rebound during last season’s game between the schools in Waco, A&M collected 19 boards on the offensive glass … Overall, A&M outrebounded the Bears 45-40.
> Texas A&M used the starting lineup combination of Anthony Collins, Alex Caruso, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Tyler Davis for the first time this season (1-0).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
> Seniors Danuel House and Jalen Jones tied for top-point honors in the contest, each finishing with 17 points … House, meanwhile, tied his season-high with eight rebounds.
> Freshman Tyler Davis was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field to contribute 15 points vs. the Bears … The Plano, Texas, native has made his last 12 field goal attempts dating back to Dec. 5th contest at Arizona State.
> Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy improved to 80-63 in his fifth season at Texas A&M and 291-242 in 18 seasons as head coach.
UP NEXT
> The Aggies will take a few days off to spend time with family during the holiday season before returning to the court and begin preparing for their next contest, which will come at home on Dec. 29th vs. Cal Poly.
Texas A&M vs. Baylor Men’s Basketball
Postgame Quotes
December 19, 2015
Reed Arena
Billy Kennedy, Texas A&M Head Coach
On tonight’s game…
“Obviously our guys were ready to play. That was the great thing. I thought we had our best week of practice. We prepared the right way, our seniors did a good job of setting the tone, and I thought our bench came in and we were the aggressor, especially on the defensive end. We had 23 assists, sharing the ball and obviously we made some shots. Like I’ve been saying, it was going to take us some time to get our rhythm going, and getting a good, consistent flow defensively and offensively.”
On Tyler Davis‘ performance…
“We really did a good job of doubling (Rico) Gathers (Sr.) early, and getting it out of his hands, but Tyler (Davis) kept him off the block. He didn’t let him get close. His size and his toughness gives him a presence that we haven’t had since I’ve been here. I thought that was a big part of the game.”
On the difference from last year…
“Obviously, home court advantage matters. We had a good crowd, thankful that people came out during the holidays. We’re a better team. We have more veterans, we’ve got more talent. We’ve got a little more depth than we had last year. I think Baylor lost a couple of guys, they’ve been playing extremely well. Fortunately, we came in and I thought were the aggressors in the beginning.”
On preparing for this week’s game…
“I’d thought we’d play well from the beginning. When you prepare the right way and you’ve got good players, and their attitudes right in practice, you’re going to win games. I felt we prepared all week. I liked our mindset. I would have been shocked had we not played well. I didn’t know we would shoot as well as we shot it early, but we moved the ball. We got a lot of open shots and we made them.”
Danuel House, Texas A&M Senior Guard
On preparing for the game based on last year…
“More important, it was a resume builder. Two ranked teams playing each other as hard as possible tonight and the committee will go back when it’s time to punch the ticket to the NCAA, they’ll look back at the season and see the wins. It’s a good win for our school and for our basketball program period.”
On this team being different than last year’s team…
“Experience, different team, versatile, scoring from different areas, last year we had great players, but some of our players weren’t able to score like the new players and as I said, older guys, experience… and a bad memory.”
On getting off to a hot start …
“On the defensive end, coach stressed about giving them one position and one shot so we had to value the basketball and the rebound so the whole week of practice we stressed rebounding.”
On predicting this outcome…
“We practice hard all week. Dominance wasn’t running through our mind, but just play hard and competing at a high level and staying focused on what the scouting report required us to do. So we knew if we just went out there and did what the coaches told us to do and execute the game and play hard for each other, we would like the odds, the outcome, of the situation.”
Jalen Jones, Texas A&M Senior Guard
On overcoming Baylor’s strong rebounding presence…
“No I mean I wouldn’t say that. As a team, we take pride in always trying to dominate the paint and Baylor is a physical team and tough and that’s where they get most of points in paint and we said tonight we weren’t going to have any of it and we showed that tonight.”
On if this is the best they’ve played all year…
“That’s tough. When we were in the Battle for Atlantis, I feel like we played at a high level with great competition. Gonzaga was a tough game, Texas was a tough game, we played hard the championship game with Syracuse. It’s up there but I wouldn’t say it’s the toughest game. We played hard tonight, they played hard, but we’re just a dangerous team when everything’s going good for us.”
On starting the game strong…
“Yeah, coach ran some good plays to start us off at the beginning of the game. Danuel (House) played hot at the beginning and continued to rout and the rest of us picked up that energy as well. We just kept attacking the paint, throw it inside, kick it out, shooters were ready to shoot and knocking down shots. We just played great tonight.”
On preparing for the game based on last year…
“Every game is a big game to us but of course what happened to us last year we had a bad taste in our mouth, they embarrassed us at their place and we wanted to get payback. We wanted to show them that really hurt us and we’re a different team. We’re a dangerous team when we’re all clicking and we came out the victor tonight and they played well, we just fought hard tonight and pulled it out…. That leaves us 3-0 against Big 12 teams so that’s also a good point as well.”
Scott Drew, Baylor Head Coach
Opening Statement…
“Well I’ve looked at the stats and the one area that obviously I thought coming in we’d do much better at the rebounding department of things. To be outrebounded 19-16 offensively and 44-41, that is uncharacteristic of our team. I really have to credit A&M for competing; getting a lot of 50/50 balls. I know sometimes when shots aren’t falling that affects the other end of the floor. In the first half, definitely we didn’t defend well enough, especially in transition to enable us or give us a chance to be successful tonight. A lot of that came because we weren’t getting second chance points, they were. Again, you really have to credit (A&M) for this. I know both teams will be better after this game. Hopefully we will learn a lot from it. I’ve been on both sides of it; won 6 in-a-row and we’ve lost. I think every time we are a better team after a game like this. Win or lose, you learn a lot and can improve a lot.”
On Aggies’ 7-0 lead…
“I thought they did a great job of starting the game. I’m disappointed that we couldn’t ever get back into it. Normally, this year when we have gotten down we have been able to answer at least either win the game or get back into the game, and neither happened tonight.”
On the Aggie’s balance…
“Coach Kennedy has done a great job. They have great balance, I thought their seniors really wanted this and really played well, especially first half. (Danuel) House came out and was hitting threes from everywhere that really got the momentum and got them going. Him and Jalen Jones, (Alex) Caruso, and (Anthony) Collins have a nice blend in upper classmen and new guys.”
On the difference from this year v. last year…
“I think you look at it night and day in the paint. We were out scored in the paint 38-22 and last year it was probably reversed. Rebounding, they didn’t get an offensive rebound the entire game and they got 19 of them today. Obviously [A&M] played a lot better; we didn’t play as well.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics