March 3, 2010
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -Donald Sloan scored 19 points and No. 23 Texas A&M led from start to finish in a 76-61 win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday night.
The Aggies (21-8, 10-5 Big 12) used 3-point shooting to take an early lead and a 14-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half to keep it against the Cowboys, who were coming off Saturday's big win over then-No. 1 Kansas.
Texas A&M had its 18-point lead cut to eight before outscoring the Cowboys 11-3 to stretch the cushion to 70-54 with about three minutes left. Sloan, a senior playing in his last home game, and B.J. Holmes both had 3s during that spurt.
James Anderson led the Cowboys (20-9, 8-7) with 27 points.
POSTGAME QUOTES
OSU COACH TRAVIS FORD
"Give A&M credit. I thought they were terrific. The way they shot the ball in the first half was very impressive. We need everyone playing well for us to be successful, but we just had some guys not show up. Give A&M all the credit, they played very, very well. It was their night. They made 10 threes. For us to come down here and win, that didn't need to happen. They played well on senior night. Our team can re-focus now and get back to what makes us good."
"We didn't look like the team we've been in the last couple of weeks. We reverted back to some of the things we were doing a month ago. That won't help our team be successful. Obviously we didn't shoot the ball very well at all, but you're not going to shoot the ball well and make them when you don't focus in practice and shoot them well enough in practice. We're not a team that can turn it off and on. We have the build to be a pretty good team when everyone is playing hard and can bring their `A' game. But we can't turn it off and on, that's not us."
OSU GUARD JAMES ANDERSON
On agreeing with Coach Ford's assessment of practice struggles... "No question (we agree). We didn't have two good practices the last couple of days. Being the captains, that's something we can't allow the team to do. I don't think we did a good job leading our team in practice."
On scoring in spurts... "I was getting good looks, I just wasn't hitting them. I think it was a bad shooting night for our whole team. We were missing shots we normally hit and they were hitting a lot of shots."
On A&M's rebounding... "They got a lot of second shots. That something Coach focused on, but somehow we still let them get second shots and they turned them into points."
OSU GUARD OBI MUONELO
On the struggles in practice... "Like James said, we didn't prepare our team. We just didn't come ready to play tonight. But A&M played a great game tonight. You've got to give them credit. (Donald) Sloan came out and played like a senior and so did (Bryan) Davis. Give them credit."
On the second-half struggles... "I thought we were ready to start the second half but I thought we were stiff. They came out a lot more hungry than we did. We made some plays that aren't `winning' plays to start the half. That's not how you start off a half, and that really hurt us."
A&M FORWARD Bryan Davis
On the emotions of senior night... "Coach said that before the game was for us, for us being here four years, but once the ball tipped off it was about winning this game and doing whatever we had to do to win the game. We had to play together as a team, and that's what we did."
On possibly leaving A&M as the all-time winningest class... "I think it's real big. I told Josh (Carter) yesterday that we're going to take over his win total. We said before the season we wanted to leave here as the winningest players to play here. But it's bigger than that. We want to get a victory in the tournament and win it all."
On walking off the floor at the end of the game... "The emotions are going through you. I looked up at some of the banners and the things that have been accomplished here. It just felt crazy coming out of the game that these four years have gone so fast."
A&M GUARD Donald Sloan
On the team's 3-pointers... "I guess God was feeling it. With it being the last home game of season, I guess He gave us the extra confidence while we were shooting. We shot them with determination I guess. A lot of them fell for us tonight. I think that was pretty much the difference in the game. That gives us a boost because once you start making them it opens up a lot more things."
On the 2nd half start... "Well, we gave up a lead in the first half, and they started coming back. Coach told us at halftime that senior night is over, it's time to play. We came out with a fire in our eyes and it lit through everybody, and we started playing better than we had finished the first half."
On the team's defensive effort... "It was a lot better than it was up there the first time we played them. I think our guys are locked in a little bit more than we were then."
On the importance of a bye in the Big 12 Tourney... "It's very important. That's more days guys can have to come back. BJ isn't fully healthy, Derrek Lewis is still out, so right now we are kind of low on numbers. I guess the more days we have to rest and get guys back healthy, that's very important. If we can find a way to pull together, and go to Oklahoma and come out with a win, hopefully that'll help us get a bye."
A&M COACH Mark Turgeon
"Obviously I was really pleased with the team's effort tonight. We started well, but we knew Oklahoma State would make a run. I felt like at halftime Oklahoma State's main guys had played a lot of minutes and had to work to get shots. So I felt like we maybe would wear them down a little bit. We played real well the second half. We did a great job of rebounding and for the most part were pretty good offensively. They are so hard to guard I can't even tell you. I thought our guys did a great job of that."
On the three point success, especially early... "I'd rather be up 10 than down 10, but sometimes it's too easy and you start doing some careless things. I was really disappointed in the technicals on our part, it was just jawing, because that's not what we're about. Our offense the last three halves has been pretty good for us. We're getting better and are starting to make a few shots. I just think we're getting better. We had some guys not play well tonight but I just think we're getting better."
On the possibility of a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tourney... "I think we're a little banged up. It would be nice to get it. I haven't talked about it much, and we'll talk about it with the team tomorrow. I don't even know where we are really. If it doesn't work that way, then we'll go play four games in four days if we have to, if we get that far. It would be good for our program too to finish in the top four, especially with the things we've been through. It would be a great compliment to this team, playing in the No. 1 RPI league. It would be great for our program."
A&M NOTES
*A&M went 15-1 at home this season, including a 7-1 mark in Big 12 play. A&M is the only Big 12 team to win at least 15 home games in each of the last six seasons. The Aggies are 31-3 at home in the last two seasons.
*Mark Turgeon is 70-29 in three years at A&M, which ties Billy Gillispie for the most wins by a coach in his first three seasons.
*A&M has won 16 straight home games against unranked opponents, including eight straight in Big 12 play.
*A&M is 17-2 overall against unranked opponents this season.
*A&M is 16-5 in its last 21 Big 12 games, second only to Kansas' 19-2 mark in that stretch.
*A&M matched its Big 12 season high with 10 three-pointers. The Aggies also had 10 tresy against Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
*A&M made .532 from the field, its best of the season in Big 12 play and its second best overall (.533 vs. The Citadel). The Aggies are 29-0 under Turgeon when they make at least .500 from the field, including an 8-0 mark this season.
*Dash Harris scored 8 points with 6 assists and tied his career-high with 8 rebounds (at Texas in January).
*B.J. Holmes 4 three-pointers (8 attempts) matched his Big 12 season high (4 at Texas Tech).
*The Aggies are 13-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
*The Aggies are 14-1 this season when they have at least 13 assists.
*The Aggies are 18-2 this season when out-rebounding their opponent.
*A&M has held 13 of 15 Big 12 opponents under their respective scoring averages.
*A&M is 18-1 this season when its opponent scores fewer than 70 points.
*A&M's senior class has won 97 games, one shy of the record of 98 set by last year's class.
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