Texas Uses Big First Half To Top Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION (Sports Network) - Jordan Hamilton led all scorers with 20 points to go along with six rebounds and Cory Joseph chipped in with 11 points, as third-ranked Texas rolled out to a large halftime lead and cruised past 16th-ranked Texas A&M, 69-49.
Tristan Thompson donated 10 points and five rebounds for Texas (19-3, 7-0 Big 12), which has won seven straight, all by double figures.
"It was a really nice win for us, we beat a really good team," said Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes.
B.J. Holmes led Texas A&M (17-4, 4-3) with 19 points, but no other Aggie reached double figures. The Aggies have lost three of four overall.
"I've been doing this 24 years as an assistant coach and head coach, and I haven't seen many teams as good as Texas," said Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon.
The Longhorns jumped out quickly off the opening tip, scoring eight of the game's first nine points capped by Dogus Balbay's layup just over two minutes in. Balbay's layup and Matt Hill's jumper pushed the edge to 18-6 just over seven minutes into the game.
Texas A&M went nearly four minutes without a point and almost five without a field goal as the Longhorns ran off 14 successive points to take complete command of the contest. Alexis Wangmene's bucket and J'Covan Brown's two free throws capped the burst with a few ticks under six minutes to play.
Hamilton's triple expanded the margin to 43-17, totaling a 23-5 scoring stretch, and Texas held a 45-20 lead at the half.
Balby's fastbreak lay-in pushed the lead to 51-24 with just under 17 minutes to go, and the rout was on from there.
Game Notes
Texas made 50 percent of its shots, while Texas A&M connected on just 30.9 percent of its shots...The Aggies made only 1-of-12 from long range...David Loubeau scored nine points with six rebounds in defeat...Brown tallied eight points in the win.
