Texas A&M
5-1
Sam Houston State
4-3
House's Three Sinks Sam Houston, 66-63
Dec 03, 2014 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)-- Danuel House's late 3-pointer lifted Texas A&M to a 66-63 victory over Sam Houston State on Wednesday night.
A desperation heave by the Bearkats' Jabari Peters clanged off the backboard and rim as time expired. On the game-winning play, A&M point guard Alex Robinson drove from the top of the key and fired a pass to House on the left side of the 3-point arc. House, a touted transfer from Houston, briefly bobbled the ball before gathering it in and sinking the 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining.
Kourtney Roberson led A&M (5-1) with 13 points and Alex Caruso followed with 12, as four Aggies scored in double digits.
Kaheem Ransom scored 17 points for Sam Houston State (4-3), and DeMarcus Gatlin and Peters followed with 12 each.
The difference in the contest came in the paint, where the larger Aggies held a 46-20 advantage.
Postgame Notes
TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES● Texas A&M improved to 5-1 on the season with the 66-63 victory over Sam Houston State on Wednesday night at Reed Arena … The Bearkats dropped to 4-3 on the year.
● The Aggies, who notched their 19th consecutive win against the Bearkast, now lead the all-time series against SHSU by the count of 68-17 and.
TEAM NOTES
● For the game, the Aggies shot 44.1 percent (26-for-59), while the Bearkats went 19-for-54 (35.2 percent) … during the second half, A&M was 14-for-28 from the floor.
● Texas A&M owned a 46-20 edge in points in the paint.
● The Aggies began the game on an 11-0 run before Sam Houston State scored its first points on free throws at the 15:52 mark … A&M made six of its first 11 shot attempts in the game before going cold and making only two of the next 13.
● At the intermission, Texas A&M owned a 30-27 advantage.
● Texas A&M was outrebounded for the first time this season, 40-34 … the Aggies had averaged a +10.8 rebounding margin heading into tonight's contest.
● The Aggies finished with eight steals on the night, the second most in a game this year (Northwestern State, 10)
● Texas A&M used the starting line-up combination of Alex Caruso, Jordan Green, Danuel House, Jalen Jones and Kourtney Roberson for the first time this season.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
● Junior Danuel House finished 1-for-4 from beyond the 3-point arc, but made the most important shot of the evening … with the game tied, House calmly sank a three with just 3.3 seconds to secure the A&M win.
● Senior Kourtney Roberson paced the A&M offense for the first time this season, finishing with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds … he fell just two rebounds shy of his ninth career double-double.
● Joining Roberson in double figures were Alex Caruso (12 points), Jordan Green (10) and Jalen Jones (10) … For Jones, the double-digit showing was his fifth in six games this season.
● A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is now 55-50 in his fourth season at Texas A&M and 266-229 in 17 years as a head coach.
UP NEXT
● The Aggies' three-game home stand concludes Saturday (Dec. 6) as they welcome Arizona State to Reed Arena for a 1 p.m. contest which will be televised nationally by SEC Network. The Sun Devils are coming off an impressive 21-12 campaign a year ago which culminated in a trip to the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
Postgame Quotes
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, we feel very fortunate to win. Sam Houston State is a veteran, solid team that we had a hard time guarding off the ball. Their quickness and putting us in foul trouble really gave us some problems. We've got to get to where we can make free throws and do a better job of finishing games off at the end.”
On the approach to the game's final minutes:
“We ran a couple things for House and Jalen Jones at the end and you know Jalen's got to make better decisions. I thought he took a tough shot at the end of the shot clock. I thought we had the right guys in the right spots but they've got to come through for us if they're going to get those opportunities.”
On what his team needs to improve on:
“The three things that we've got to get better at, and we've said all year, is making free throws, guarding the dribble, and rebounding the basketball. Those three areas Sam Houston took advantage of us especially with the foul trouble and those are some weaknesses we've got to stay away from, get better at.”
TEXAS A&M SENIOR FORWARD KOURTNEY ROBERSON
On his aggressive play inside:
“Coach was telling us the whole week that we had an advantage in the post and my teammates they did a great job finding me. I had to take advantage of that and tried to score every time I touched it.”
On the team's play down the stretch:
“Coach has been preaching it all year that last year we got to the end and we could never finish. In practice we always do like in special situations to where we've just got to keep finishing the game off and keep getting stops and I think that's what we got. Me and my teammates did a great job in keeping and stops, we never let down and we just kept going.”
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
