No. 16 Texas A&M Stays Focused on Defense in Win

Associated Press
Thursday, November 22, 2007

Texas A&M has prided itself on defense over the last few seasons.

Even with a new coach, the focus is still the same.

Donald Sloan scored a career-high 18 points and No. 16 Texas A&M held Washington without a field goal for a key five-minute stretch in the second half to beat the Huskies, 77-63, last night in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"Our identity is defense," first-year coach Mark Turgeon said. "The previous staff built this team around defense and we did that in the second half."

After allowing Washington to shoot 53 percent in the first half, Texas A&M clamped down and held the Huskies to 26 percent shooting in the second.

Joseph Jones added 17 points for the Aggies (5-0), who will play the winner of No. 21 Syracuse and Ohio State tomorrow night in the championship game.

Jon Brockman had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead Washington (3-1). He only had eight points in the second half.

"They did a little better job in the post and bringing in a second guy," said Brockman of the Aggies' defensive change in the second half.

The Aggies held a 55-54 lead with 7 minutes 14 seconds left when they went on a 12-2 run to put away the game. Jones started the spurt, making two free throws, and Dominique Kirk's three-pointer with 5:17 left gave Texas A&M a 60-54 lead.

After two free throws by Joe Wolfinger cut the deficit to four, the Aggies worked down the shot clock and finished off the possession with a one-handed dunk down the lane by Bryan Davis.

Texas A&M extended the lead to 67-56 on Jones's free throws before Justin Dentman ended the drought for the Huskies with a layup with 1:41 left.

"They did a good job guarding us," Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We didn't knock down shots at crucial stages."

Aggies freshman DeAndre Jordan continued his stellar play. He came into the game having made 16 straight field goals to set a school and Big 12 Conference record. Jordan made his first attempt, but missed a follow to end his streak at 17 straight. He fell seven short of the NCAA record set by Ray Voekel for American during the 1978-79 season.

KANSAS 87, NORTHERN ARIZONA 46: Darrell Arthur had 17 points and the fourth-ranked Jayhawks overwhelmed Northern Arizona in the first half. It was the 600th win for Kansas in the 52-year history of Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas poured it on from the start, scoring the first 12 points and building a 29-4 lead with 7 1/2 minutes left. The Jayhawks shot 61 percent and held Northern Arizona without a double-figure scorer, getting an easy victory before facing Arizona on Sunday in what should be their first real test of the season.

Darnell Jackson had 13 points and Brandon Rush scored six in his second game back from knee surgery for Kansas, 4-0 for the first time since 2004-05.

And the Jayhawks did it without leading scorer Sherron Collins, who is not expected back until January because of a broken foot.

Northern Arizona (3-2) had a decent game the last time it faced a ranked opponent, losing to then-No. 17 Arizona by just seven on Nov. 13.

CLEMSON 74, PRESBYTERIAN 57: K.C. Rivers scored 18 points, Cliff Hammonds added 14 and the No. 24 Tigers improved to 17-0 in the last three Novembers with the win at home.

Clemson (4-0) is 22-1 in November during Coach Oliver Purnell's five seasons. Its only loss came Nov. 29, 2004, a 79-70 defeat to Boston College before the Eagles joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

VMI 90, JAMES MADISON 83: In Lexington, Va., Reggie Williams scored 30 points to lead the Keydets to their first victory over the Dukes since 1988.

VMI (2-2) led James Madison (2-1) early and maintained the lead through much of the first half, letting the Dukes get no closer than two points until a jumper from Ben Louis finally pushed the Dukes ahead, 36-35, with 3:34 on the clock.