The Texas A&M men’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead against the division III Trinity Tigers and held Trinity at arm’s length to win its second in as many games Tuesday night at Reed Arena.
The Tigers (1-2) kept the game close by using a sagging zone defense and perimeter shooting to stay within single digits for most of the game. In the last 12 minutes, though, the Aggies’ (2-0) superior talent and athleticism allowed them to finally pull away and win 67-48.
“A&M played awful hard for 40 minutes,” said Tigers head coach Pat Cunningham. “They really got after it. Their pressure got to us, it’s a speed we’re not used to playing, and it affected our shots.”
Both teams shot 38 percent in the first half. The Aggie offense had trouble penetrating the Tigers’ zone defense, settling for outside shots most of the game.
“I think it slowed us up a little,” said junior Antoine Wright, who led the Aggies with 18 points. “You can beat yourself real fast by taking threes and not being aggressive.”
The Tigers only shot 24 percent in the second half, scoring only six points over the last 12:30. Trinity’s offense was keyed by senior point guard Jason Morris, who finished with 14 points. A&M guards Acie Law and Bobby Leach took turns chasing him most of the night, holding Morris scoreless after he got into foul trouble with 12:58 left.
“We didn’t play the defense we know we should play,” Leach said. “We were too soft; they were making passes wherever they wanted.”
The Aggies’ post-game mood reflected that of Head Coach Billy Gillispie: happy with the win but not excited about the performance.
“It’s good to win,” Gillispie said. “It’s a lot more fun than it is to lose.”
After a sloppy performance marred by mental errors, Gillispie’s comments to his team were a dark forecast of things to come for his players.
“He just drank his Coke and said, ‘Practice at 3:30,'” Wright said. “Practice is going to be hard tomorrow.”
Gillispie said a game similar to Tuesday night’s game makes it hard to evaluate a team.
“We just made way, too many mental errors,” Gilispie said. “(The players) are not happy with the way they played, but they did leave out of here with a win.”