Behind a combined 48 points from juniors Jalen Jones and Danuel House, the Texas A&M men’s basketball team improved to 5-0 inside Reed Arena Saturday with a 81-63 win over Youngstown State.
“I thought we beat a good team that kept hanging around and making threes,” said head coach Billy Kennedy. “They were tough to guard, especially their smaller guard. Fortunately offensively we moved the ball and shot the ball extremely well the second half to really put the game away.”
Jones finished with a career-high 27 points, shooting 11-for-13 from the field including 4-for-4 from behind the arc. House also posted a career-high 21 points and it was the first time two Aggies scored over 20 points in a game since 2011.
“I just happened to get a rhythm,” Jones said. “Coach allows me to shoot three-pointers when the offense gives it to me, I just took my time and I was able to knock down a couple shots. My teammates found me in the right spots and I was able to knock them down.”
A&M opened the game struggling from the field, going 2-for-7 in the first five minutes with three turnovers. Halfway through the opening frame, A&M led just 16-15 but 13-3 run sparked by a Danuel House three-pointer at the 7:52mark helped A&M build to a 29-18 advantage. The Aggies eventually went into halftime with a 36-26 lead over the Penguins.
At the half, Jalen Jones led the Aggies in scoring with 14 points, shooting 6-for-7 including 2-for-2 from three-point range, and notched 7 rebounds.
In the second half, the Penguins pulled within four, but the Aggies were able to ramp up their offense and eventually push to a 20-point lead. A&M shot 5-for-7 from three in the second half and was 11-for-20 overall, and the Aggies had a 77.3 field goal percentage in the final frame, shooting 17-for-22.
Freshman point guard Alex Robinson ended with a career-high 10 assists and saw the majority of action in place of junior Alex Caruso who was feeling “under the weather” according to Kennedy.
“He’s getting it,” House said. “We know as a freshman, everybody has to take that time to come around, but he’s coming around, he’s finding everybody, he’s doing what coach has said and I like his new role because he’s excelling in it and it’s making him a better player.”
The Aggies have a week off before their next contest, a trip to Kansas City, Mo. to face off against another Big 12 foe — Kansas State. Tipoff against the Wildcats is at 6 p.m. next Saturday and the game will be shown on ESPNU.