It was a nice debut for Aggie men’s basketball on Friday night. The talented incoming recruiting class all showed flashes of brilliance, and A&M coasted to an 83-45 win over Texas A&M International in the their final exhibition tune up before the regular season gets underway next Friday.
Jalen Jones led the Aggies all night, posting 14 points, nine rebounds, and even went 1-for-3 from three-point territory. A&M’s highly anticipated incoming recruiting class showed why they are considered some of the nations best players. The freshman combination of Tyler Davis, D.J. Hogg, and Admon Gilder combined for 35 points, 9 rebounds, and they all together shot 66 percent from the floor during the game.
The Dustdevils from TAMIU gained the first lead with a three pointer, but from there, it was all Aggies. A&M went on a 31-6 run in the first half to effectively put the game under their control, and they led 41-19 at the half.
A problem for A&M was the three-point shooting, as the Aggies shot a disappointing 25 percent from behind the arc, hitting on just six of their 25 attempts.
A&M then used a 30-10 run in the second half to pull away from the Dustdevils, and at one point, bolstered their lead to 43 points.
Another bright spot for A&M was the play of Tavario Miller. He overcame some early turnovers to have a solid game, collecting eight points with five rebounds, and he was a nice compliment to Davis down in the post.
Senior star Daniel House had a bit of a slow night on the stat sheet, but he made hustle plays that do not show up in the stat column. His first points of the night came from a thunderous dunk in the second half, and he finished with four points and four rebounds, but was 0-for-7 from behind the three-point line.
This was the final tune up for A&M before the regular season begins next week. The Aggies kick off the year next Friday night in their season opener against South Carolina-Upstate at Reed Arena.
