The Texas A&M Aggie basketball team continued its impressive play on Saturday against UNC Asheville, garnering a 75 to 47 victory at Reed Arena after an all-around team effort.

Tonny Trocha-Morelos and Danuel House both led the Aggies in scoring. Morelos has scored double-digit points in every game this season. A strong defensive performance helped the maroon and white force 19 turnovers willing the Aggies to remain undefeated this season. The Aggies are now averaging 91.4 points per contest after the four wins.

A&M (4-0) had three scorers reach double digits on the night. Trocha-Morelos scored 12 and hit two three pointers. Senior Danuel House scored 12 points and freshman Tyler Davis added 11. Morelos had a complete game finishing just short of a double-double grabbing nine rebounds and even registering four assists. House caught fire in the second half points and finished the game 5-for-9 from the field.  

A&M head coach Billy Kennedy said Trocha-Morelos has been vastly improved and praised him for his all-around performance.

“Tonny [Trocha-Morelos] has been a big part of of [our 4-0] start,” Kennedy said. “He’s been shooting the ball extremely well from the three-point line. He did a lot of good things for us tonight.”

Dwayne Sutton and Dylan Smith led the way for UNC Asheville (1-3). Both players scored 14 points apiece. The Bulldogs remained competitive throughout the first half being as close as 19-17. The second half was a different story when A&M dominated the game in all aspects.

Kennedy said he was pleased with A&M’s overall performance.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys played defensively,” Kennedy said. “[UNC Asheville] played really well against Tennessee. I thought they did a good job of disrupting us in the first half. I thought in the second half we wore them down physically.”

A&M shot 48 percent from the field compared to the Bulldogs 31 percent. The big difference came in the paint where A&M outscored UNC Asheville 38 to 14. The Aggies were excellent scoring off turnovers with 22 points compared to only three points from the Bulldogs.

A&M point guard Alex Caruso said the Bulldogs were the best opponent the Aggies have faced all season.

“With all due respect to the previous three opponents UNC Asheville were the most disciplined,” Caruso said. “They ran their stuff and got back in transition. “They really limited us to getting open shots on the break. I think it’s good for us to show we can play a half-court game and show we can run and gun with anybody.”

Freshman forward Elijah Thomas said the speed of the game was the slowest this season but being multi-faceted is beneficial for the Aggies.

“Having the ability to slow the game and go out there and set up our offense is really good and helps us get out there and run in transition.”

Senior forward Jalen Jones is eligible to play in the next game after serving a four game suspension. Kennedy said he’ll find a way to get the best from him and the team.

“I’ll put in the players that give us the best chance to win,” Kennedy said. “It really doesn’t matter who starts for us. It’s about leaning on each other and winning.”
The Aggies next outing will be against longtime rivals Texas at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m. on Nov. 25.