COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The New Orleans Privateers men's basketball team (1-2) hung in early on, but conceded a couple of big runs in an 87-65 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies (4-1) on Friday afternoon at Reed Arena.
The second half started with the Privateers earning three trips to the free throw line that cut the deficit to single digits at 40-31. That was as close as New Orleans would get the rest of the game. Texas A&M converted a layup on a 3-on-1 fast break to cap a 10-2 run just before the media timeout that extended the Aggies lead to 17. Texas A&M led by as many as 31 points in the second half.
New Orleans was hampered in the first half by not having
Terrance Syon on the floor for the majority of the first 20 minutes. Syon picked up two fouls in the first minute of the game and wound up fouling out after nine minutes of action. Still, the Privateers managed to rebound at the same rate as the Aggies in the first half as both teams pulled down 18 boards. The Aggies narrowly won the battle on the boards on the afternoon at 36-35.
"I hope people got a chance to see our team's getting better. We had times where we had great runs offensively and defensively. Unfortunately we didn't finish some great looks we got inside. It's an opportunity for us to hopefully continue to improve and go forward. I'm not pleased with the outcome, but we're way farther down the road than we were on Thursday," said Coach
Mark Slessinger.
Both teams struggled to get going from the field as the first field goal of the game wasn't recorded until the 17:51 mark by Texas A&M's Tonny Trocha-Morelos. The Aggies from there built a 14-8 lead, but New Orleans then hit its first run keyed by getting trips to the line. The Privateers went on to score the next eight points capped by a pair of
Christavious Gill free throws to take a 16-14 lead.
That advantage was short lived as the Aggies spurted back ahead using their size advantage in the paint. The Aggies hit a fast break dunk, a three in transition, and a pair of layups as part of a 9-2 run. Texas A&M then got hot from beyond the three-point line as Danuel House connected on a pair of triples over the final four minutes of the first half to help the Aggies to a 40-28 halftime advantage.
Gill was one of three Privateers in double figures with a team-high 16 points including going 7-of-9 from the line.
Colton Weisbrod had 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and
Tevin Broyles had 11 points including nine in the first half.
Kevin Brown had nine points and four assists. The Privateers also shot 21-of-27 from the free throw stripe.
The Aggies were led by Peyton Allen who provided a spark off the bench with 16 points. Jalen Jones added 15 points and Danuel House finished with 14 points. Alex Caruso dished out six assists and now has 36 assists in Texas A&M's first five games. Alex Robinson led the team in assists with nine.
The Privateers will next travel to Denver to take on the Pioneers on Sunday. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.
