National Basketball Association
Louisiana Tech 84, Texas A&M 72
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, March 23, 2015
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Officials:
# Don Daily, # Byron Jarrett, # Larry Spaulding
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
Louisiana Tech 84, Texas A&M 72: Alex Hamilton scored 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting to lead the visiting Bulldogs past the Aggies in the second round of the NIT.
Kenneth Smith added 16 points and a game-high eight assists for Louisiana Tech (27-8), which will face top-seeded Temple in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Michale Kyser tallied 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks for the Bulldogs, who shot 51.7 percent from the field.
Alex Robinson scored a team-high 21 points off the bench for Texas A&M (21-12), which never found its long-range touch, shooting 3-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc. Jalen Jones contributed 16 points and Jordan Green chipped in with 14 for the Aggies, who committed 15 turnovers while handing out 14 assists.
Following a pair of buckets from Jones that gave Texas A&M a 16-10 lead, Hamilton drained a 3-pointer that sparked a 12-7 spurt for Louisiana Tech to pull the Bulldogs within 23-22 with 7:46 left in the first half. The Aggies answered with an 8-3 run to open up a 31-25 advantage before a 10-3 surge, featuring 3-pointers from Hamilton and Smith, set up Louisiana Tech with a 35-34 halftime edge.
After the break, the Bulldogs got three 3-pointers from Smith as part of a 21-10 jolt to open up a 56-44 lead with 10:43 remaining. Jacobi Boykins responded to five unanswered points from Texas A&M by draining two straight 3-pointers and, after Green sank a pair of free throws to pull the Aggies within 71-61 with just under four minutes to go, Kyser answered with a dunk and Hamilton followed with a 3-pointer to put the game away.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bulldogs missed 11 of their first 12 3-point attempts before making 10 of their last 15, shooting 40.7 percent for the game. ... G Danuel House (foot), Texas A&M's leading scorer, missed his fourth straight game. ... Kyser finished 6-of-7 from the field, reaching double digits for the fifth time in six games.
Top Game Performances
Louisiana Tech |
|
Texas A&M |
Alex Hamilton 25 |
Scoring |
Alex Robinson 21 |
Kenneth Smith 8 |
Assists |
Alex Caruso 5 |
Erik McCree 8 |
Rebounds |
Kourtney Roberson 8 |
Alex Hamilton 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Jordan Green 6 |
Xavian Stapleton 2 |
Steals |
Alex Caruso 4 |
Michale Kyser 4 |
Blocks |
Dylan Johns 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Louisiana Tech
|
84 |
51.7 |
11-27 |
11-13 |
19 |
30 |
8 |
6 |
12 |
Texas A&M
|
72 |
43.1 |
3-11 |
19-26 |
14 |
30 |
2 |
5 |
15 |