National Basketball Association
Texas A&M 78, Kansas St. 68
When: 5:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 12, 2015
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Officials:
# Lee Cassell, # Jeff Henderson, # Antinio Petty
Attendance:
7003
By The Sports Xchange
Texas A&M forward Jalen Jones came off the bench to score 25 points, guard Alex Caruso added 12 points, nine assists and six steals, and the Aggies held off Kansas State 78-68 on Saturday in College Station, Texas.
With the Aggies protecting a five-point lead in the final minute, Caruso drove and spun to the basket for a layup and then stole the inbounds pass.
Texas A&M (8-2), which was coming off a loss at Arizona State, posted another quality non-conference win to go with victories over Gonzaga and Texas.
Junior forward Wesley Iwundu scored a career-high 23 points to lead Kansas State (7-2). Forward D.J. Johnson added 14 points.
Jones started 31 games last season, when he was selected second-team All-SEC, but he's mostly come off the bench this season. He had nine rebounds and shot 8-of-15 from the field against Kansas State.
The Wildcats rallied from a nine-point deficit early in the second half and trailed only 43-42 when Caruso jumped into the passing lane for a steal and was intentionally fouled on a breakaway.
Caruso made both free throws, guard Admon Gilder followed with a 3-pointer, and the Aggies were off and running on a 23-6 run that didn't quite put the game away.
K-State came back with an 11-0 run and eventually pulled as close as 69-64 on Iwundu's one-handed slam with 1:03 left.
Texas A&M guard Danuel House, averaging 16.3 points per game, scored only seven points on 2-of-13 shooting.
Top Game Performances
Kansas St. |
|
Texas A&M |
Wesley Iwundu 23 |
Scoring |
Jalen Jones 25 |
Justin Edwards 3 |
Assists |
Alex Caruso 9 |
Stephen Hurt 6 |
Rebounds |
Jalen Jones 9 |
Wesley Iwundu 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Jalen Jones 7 |
Wesley Iwundu 2 |
Steals |
Alex Caruso 6 |
D.J. Johnson 2 |
Blocks |
Tonny Trocha-Morelos 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Kansas St.
|
68 |
42.6 |
5-20 |
11-16 |
12 |
31 |
2 |
5 |
16 |
Texas A&M
|
78 |
54.0 |
7-14 |
17-25 |
18 |
30 |
3 |
11 |
13 |