Rashaun Agee scored a team-high 16 points Thursday night and Texas A&M blew open a tight game in the first 10 minutes of the second half for a 104-70 nonconference win over visiting Texas Southern in College Station, Texas.
Rylan Griffen added 14 and Marcus Hill tallied 13 points for the Aggies (2-0), who connected on 54.1 % of their field goal attempts and beat a steady path to the foul line. They were 26 of 37 from the stripe on the night, including 15 of 21 in the second half, and converted 23 Tigers turnovers into 32 points.
Cameron Patterson scored a game-high 18 points for Texas Southern (0-2) and Troy Hupstead added 15.
The Tigers actually shot the ball well, canning 51% of their field goal attempts, and earned a 33-28 advantage on the glass. But the inability to take care of the ball helped ruin the momentum built from a strong first 18 minutes of the first half.
Coming off a 98-43 loss Monday night at Gonzaga, the Tigers clearly made serious improvements from the first to second game. They opened up a 25-19 lead at the 11:23 mark of the first half when Alex Anderson sank a mid-range jumper.
Texas Southern owned a 34-33 edge with 3:20 remaining when Patterson converted a 3-point play. At that point, Texas A&M hit its stride. Griffen drilled a 3-pointer, while Ruben Dominguez swished three foul shots and then a 15-footer for a 41-36 halftime advantage.
It was 46-40 early in the second half when the Aggies established firm control. They unleashed a 20-2 burst that started with Agee’s 3-pointer and ended with two foul shots from Zach Clemence with 13:41 left.
The margin reached 30 for the first time on Jamie Vinson’s two free throws at the 9:06 mark.
The only suspense in the end was whether Texas A&M would reach the 100-point mark after falling two short in Monday night’s season-opening win over Northwestern State (La.). The Aggies reached the mark when Ali Dibba canned a 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining.
