Aggies Knock Off Jackson State --- Now 3-0

Well, for about 9:38 of game time on Friday night we saw our first glimpse of just how good this year's Aggie Basketball team can be when they are all on the same page, playing as one unit and making a few baskets. With 4:59 left in the 1st half, the Aggies finally decided to stop sleepwalking and start playing some basketball. Through the first 15 minutes, the good guys were nursing a slim 32-31 lead over a very energetic bunch from Jackson State. At the 5 minute mark they finally came to life and went on a quick 19-5 run to close out the half and head to the locker room in-control with a commanding 51-36 lead.

Coming out of the break, the Aggies kept the throttle wide open and scored 19 more points over the first 4:39 while holding the Tigers to only 10 and pushing their decisive lead to 70-45.

This nearly 10 minute outburst was keyed by three guys, Josh Carter, Bryan Davis and Donald Sloan, which should be of no surprise to you guys. These three are going to have to all be very good this year and will be the heart-and-soul of this team's successes or failures on the offensive end. Of those three, nobody was bigger during that 38 point outburst than Josh Carter, who scored 17 of his game high 25 points during that stretch. Carter was again outstanding on Friday night in going 8-of-13 including 5-of-8 from the three point line.

One other thing I found interesting was the Aggies' scoring distribution which I think was probably how Turgeon would like to see it every night:
Carter - - 25
Sloan - - 17
Davis - - 14
Elonu - - 10
Walkup - - 8
Loubeau - - 8

The Aggies are going to win a bunch of games this season if they can even come close to replicating this type of offensive efficiency with any sort of consistency. There is a little bit of the theory that says "things are never as good as they seem...." in play here, but I will tell you, it was awfully good to see the Aggies play that good on Friday night. Both Carter and Turgeon also were excited about what they saw. Turgeon said "What we saw tonight is a taste of what I get to see every day in practice. A lot of guys are doing well in practice but it is not carrying over to the games." While Carter added, "This is the first time that we have done what we are capable of for extended periods of time throughout the game."

There are a couple of quick hits I wanted to put out to you guys, then we'll let you get back to work:

--- With his 5 three pointers on Friday night, Josh Carter tied Bernard King's (1999-2003) school record of 232 three pointers. Josh will most likely break the record on Tuesday night.

--- BJ Holmes has gotten off to a very slow start shooting the basketball this year. Poor shooting is uncharacteristic for the sophomore guard. BJ missed his first 12 field goal attempts on the season before knocking down a three pointer with 13:18 left in the second half. BJ is now 1-for-15 (7%) on the season including 1-for-9 (11%) from behind the arc. BJ will be just fine as we work through the season, but you hope he snaps out of it soon as the Aggies need Holmes to be a contributor this season.

--- I also want to point out Acie Law had his best game as a pro on Saturday night vs. the Cleveland Lebron's - - Acie had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in just over 22 minutes.

We're going back to Reed on Tuesday night to check out game 2 of the South Padre Invitational when the Aggies host UNC-Wilmington. We will shoot you guys a note on Tuesday during the day with a quick peek at the match-up vs. the UNC-W Seahawks.

Hope you all had a good weekend.
-sb