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Jordan's big first half helps Texas A&M cruise past Colorado

Jan 13, 2008 - 3:08 AM COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Texas A&M was led by its big freshman.

DeAndre Jordan scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half and hauled in nine rebounds as the 10th-ranked Aggies posted an 86-69 Big 12 Conference victory over Colorado on Saturday.

Dominique Kirk scored 15 points and Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis each added 13 for Texas A&M (15-1, 1-0 Big 12), which has won eight straight contests, all by an average of 28.1 points.

"We're playing well," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "We're hard to guard. If they double the posts we're making shots. Our post guys can really pass and our guards are very unselfish."

It was also the 15th consecutive victory at Reed Arena for Texas A&M, which is off to its best start since the 1921-22 team went 16-1. The school also won its second consecutive game to open conference play after dropping its previous 11 league openers.

"This was a very important game for us to come out and set the tone for the conference season," Jordan said. "We prepared for it just like every other game. I came out and took what the defense gave me and we came out on top."

The 7-0, 240-pound Jordan, who connected on 6-of-10 from the floor, scored 10 points in the first half to help give the Aggies to a 42-27 advantage at intermission.

"DeAndre is pretty special," Turgeon said. "I expect him to do things like (dominate the post). In the first half he was really, really good and acted like a 7-footer out there. Before halftime he was as good as he has been on both ends of the floor."

The Houston native, who entered this game leading the nation with a 79.7 field-goal percentage, had a slam dunk with 5:14 left in the period to cap a 17-6 run.

"Coach talks to us a lot about crashing the glass," Jordan said. "I just crashed the glass and the ball ended up in my hand."

Sloan, who drilled three 3-pointers and scored seven second-half points, helped Texas A&M shoot 63 percent (32-of-51) to maintain the double-digit margin after the break. The Aggies also connected on 10-of-18 from 3-point range.

"We allowed the Aggies to get too many uncontested looks from beyond the arc," Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We counted six uncontested 3-point attempts that they made in the first half. We lost their shooters (on defense). Those are defensive mistakes obviously that allowed them separation."

Cory Higgins scored 15 points and Richard Roby chipped in 14 for the Buffaloes (8-7, 0-1), who lost their fifth straight to the Aggies despite going 62 percent (29-of-47) from the field.

"What I told my basketball team is that we played an excellent team," Bzdelik said. "What we need to do is learn from this game. Whether we had won or lost we need to grow from this."

Xavier Silas also scored 14 for Colorado, which has lost 11 straight conference openers since beating Nebraska in 1997.