• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Texas A&M handles Alcorn State

Dec 1, 2011 - 6:55 AM College Station, TX (Sports Network) - Ray Turner dropped 16 points and pulled down six rebounds, leading No. 25 Texas A&M to a 56-44 victory over Alcorn State Monday night.

David Loubeau scored 14 points to go with six rebounds for the Aggies (5-1), while Naji Hibbert added six points and seven rebounds off the bench.

"Naji was more active than he's been, and that was good to see. He was the most productive guy off the bench for us," Aggies head coach Billy Kennedy said.

Jamal Branch also had six points for Texas A&M, which has won three consecutive games.

KeDorian Sullivan led the Braves (1-5) with 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench. JaMichael Hawkins contributed eight points and Xavian Rimmer chipped in with six points.

Texas A&M jumped out to a 6-2 lead early, but Alcorn State came back to take a 9-8 lead with under 13 minutes left in the opening half.

The Aggies responded with a 9-0 run over the next six-plus minutes of game time to push out to a 17-9 lead before Rimmer nailed a three-pointer to finally put an end to the run.

But the Aggies continued to make shots and a layup by Dash Harris with just under three minutes left in the half gave Texas A&M a comfortable 10-point lead, 24-14.

"We knew they wanted to push it in transition and we gave up a lot of uncontested layups," Alcorn State head coach Luther Riley said.

The Aggies closed out the first half holding a 30-17 advantage.

Texas A&M opened the second half by scoring the first six points of the half to push the lead to 36-17.

A jumper by Branch with just over 12 minutes to play gave the Aggies a 19- point advantage, 48-29. Texas A&M cruised the rest of the way for the easy victory.

The Aggies did not take particularly good care of the ball, turning it over 18 times, but made up for it by outrebounding the Braves, 44-27.

Game Notes

The Aggies have won all three meetings with Alcorn State, including a 32-point romp over the Braves last season...Both teams shot 50 percent from the free throw line...Texas A&M will face Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, while Alcorn State will face the University of South Alabama on December 11...Texas A&M shot 40 percent from the floor, while the Braves shot 33 percent.