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Texas A&M overpowers Jacksonville

Dec 17, 2006 - 6:56 AM COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Texas A&M entered the season looking for scoring options to complement Acie Law IV and Joseph Jones. Not anymore.

Josh Carter scored 16 points and Antanas Kavaliauskas added 15 to lead 13th-ranked Texas A&M to an easy 97-58 victory over Jacksonville.

The Aggies (9-2) ended a two-game losing streak against Fordham on Tuesday as Carter scored 24 points and Kavaliauskas added 19.

The duo again set the pace against Jacksonville (4-6), scoring 13 points apiece in the opening 20 minutes to spur Texas A&M to a 48-26 halftime lead.

"Tonight was a good win for us," Aggies coach Billy Gillispie said. "Jacksonville is a hard team to guard, especially off the dribble. We made some really good plays tonight but we also made some mistakes.

"I did not expect them to get 20 offensive rebounds, but when you guard the dribbler like we do, that happens. We also had nine blocks, which kind of evens that out."

A 6-10 senior center, Kavaliauskas scored six straight points and 12 overall as Texas A&M surged to a 21-8 advantage just over seven minutes into the contest.

Carter, meanwhile, turned in his second strong performance as he hit three 3-pointers and scored in double figures for the sixth time this season.

The 6-7 sophomore had managed a total of 12 points in the three games prior to Fordham. In the past two games, Carter is 7-of-10 from the arc.

Law IV also scored 15 points and Jones had 14 to go over 1,000 for his career as A&M improved to 9-0 at home this season.

"We are still a work in progress, we have a long way to go, but we are getting better every day," Gillispie said. "We are still trying to figure out who will play and when and what the rotation will be. Joe (Jones) looked as healthy as he has all year tonight so that's a good thing."

Marlon Pompey came off the bench to score a season-high 11 points with two blocks for the Aggies, who shot 51 percent (36-of-70) from the field and made 10-of-24 3-pointers in winning its 14th consecutive home game.

"He is very vital to us offensively and defensively," Gillispie said. "He is probably even a better offensive player than he thinks he is."

Jesse Kimbrough scored 19 points for Jacksonville, which lost its 22nd straight game on the road. The last time the Dolphins won away from home was on February 25, 2005.