Texas A&M will look to continue its hot shooting against visiting Abilene Christian on Friday in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies (1-0) made nearly half of their 3-point shots in a season-opening blowout of Louisiana-Monroe on Monday.
Wade Taylor IV scored a game-high 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range and Dexter Dennis made 3 of 4 attempts from behind the arc to finish with 11 points. Hayden Hefner added two 3-pointers off the bench as the Aggies shot 46.2 percent (12 of 26) from deep and never trailed in an 87-54 victory.
Henry Coleman III chipped in 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and four assists for the Aggies, who shot 50.8 percent overall.
Texas A&M outrebounded the Warhawks 47-36 and converted 16 turnovers into 25 points, in addition to forcing Louisiana-Monroe to shoot 16 for 59 (27.1 percent) from the field and 2 for 20 (10.0 percent) from distance.
“I don’t ever want to take for granted how hard it is to win a game,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “I thought we were a little choppy, which some of that may have been first-game jitters.”
Abilene Christian opened the season with a 65-56 win over visiting Jackson State on Monday.
The Wildcats (1-0) had a 20-point halftime lead trimmed to four with 4:36 to go, but Tobias Cameron hit a 3-pointer and a layup during a 7-0 run over the next 2:03 to secure the victory.
Cameron tied his career high with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, to go along with six rebounds and two blocks. Airion Simmons had 13 points and five rebounds as the only other ACU player to finish in double figures.
“I guess I am a little bit of a vet, but being in those situations, playing big minutes is still kind of new to me,” said Cameron, a senior who started 17 of 36 games last season. “But just the confidence the staff and my teammates have in me really helps. I just kept trying to push through, push through.”
–Field Level Media