Rewind: Texas AM 83, LSU 73

Jamal Jones scored 19 points and Kourtney Roberson registered a double-double as Texas A&M defeated LSU 83-73 in a Southeastern Conference game at Reed Arena in College Station on Wednesday night.

DECISIVE STRETCH

Texas A&M started the second half with a 43-37 lead. The Aggies doubled their advantage in the first three minutes after halftime. Texas A&M scored on three of its first four possessions. Roberson had a basket and converted a three-point play, while Jones knocked down a 3-pointer. The three-point play by Roberson put the Aggies on top 51-39 with 16:58 to play. During that same stretch, LSU missed three of its four field goal attempts and committed one turnover. The lone Tigers points came on a field goal by Johnny O'Bryant.

KEY PERIOD IN FIRST HALF

Sparked by O'Bryant, LSU jumped out to an 18-11 lead in the first seven minutes. O'Bryant, who scored eight points, then went to the bench with two fouls. The Tigers actually built their lead to eight points at 22-14 on a basket by Jordan Mickey with 11:04 remaining. Texas A&M then went on a 15-6 run. All of the Aggies' points in that stretch came from reserves. Davonte Fitzgerald scored eight points on three field goals - two being 3-pointers. Tavario Miller made a basket before Jordan Green sank two field goals, including a 3-pointer. Texas A&M scored on six of eight possessions in this stretch. Two of the Aggies field goals came following offensive rebounds and two other field goals followed LSU turnovers. Green's second basket gave the Aggies a 29-28 lead with 6:59 left. The Tigers would take a couple of one-point leads, but Texas A&M went on an 8-2 closing run to have the halftime advantage.

KEY PERIOD IN SECOND HALF

An 8-0 run by LSU reduced its deficit to four points at 51-47 with 14:36 remaining. O'Bryant scored five of the eight points. But, the Aggies responded with an 11-3 run to move comfortably ahead. Texas A&M was quite efficient in this span also as it scored points on five of six possessions. Jones made two baskets, including one 3-pointer. Shawn Smith had four points, including a three-point play. Meanwhile, LSU missed three of four shots and committed three turnovers. Jones' second basket put the Aggies on top 62-50 with 11:05 to play. The Tigers came no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

LSU'S TOP STARTER

Shavon Coleman was the lone player to display some energy throughout the game. Playing 31 minutes, Coleman scored a season-high 21 points. He made a season-high eight field goals out of 13 attempts. Coleman knocked down three 3-pointers which matched his season-high. The 21 points were the second most for Coleman against a SEC team in his career. He had 24 points against Georgia in last year's SEC tournament. Coleman also grabbed six rebounds, handed out three assists and made two steals.

LSU'S TOP RESERVE

The LSU bench provided almost nothing. Andre Stringer and Shane Hammink each scored two points. No other substitute scored a point in a combined 42 minutes.

LSU'S UNSUNG HERO

O'Bryant sat out the last 12½ minutes of the first half. He had gotten off to a quick start with eight points. O'Bryant finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds. He was 6-of-11 from the field. O'Bryant tried to get LSU back in the game in the second half, but he had no help. O'Bryant now has 608 career rebounds. He is tied with Storm Warren for No. 23 on the school's all-time list. O'Bryant passed up Wayne Sims and Collis Temple, Jr. during the game Wednesday.

KEY STATISTICS

In its previous ten SEC games, Texas A&M shot 39 percent from the field and 31 percent on 3-pointers. Against LSU, the Aggies made 48 percent of their field goal attempts (28-of-58) and 44 percent of their 3-pointers (10-of-23). Texas A&M averaged 59 points in its previous ten SEC games. The Aggies' 83 points were eight more than their previous SEC-high of 75 points against South Carolina. LSU shot 45 percent from the field (26-of-58). However, the Tigers made only 25 percent (6-of-24) of their 3-point shots. Texas A&M outrebounded LSU 39-32. The Aggies scored 36 points in the paint - ten more than what the Tigers scored in the lane. Texas A&M got 33 points from its bench.

NOTES

LSU used its big lineup of O'Bryant and Mickey in the post, Coleman and Jarell Martin on the wings and Anthony Hickey at point guard. . .Mickey had a rather quiet 13 points and seven rebounds. Mickey, who was 5-of-8 from the field, blocked two shots. . .Martin finished with 11 points, but he missed seven of his nine field goal attempts. Martin had six rebounds. . .Hickey made two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the game. He then made just one more basket, also a 3-pointer, for the rest of the night. Hickey was 3-of-7 on 3-pointers. He had six assists and one turnover. Hickey now has 316 assists - good for No. 8 on LSU's career rankings. He passed up Ricky Blanton on Wednesday. . .Stringer missed all four of his 3-point attempts. He committed three of the Tigers' 12 turnovers. . .Tim Quarterman was on the court for 12 minutes. He was 0-for-3 from the field with one assist and two turnovers. . .Hammink played eight minutes. . .Jones was 5-of-10 on 3-pointers for the Aggies. . .Roberson had 12 points and 10 rebounds. . .Fitzgerald scored 11 points before suffering a serious knee injury. . .Miller and Green, backups like Fitzgerald, each scored nine points. . .LSU has allowed at least 80 points in six of its 11 SEC games. Last season, the Tigers gave up at least 80 points in five of 18 conference games. . .LSU had swept the two games from the Aggies last season. . .The Tigers are 15-8 overall, 6-5 in the SEC. The Aggies are 14-10 overall, 5-6 in the SEC. LSU is tied with Tennessee for fifth place in the SEC standings. Texas A&M is in eighth place. . .The paid attendance was 4,782.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Johnny Jones

"We didn't defend or rebound like we needed to win the game. We have to play with a sense of urgency and toughness. We are not doing that across the board and it shows. Texas A&M did a great job establishing things early. They knocked down shots against our zone. We got out of the zone and they not only knocked down shots, but they also scored on second-chance opportunities. Texas A&M was minus-eight in rebounding in the SEC and we were down seven (rebounds) in the first half. That means they were the aggressor. They broke our defense down and had some easy scoring opportunities."

NEXT UP

LSU will play Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Razorbacks (15-8, 4-6) will play at Missouri on Thursday night. The LSU-Arkansas game will be broadcast on ESPNU.