Aggies Defeat North Texas, 75-65

Donald Sloan scored a game-high 21 points and was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw lines as the Aggies weathered a rough second-half to defeat UNT, 75-65. David Loubeau was a big factor for the Aggies early, as they built a 40-25 halftime lead. UNT tightened up their defense in the second half, and outscored A&M 40-35 in the second period, but the Aggies did just enough to win the game. The Aggies had four players finish in double figures; along with Sloan, Bryan Davis finished with 15 points, David Loubeau had 12, and Derrick Roland chipped in 10. The Aggies went inside to Loubeau and Davis early and often, trying to exploit UNT inside.

In the first half, A&M rode a hot shooting touch (63% from the floor, 50% from beyond the arc) and an opportunistic offense (forced 11 turnovers) to a fifteen point halftime lead. In the second half, UNT was careful with the ball (only three turnovers), and outrebounded the Aggies 22-20 to get back into the game. The Eagles tightened up their defense, holding the Aggies to 32% from the floor and 16.7% from the three point line. Hitting 20 of 24 free throws (83%) accounted for the majority of the Aggies points.

Overall, this is a solid win, but we need to execute on offense better and play a more complete game. A win is a win, though, and this was a solid one for this team.