Texas A&M upsets No. 19 Clemson 69-60
November 27, 2009
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)—B.J. Holmes and Texas A&M passed their first test.
Holmes scored 20 points and Texas A&M upset No. 19 Clemson 69-60 on Thursdayin the first round of the 76 Classic.
David Loubeau added 12 points and nine rebounds and Davis had 10 points forthe Aggies (4-0), who will face No. 8 West Virginia in a semifinal game onFriday.
“I think it’s good early in the season to (play a lot of ranked teams) tosee where we’re at,” Holmes said. “It’s great to play back to back teamsthat’s a high caliber and I think doing this is going to get us ready for theBig 12 and hopefully the post-season.”
Trevor Booker scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half for Clemson(4-1).
Texas A&M led by as many as 17 early in the second half before Clemsonpulled to 58-56 when Tanner Smith made two free throws with 5:14 remaining.Smith finished with 14 points.
A free throw and then Holmes’ 3-pointer gave the Aggies some breathing roomand Clemson could never recover.
Before the season started, the Aggies were picked to finish fifth in thecoaches’ preseason Big 12 poll. By beating Clemson, the team may have takensteps to get noticed nationally, but A&M head coach Mark Turgeon cautioned thatit was just one game.
“We played OK, maybe Clemson didn’t have their best day so it’s just oneday,” Turgeon said. “I like our team, I think we’re just going to get a lotbetter.
“How good are we? I don’t know. If we guard like that (again), we’re goingto be pretty good.”
With the game tied at 18, Khris Middleton and Holmes made 3-pointers duringthe Aggies 15-2 run that included three layups from Donald Sloan to take a 33-20halftime lead. Clemson’s 20 points in the first half were the fewest the Tigershave scored since getting only 17 against Florida State on Feb. 19, 2008.
Texas A&M head coach Mark Turegon said his team played “about as good as wecould play defensively” for about 17 minutes in the first half to overcome ashaky start.
Texas A&M extended its advantage to 44-29 before Clemson used a 13-4 run toget back into the game. The Tigers were done in by poor shooting (33.9 percent)and 18 turnovers.
“It was quite a physical ball game,” Clemson head coach Oliver Purnellsaid. “I give Texas A&M a lot of credit. They came out with a lot of physicaltoughness and really guarded us pretty well. When we went in those droughts itaffected us defensively.”
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