Aggies outlast Florida Gulf Coast, 75-65, to move to 7-1

My, how times have changed.

Texas A&M posted a 75-65 college basketball victory over Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night at Reed Arena and left angry.

One player even left the court growling: “That was (expletive) terrible.”

This after the Aggies endured a disappointing seven-point loss to Syracuse in the finals of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Not long ago that would have been reason for celebration.

That’s how it is now for the 18th-ranked Aggies. Ten-point victories can be frustrating and close losses to traditional powerhouses are unsatisfactory.

“I’m happy we won,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “I knew it was going to be a struggle. Florida Gulf Coast is better than some teams we’ve played at home. I was concerned about us being tuned into everything we needed to be. We didn’t prepare as well this week and therefore didn’t play as well as we were capable of.”

Senior forward Jalen Jones seemed to agree.

“Being a ranked team, expectations are higher,” Jones said. “Everybody expects you to blow out unranked teams and dominate them. Sometimes you just have to get past them.”

Jones, back in the starting lineup for the first time this season, led the Aggies (7-1) past stubborn Florida Gulf Coast (4-4), which trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half.

Jones scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the first half and led the Aggies with seven rebounds.

“The first half, I thought Jalen Jones controlled the entire tempo of the game,” FGCU coach Joe Dooley said. “He was a beast in the post.”

A&M needed him to be beastlike because many other players were struggling.

Danuel House, who along with freshman center Tyler Davis did not start, scored 15 points. He hit just 3 of 16 field goal attempts, though. He compensated by converting nine of 10 free throws.

The Aggies shot just 40.6 percent and only out-rebounded the visiting Eagles 38-37. However, the Aggies forced 21 turnovers, which were parlayed into 21 points.

“We were out of sorts from the get-go,” Dooley said. The turnovers were really uncharacteristic of us. We’ve done a good job. We had a couple where we lost our minds and made some freshmen mistakes.”

Guard Christian Terrell came off the bench to lead FGCU with 14 points and guard Zach Johnson had 13.

But 6-8 forward Marc-Eddy Norelia, who entered the game averaging 16 points, managed just two. The visitors were further hampered by the loss of guard Julien DeBose, who sustained an ankle injury and played just one minute of the second half.

Still, the Eagles just would not go away. Or maybe the Aggies couldn’t put them away.

At any rate, A&M appeared to be cruising to an easy victory when Alex Caruso scored seven unanswered points to provide a 16-point lead midway through the second half.

Caruso rebounded D.J. Hogg’s missed three-point attempt and hit a jump shot for a 57-46 lead with 11:20 remaining. Then, he stole a pass and raced down the court for a dunk, which brought the crowd of 5,589 to its feet.

On A&M’s next possession, Caruso scored a layup off an offensive rebound, was fouled and added the free throw for a 62-46 lead.

However, the Eagles came back, pulled within 10 and had chances to draw closer, but either missed shots or committed turnovers.

“They’re a good team,” A&M point guard Anthony Collins said. “We were a little discouraged and wanted to win by more points, but they’re a good team. They kept fighting back like a good team will do.”

Perhaps, A&M also did what a good team will do — posted a double-digit victory despite not playing particularly well.

Kennedy said they will need to play better against Arizona State (5-2) in Tempe on Saturday night.

“There is some immaturity with our team,” Kennedy said. “The intensity we had to play with in those three games in the Bahamas with a packed house and ranked teams … it was a big-time environment.

“It drains you to play three games in three days and and you have to come back and get to school and get back in a rhythm. Some guys aren’t ready for that. They need to get ready.”