Aggies bash Bulldogs as Mekowulu rules
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M forward Christian Mekowulu discovered a challenge within the challenge on Tuesday night in Reed Arena — going shoulder-toshoulder with a fellow countryman from across the Atlantic Ocean.
That’s why Aggies strength coach Darby Rich challenged Mekowulu to win the in-the-paint tussle against Georgia forward Derek Ogbeide. Both hail from Lagos, Nigeria.
“He said, ‘Don’t let another Nigerian come in here and dominate you,’ ” Mekowulu said following the Aggies’ 73-56 beating of the Bulldogs. “That was the challenge.”
Mekowulu dominated most everyone on the court with 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
“That’s a great fifth year get right there,” Georgia first-year coach Tom Crean said of the Aggies’ senior transfer from Tennessee State. “If he plays like that, they’ll get better all the time.”
A&M has had a rough go of it overall in Southeastern Conference play this season, but the Aggies simply bumped into a bad team owning a rougher go of it.
A&M (10-13, 3-8 SEC) has won two consecutive games in league play for the first time since last season, after starting this season losing eight of its first nine conference contests. This was also the Aggies’ first home victory in league play, with the two previous wins coming at Alabama and Missouri.
“Those two wins help keep the train going,” said A&M guard Jay Jay Chandler, who scored nine consecutive points about midway through the first half on Tuesday. “Our momentum is very high, so I don’t think it’s stopping any time soon.”
The Aggies played a second consecutive game without forward Josh Nebo, who’s been sidelined by a knee injury.
“He brings a lot of energy to the team,” Mekowulu said of Nebo. “That’s got to come from somewhere if he’s not playing, so I feel like I have to step up.”
A&M leaped to a 34-21 halftime lead in about a third-full arena, and the Bulldogs never came close to threatening the rest of the way. Georgia (10-14, 1-10), which has lost nine consecutive league games, has been submerged in drama over the past few days because of Crean.
“It’s all on me, because I’m the one who decided to keep these guys,” Crean said following Georgia’s 80-64 home loss to Mississippi on Saturday.
Crean, who later apologized for his cranky assessment of his inherited players, weathered another double-digit loss to a league foe — this time to a team that has only two more victories in SEC action.
The Aggies, who played two road games prior to hosting the Bulldogs, go back on the road on Saturday at South Carolina, 12-11 overall but 7-3 in SEC play. The Gamecocks under coach Frank Martin are coming off a 77-65 home victory against Arkansas but also play at top-ranked Tennessee on Wednesday night before hosting the Aggies.
Meantime the Aggies on Tuesday led big early and stayed solid down the stretch, with balanced scoring over the 40 minutes from TJ Starks (19 points), Chandler (18) and Mekowulu.
A&M and Georgia have only played as SEC members, and the Aggies evened the all-time series at 4-4 with Tuesday’s victory, in giving A&M its fourth consecutive win over the Bulldogs.
The Aggies have won back-toback SEC games for the first time since closing out the regular season a year ago with victories over Vanderbilt, Georgia and Alabama. After the Aggies play at South Carolina on Saturday, they host Alabama on Tuesday night in trying to sweep the season series against coach Avery Johnson’s Crimson Tide.