Aggies’ defense takes bite out of Bulldogs
LAS VEGAS — Quenton Jackson scored 15 points and sparked a big spurt to end the first half as Texas A&M beat Butler 57-50 on Tuesday .
After blowing a 16-point lead in a loss to Wisconsin in Monday’s opener at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, the Aggies (5-1) broke open a tight game, finishing with a 16-3 run to end the first half against Butler.
Butler led 18-17 with 7:47 left in the first half when A&M went on a 13-0 run, highlighted by eight points from Jackson, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Aggies a 33-21 halftime lead.
Butler (3-3) went more than seven minutes without a field goal to end the first half and committed nine of their 19 turnovers. The Bulldogs had 20 turnovers in Monday’s loss to Houston.
Chuck Harris made a layup with 27 seconds left to get Butler within 53-50, but the Bulldogs could not get any closer, even as A&M missed 11 of 12 shots to end the game.
Butler was doomed by its own shooting woes, going more than six minutes without a field goal
late in the game.
Henry Coleman III had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies, and Tyrece Radford and Marcus Williams each had eight points.
Jair Bolden led Butler with 10 points.
The Aggies led by 12 at halftime
and kept it near double digits most of the second half before Butler chipped it down to 52-48 with just more than a minute left.
Marcus Williams hit two free throws to send the Aggies into Wednesday’s fifth-place game against either Chaminade or Notre Dame.
The Bulldogs shot 36 percent and went 5 for 20 from the 3-point arc.
Butler got off to a brutal start in its Maui opener against No. 12 Houston, allowing the Cougars to score the game’s first 17 points on their way to a 70-52 win.
The Bulldogs got off to a better start against A&M, but the Aggies used a closing 15-4 run to lead 3321 at halftime. Jackson had eight points during the run, including a par of 3-pointers.