Aggies too tough
Coach Mike Boynton’s return to his home in Brooklyn was less than spectacular. Texas A&M drubbed Oklahoma State in the Legends Classic at Barclays Center.
Mike Boynton knew things would be different Monday night.
Through a three-game winning streak to start the season, his Cowboys faced mostly one-dimensional teams; two guard-oriented squads and one reliant on post play.
In No. 16-ranked Texas A&M, Oklahoma State’s opening opponent in the Legends Classic, the Cowboys were getting a complete team.
And it showed.
The Aggies scored inside and out on the offensive end and used their length defensively to give OSU fits, contributing to a 72-55 A&M rout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, ruining the return of two Cowboys: coach Mike Boynton, a Brooklyn native, and guard Jeffrey Carroll, who missed the first three games due to an internal review of the program.
Boynton suffered his first loss as a head coach. Carroll, seemingly pressing, struggled throughout, scoring just four points amid a rugged shooting night.
The Aggies used big runs in each half to surge away from the Cowboys, including a 23-6 run out of a 16-16 tie into halftime to take a 39-22 lead at the break. A&M led by double digits the rest of the way, with OSU getting no closer than 10.
“We won’t let one game, win or lose, no matter the opponent, define us,” Boynton said. “This is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves. We’ve got a quick turnaround. We can’t hang our heads.
“But we do need to own this loss. They beat us. We didn’t give the game away, the referees didn’t affect it. We lost because they were better than us. And we’ve got to learn from that tonight and be better than that tomorrow.”
A&M started three players 6-foot-9 or taller and brought two more big men off the bench, including formerly suspended Robert Williams, a projected lottery pick in next spring’s NBA Draft. Williams went for 11 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench. D.J. Hogg, a 6-9 guard, fired in four of the Aggies’ nine 3-pointers and scored a game-high 18 points.
Brandon Averette scored 10 points to lead the Cowboys, who shot a season-low 29.9 percent from the field. Carroll and Tavarius Shine combined to go 4-of-23 from the floor and 0-for-9 on 3-pointers.
Up next: Pitt/Penn State
The Cowboys will face the loser of Monday night’s late Pittsburgh-Penn State game in the third-place game.
Tip time is 2:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center.
Pitt, undergoing a rebuild, was 1-2 before Monday night, losing to Navy and Montana, before beating UC Santa Barbara.
Penn State entered at 3-0, with wins over Fairleigh Dickinson, Montana and Columbia — all at home.
Quotable
Boynton in a halftime interview on the OSU radio broadcast:
“I want to see more fight. We’ve got to play with a little bit more courage offensively.”