Jordan Pope had 18 points to lead a balanced Texas A&M attack in a 104-67 victory over road-weary Northern Kentucky on Friday in College Station, Texas.
A&M (2-0) was up by 20 points at halftime after a torrid start to the game and a Norse scoring dry spell late in the first half. The Aggies never let Northern Kentucky (2-1) — which was playing its third game away from home in a five-day stretch — get closer than 17 points in the second half.
Mackenzie Mgbako had 14 points for A&M and Jalen Shelley added 13. Cade Phillips and Tyshawn Archie scored 12 each and PJ Haggerty finished with 10.
The Norse’s Willie Foster paced all scorers with 23 points, while Eric Acker had 14, B.J. Davis-Ray added 11 and Noah Pagotto finished with 10 points.
The Aggies opened the game with an 11-0 run, capped by Pope’s layup at the 17:44 mark. Northern Kentucky chipped away at its deficit, clawing back to within 23-16 when Pagotto went to the hole for a short shot with 13:33 to play in the half.
Defense was at the forefront as A&M pushed its lead to 50-27 on Phillips’ layup with 2:26 left before halftime. The Norse went 6:36 between field goals beginning at the 8:31 mark as A&M dominated on both ends of the floor.
The Aggies carried a 52-32 lead to the break after outshooting the visitors 61.1% to 34.5% and forcing 12 turnovers that A&M converted into 19 points.
Pope led all first-half scorers with a dozen points, while 10 Aggies scored before the break. Foster hit for 11 points to lead the Norse.
A&M opened the second half with a bucket by Phillips and 3-pointers by Mgbako and Haggerty that built its margin to 60-36. A 15-2 run by the Aggies after Northern Kentucky pulled to within 73-56 all but cemented the win.
–Field Level Media
