[Information provided by Northwestern St]
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – As soon as Northwestern State ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring when the NCAA debuted its 2012-13 basketball statistics reports Monday, the Demons ran into defensive-minded Texas A&M and fell 78-65 while making only 32 percent of their shots.
NSU (3-2) came into the contest averaging 94 points but made just 2 of its first 15 shots while falling behind 15-6. The Aggies (5-1) led 38-28 at halftime and surged up by 23 with six minutes remaining before the Demons made a closing run.
"They just walled it up and made it tough on us," said Demons' coach Mike McConathy. "Billy Kennedy's teams always defend as well as any in the country. We didn't respond well, and we didn't get some shots to fall that normally do. They did a fabulous job with post defense and did a great job of stagnating us."
Northwestern sank only 7 of 25 from the 3-point arc, just 3 of 16 in the first half. The Aggies held a 42-18 scoring advantage in the paint.
The Aggies had their best shooting performance of the season, sinking 56 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the line.
Elston Turner's 17 points paced four A&M players in double digits, while J'Mycal Reese added 15.
Shamir Davis topped Northwestern with 18 points and Jalan West scored 16. DeQuan Hicks added 12. NSU did have a season-low 13 turnovers and blocked nine shots while sinking 82 percent (18-22) on the free throw line. Rebounding was even at 37-37.
The Demons play their third straight road game Friday night at Oklahoma. The next home game for NSU is next Tuesday in Prather Coliseum against Louisiana Tech.
