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What. A. Game.
After a frustrating loss in Fayetteville this past Wednesday, Texas A&M basketball bounced back in a big way with a phenomenal victory against #14 Iowa State. Iowa State was 12th in the nation in scoring (84.4 points a game) and had their lowest scoring total of the season. If there was any doubt before, the Ags proved today against a very good Cyclone team that they belong among the best in college basketball.
Here are our big takeaways.
DANUEL. HOUSE.
Danuel House with the dunk and the dagger! #AggieHoops https://t.co/6bDWLQr87K
— Derek (@DerekAggie06) January 30, 2016
‘Nuff said.
Shoutout to the Big Men
Stellar performances by Tyler Davis and Tonny Trocha-Morelos proved to be the X-factor in today's game. Davis was a beast in the block, using his 270-pound frame to knock around the smaller ISU frontcourt. And late in the game, Davis pounded his way through the lane to get a clutch tip-in to put the Ags up 7 with less than 2 minutes left.
Trocha-Morelos reminded the Aggie faithful that he was once the leading 3-point shooter on the team when he knocked in back to back 3-pointers at a time when it felt like Coach Billy Kennedy made a ban on making jump shots. On the defensive end, he stood strong in the lane and went toe to toe with possible All-American Geroges Niang. This game needed contribution from everyone and Trocha-Morelos could not have stepped up at a better time.
Beginning of an Important Stretch
Texas A&M will follow today's huge victory by going on the road in 3 of their next 4 games with their one stop in Reed Arena being against 18-2 South Carolina. The first road test will be at Vanderbilt on one of the strangest court set-ups in college basketball. The Ags still only have a one-game lead in the SEC standings and there are no cupcakes for essentially all of February.
This next month will be the most pivotal stretch in determining both A&M's SEC championship aspirations and NCAA Tournament seeding. Above all though, today showed that not only can A&M beat the best (Iowa State has two victories over Kansas and #1 Oklahoma) but if they are on their game, they SHOULD beat the best.