BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Admon Gilder had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists and Robert Williams scored a season-high 18 to lead Texas A&M to an 85-73 victory against LSU on Saturday.
JC Hampton had 15 points, DJ Hogg had 11 and Tyler Davis had 10. Texas A&M led by double-digits over the last 18 minutes of the game.
“We had a lot of effort and energy tonight,” Williams said. “We came out together and told each other that this was a new start to the rest of our SEC games. I felt like no one for LSU could guard me height-wise, length-wise or with jumping ability.”
After falling behind by seven points in the opening minutes, Texas A&M (12-10, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) outscored the Tigers 20-6 to take a 24-17 lead. Gilder scored eight of his 20 points during that run and his layup with 9:37 remaining in the half gave the Aggies the lead for good at 19-17.
“LSU came out of the gate playing really well,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “I know they’ve struggled, but they started the game with good energy. Fortunately, we were able to wear them down inside. Our defense was pretty good, especially during the first half.”
Brandon Sampson led LSU (9-13, 1-9) with 21 points. Duop Reath had 16 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, Wayde Sims scored a season-best 15 points and Skylar Mays had 12.
“We got off to a good start,” LSU coach Johnny Jones said. “Unfortunately, we did not do what was necessary to sustain the effort and focus we had early on. I know it has to do with the youthfulness on the team. At least these guys are trying and putting forth the effort.”
BIG PICTURE
Texas A&M: The Aggies avoided a second three-game losing streak this season with the victory. Texas A&M has won back-to-back SEC road games against Ole Miss and LSU.
LSU: The Tigers have dropped nine games in a row - their longest losing streak in six seasons. LSU lost ten games in a row in 2011.
GREAT HOMECOMING
Freshman Robert Williams, who played his high school basketball at Vivian (La.) North Caddo, returned to his home state and equaled his season-high with 18 points. He was 8-of-14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Williams scored 12 points in Texas A&M’s victory last month against LSU in College Station.
TOUGH OPPONENT
LSU has now lost three consecutive games to Texas A&M by an average of 25 points. The Tigers were beaten by the Aggies 71-38 in the semifinals of the SEC tournament last season and 92-62 last month at College Station. LSU has lost seven of nine games in the series over the past four seasons.
NO TURNOVER PROBLEM
Turnovers had plagued the Aggies throughout the SEC schedule. Texas A&M committed an average of 17 turnovers in their previous nine league games. Center Tyler Davis had four of the Aggies season-low eight turnovers against LSU.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M: The Aggies will return home to play Missouri on Tuesday.
LSU: The Tigers will have their first conference road game in more than two weeks when they take on Kentucky in Lexington on Tuesday.
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