COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Donald Sloan said he had been working overtime on his shot. It showed Friday night.
Sloan scored a game-high 22 points as Texas A&M pulled away from Samford in the second half to win 68-49.
“I was really proud of the way our guys guarded in the second half,” A&M coach Mark Turgeon said.
The Aggies (3-0), who led by only 36-35 at halftime, busted the game open midway through the second half on the strength of 3-pointers by B.J. Holmes, Sloan and Nathan Walkup in a span of 2 minutes 33 seconds. The last one lifted A&M to a 56-44 lead.
Sloan, a 6-foot-3 senior, finished 7 of 11 from the field, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
“I put a lot of work in on my shot in the past six months,” said Sloan, who entered the game leading the team at 19 points per game. “Right now it’s paying off.”
The Aggies shot 50 percent in both halves (12 of 24 and 11 of 22). A&M guard Derrick Roland followed Sloan with 14 points, and point guard Dash Harris chipped in 11. Andy King led Samford with 17 points.
“They’re a really good basketball team,” Samford coach Jimmy Tillette said of the Aggies, who’ve made four consecutive NCAA tournaments. “Sloan holy cow, we don’t have anybody who can come close to matching up with him. They just shot lights out.”
The Aggies held the Bulldogs to 6-of-20 shooting in the decisive second half after Samford had shot 14 of 27 in the first half.
“We played with more energy,” Sloan said of the difference between the first and second halves for the Aggies, who next head for the 76 Classic in Anaheim starting Thursday against Clemson.
The Aggies committed only five turnovers to 12 for Samford.
A&M was held under 80 points for the first time but has defeated its first three opponents by an average of 17 points.
“I’ve got a long list of things that I avoid in life,” Tillette said, adding that the list includes “Mark Turgeon-coached teams. There’s not a weakness there.”
