The season will get tougher for Texas A&M when the Aggies face a dangerous Northern Kentucky team on Friday night in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies (1-0) opened the season on Tuesday with an easy 97-66 victory at home over Alabama State. PJ Haggerty, a transfer from Kansas State, scored 22 points in his Texas A&M debut to lead the scoring.
Five Aggies finished in double figures in points. Another newcomer, Loyola Marymount transfer Jalen Shelley, had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“[There] was a lot of jitters and excitement building up to this point,” Haggerty said postgame. “Finally getting to play in our offense, and it was a lot of fun. First one in the books. Got a dub.”
Texas A&M, which employed a full-court press the entire game, used that pressure and its depth to put away Alabama State after halftime. But the Aggies showed some early areas for improvement in their season debut. The most glaring weakness was a 60.4% showing (29 of 48) from the free-throw line.
“You can’t get a better shot than a free throw. We’re eventually going to make some of these free throws and finish at the rim,” Texas A&M coach Bucky McMillan said after the win.
“That’s kind of the thing. We’re at the rim. We have these layups. We’re getting to the line. We just couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”
The Norse (2-0) have roared out of the gate, winning their first two games, including 102-94 at South Dakota on Wednesday. Noah Pagotto paced Northern Kentucky with 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor, with Eric Acker amassing 22 points and 12 assists. Willie Foster scored 22 points and hit three 3-pointers.
That win came on the heels of an 84-76 neutral-court victory over UTEP on Monday in Northern Kentucky’s season opener in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Friday’s game will be the third of a four-game trip to start the season for the Norse.
“We’re preparing for games in March,” coach Darrin Horn said. “Just seeing where we’re at as a team and how we can face adversity through tough times and just stay together as a team.”