N.C. A&T -vs- Howard 2/2/ 07

[VA's Finest]

I see "T" is doing it real big now, check the gametracker for todays games.

www.ncataggies.com/

[bluehaze]

47-32 A&T :29 left in the first half

[bluehaze]

Looks like Rush is heating up just in time:
8-11 from the field (5-7 behind the arc) 24pts.

Just in time for the ESPNU game on Monday against Hampton. Last year he put on a show on National TV.

[AggieGroove]

Game story from HoU game!

Aggies win 6th straight By Brian Joura
Special to the News & Record
Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008 3:00 am
N.C. A&T 72
Howard 56 GREENSBORO -- The Howard Bison were bigger, stronger and more physical than N.C. A&T. But they had no answers for either the Aggies' press or sharp shooting.

A&T spotted Howard an early nine-point lead, but thanks to a strong defensive effort and nine-of-13 shooting from the arc by guards Steven Rush (4-6) and Austin Ewing (5-7), the Aggies cruised to an easy 72-56 win at the Corbett Sports Center on Saturday.

The Bison (5-16, 2-5 MEAC) got the ball inside early. Three quick baskets in the paint and a 3-pointer by Eugene Myatt, and the Aggies were down 9-0. A&T coach Jerry Eaves went to his bench and got a lift from Thomas Coleman and Ed Jones, who each hit a quick basket.

Once the Aggies (11-9, 5-2) started to score, they set up their full-court pressure, which gave the Bison fits.

"When we came off the bench with our subs and started to press them, I think we had eight steals at halftime," Eaves said. "We ended up with 13 steals, which is the way we play. I was glad to see that."

The eight steals contributed to 13 turnovers in the first half. And that resulted in a 23-3 lead in points off turnovers, which in turn led to a 47-32 lead.

To make matters worse, the Bison played without Jeron Smith, the only senior on the squad and one of the team's better ball handlers, who missed the game with the flu.

With the defensive pressure causing Howard's offense to bog down, Rush and Ewing took over the game. The backcourt duo combined for 28 first-half points, including 7-for-8 shooting from 3-point range.

Rush was also able to drive for layups, including a beautiful left-handed shot which tied the game 21-21 with 7:35 remaining in the half..

"They pressured me a lot today," Rush said. "They really got up under me. I guess they expected me to make shots, so I wanted to let them know there's more to my game than making a 3-point shot.

"I was able to get to the basket. There wasn't much help back there, so I was able to finish, even though they were a bigger team."

Rush hit 8-of-11 shots to finish with a game-high 24 points. Ewing and Ed Jones both had 16. That trio combined to hit 12-of-16 3-pointers. For the game, the Aggies finished with 13 3-pointers, their third-highest total of threes this season.

A&T came out lethargic in the second half, and Howard opened with a 13-4 run and cut the deficit to six. But the Aggies regained their composure and closed out the game. Eaves was not worried about the team's second-half struggles.

"I would like for us to be more fluent, of course, and score consistently, of course," he said. "But you have to deal with the cards you're dealt that day. Even with the lull, we scored 72 points."

The win gave A&T a six-game winning streak for the first time since the 1996-97 season and set up a showdown with Hampton, one of three teams in the MEAC with one conference loss.

HOWARD (5-16, 2-5)

FG FT Reb
Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

White 36 2-5 1-2 1-6 2 1 5

Walker 36 3-7 0-0 1-4 4 3 6

Hampton 37 9-13 0-3 3-6 0 2 19

Myatt 31 4-9 3-3 0-3 2 5 13

Kirkpatrick 19 2-4 0-0 0-3 0 3 4

Mukole 24 3-6 1-3 0-1 0 1 9

Timothy 14 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Thomas 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Cooper 2 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0

Totals 200 23-45 5-11 8-27 8 17 56 Percentages: FG .511, FT .455.

3-point goals: 5-15, .333 (Myatt 2-3, Mukole 2-4, Hampton 1-4, Walker 0-1, Timothy 0-1, White 0-2).

Team rebounds: 2.

Blocked shots: 4 (Walker 2, Kirkpatrick 2).

Turnovers: 24 (Walker 6, Kirkpatrick 4, Hampton 4, White 3, Myatt 3, Thomas, Timothy, Mukole, Cooper).

Steals: 4 (White 2, Timothy, Myatt).

N. CAROLINA A&T (11-9, 5-2)

FG FT Reb
Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Chaplin 16 0-2 0-0 2-3 1 2 0

Wills 26 0-6 0-0 0-5 1 1 0

Wilson 15 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 1 3

Rush 29 8-11 3-4 0-1 0 3 24

Ewing 30 6-10 0-0 0-1 3 1 16

Nelson 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 3 1 0

Alston 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Hernandez 12 0-0 3-4 0-1 0 2 3

Jones 27 5-7 3-7 2-5 0 3 16

Coleman 24 3-6 4-4 1-6 1 1 10

Johnson 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 200 23-47 13-19 8-27 9 16 72

Percentages: FG .489, FT .684.

3-point goals: 13-20, .650 (Rush 5-7, Ewing 4-6, Jones 3-3, Wilson 1-2, Alston 0-1, Chaplin 0-1).

Team rebounds: 4.

Blocked shots: 1 (Wilson).

Turnovers: 16 (Hernandez 3, Wills 3, Ewing 2, Nelson 2, Coleman, Rush, Jones, Johnson, Wilson, Chaplin).

Steals: 13 (Coleman 3, Ewing 2, Nelson 2, Hernandez 2, Jones, Rush, Wilson, Chaplin).

Howard 32 24 -- 56

N. Carolina A&T 47 25 -- 72

A--3,232.

Officials--Leon Sandiford, Lionel Butler, Van DeBrick.

From thr news and record

[truthseeker]

this is the type of shooting we are going to need... nite in... nite out... on a consistant basis... limit the turn-overs & consistant shooting... we have got to get consistant shooting....!!!!!