Jones, Kavaliauskas lead AM over Pacific, 74-62
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Joseph Jones had 24 points and Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 23 to lead (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today; No. 9 AP) Texas A&M past Pacific 74-62 Saturday.
The Aggies (7-0) avenged their only nonconference loss in two-plus years under coach Billy Gillispie. Pacific (3-4) beat Texas A&M 63-56 last season.
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Jones and Kavaliauskas scored 30 of the Aggies' 39 first-half points. Jones was 6-of-8 and Kavaliauskas 6-of-9 as Texas A&M led by 10 at halftime.
Anthony Brown had 19 points and Anthony Esparaza added 13 to lead Pacific, which became the first team this season to shoot better than 35 percent against the Aggies. They shot 49 percent (22-of-45).
Dominique Kirk, who had 13 points and eight assists, stole the ball from a driving C.J. Morgan with 4 minutes left and made a big 3-pointer at the other end to give Texas A&M a 69-56 lead.
Jones scored 10 straight points for the Aggies during a 14-3 run to break open a one-point game with 9 minutes to play in the first half. He hit two 3-pointers during the run after making only two all of last season.
The schedule now gets more difficult for the Aggies. Texas A&M hits the road for the first time this season to play No. 10 LSU on Tuesday and No. 1 UCLA on Dec. 9. The Aggies lost to LSU 58-57 in the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.