 "Photo: Jon Eilts")
 "Photo: Jon Eilts")
The No. 19 Texas A&M men's basketball team defeated Prairie View A&M 84-59 Wednesday night in Reed Arena with help from its bench.
Freshman forward Khris Middleton came off the bench and led all Aggie scorers with a career-high 17 points while fellow freshman guard Naji Hibbert also set a career-high with 11 points.
"It's amazing what making a couple shots will do for your confidence," said A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon. "We know what he's capable of. He can score so quickly. I heard a couple of the seniors saying that they needed to get Khris going because they know how good he is."
Prairie View roared out of the gate shooting the ball well from long range, opening up a 15-6 lead helped by sophomore guard Michael Griffin, who scored 10 of his first half 13 points in the first four minutes of the game.
A&M's three-point shooting helped them get hit a crucial three-pointer at 12:07 to stop the run by the Panthers.
Griffin came right back to help stop the bleeding for the Panthers, giving them a 21-17 lead.
Sophomore forward David Loubeau later tied the game at 21-21 with a jump shot in the paint.
Middleton made three consecutive plays down the stretch with two three-pointers while sandwiching a rebound off a Senior Panther forward Darnell Hugee's missed lay-up.
"Khris can really shoot," Turgeon said. "He defended better and he was more physical tonight, which you need to be successful."
Hugee, the Panther's leading scorer with 15.2 points per game, struggled with foul trouble and was held to only two points in the first half.
A dunk by Middleton with 51 seconds left would send the Aggies to the half up 35-25.
Senior guard Donald Sloan led the Aggies with nine points in the first half shooting two of four from behind the arc and four of four free throws.
A&M came out of the second half with the same diligence at the three point line as senior guard Derrick Roland had two three-pointers to help the Aggies to a 41-28 lead.
Junior guard B.J. Holmes, who had five points and three rebounds, electrified the crowd with 2:33 left with a block on Griffin driving to the hoop.
The Aggies face Akron Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Reed Arena. Akron, who is apart of the Mid-American conference made it to the NCAA tournament as a 13 seed in 2008.
