CANYON, Texas – Second-half struggles lead to the Aggies falling 104-64 at No. 17 West Texas A&M on Tuesday night.
After their double overtime upset win over Lubbock Christian last Saturday, the Cameron men's basketball team was looking for another upset on Tuesday when they visited the Buffs. Cameron hung around in the first half but could not keep up with WT in the second half, leading to their 15th loss of the season.
Cameron shot 46 percent from the field as a team but went 3-16 from three while making 15 of their 19 free throw attempts. WT, who shot nearly 57 percent from the field in the win, won the rebounding battle 35-27 and turned CU over 24 times and scored 37 points off of those turnovers.
Individually,
Connor Slater led CU with 18 points, going 7-15 from the field and 4-4 from the charity stripe.
Colt Savage added 16 points and was also perfect from the foul line (6-6) while
Brock Schreiner added 11 points and freshman
John Muhammad had a career-best 10 points to go along with five rebounds.
The start of the game was a defensive battle as the total score was just 12 at the first media timeout. WT started to hit their stride by the 11:49 mark, taking a 21-11 lead over the Aggies, but CU was able to cut that deficit in half by the 8:43 mark. The Buffs jumped back out to a 10-point advantage and kept it around there the rest of the opening frame, leading 49-38 at the break.
Cameron shot 45 percent in the first half but was just 2-11 from three while going 10-12 from the charity stripe. Schreiner and Savage each had nine points while Slater added eight in the opening 20 minutes of action. WT shot 54 percent in the first half and made six of their 14 three-point attempts.
The Buffs dominated the second half, shooting nearly 60 percent from the field while knocking down six more shots from long range. They also turned the Aggies over 15 times resulting in 24 of their 55 second-half points. CU shot 48 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes but went just 1-5 from three as they fell 104-64.
West Texas A&M had plenty of players with the hot-hand on Tuesday night. Julius Brown led the way with 18 points and seven assists while Hayden Blankley and Larry Wise each had 16 points for the Buffs.
Cameron is now 4-15 on the season and 2-10 in league play. They will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 19, when they visit Western New Mexico, who they beat in overtime in a non-conference meeting in Lawton back in December.
