COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Elston Turner scored 15 points and Fabyon Harris added 14 in his Texas A&M debut as the Aggies cruised to a 71-59 win over Louisiana Tech on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
Texas A&M was up by five before using a 9-3 spurt to stretch its lead to 39-28 with about 15 1/2 minutes left. A 3-pointer by Turner sparked that run, and the Bulldogs missed eight shots in that span.
That wasn't the end of Louisiana Tech's shooting woes. The Bulldogs made just one of their first 11 shots in the second half as A&M pushed the lead to 44-32 with about 11 minutes remaining.
Harris joined the Aggies after two seasons at the College of Southern Idaho. He averaged 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds last season.
Louisiana Tech was led by Raheem Appleby's 20 points and Brandon Gibson had 13.
Freshman J'Mychal Reese, who was rated the No. 1 high school point guard in Texas as last season, started in his A&M debut and had six points, three rebounds and two assists.
It's the first meeting between these two teams since a 75-59 win by A&M in 2006 in College Station.
Texas A&M's Kourtney Roberson looked good in his first game since breaking his left ankle after playing just nine games last season, and had 12 points and six rebounds. He helped the Aggies dominate inside, and they outscored Louisiana Tech 32-14 in the paint.
Texas A&M was up by one in the first half Friday before using an 11-2 run to extend the lead to 22-12 about 6 1/2 minutes before halftime. Harris made five points in that span.
The Aggies led 30-25 at halftime.
TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
● Texas A&M begins the season 1-0 while Louisiana Tech falls to 0-1.
● For the Aggies it’s their 12th consecutive season-opening win and 13th straight win in a home opener.
● Since 1945, A&M is 57-11 (.838) in home openers.
● Texas A&M now leads the all-time series with Louisiana Tech 4-2 … A&M also holds a two-game winning streak over the Bulldogs, tying for the longest win streak by either school in the series.
TEAM NOTES
● The Aggie defense held the Bulldogs to just 35.7% shooting on the night (20-of-56), while converting 43.6 percent of their shots (24-of-55) … A&M forced 15 LA Tech turnovers, including nine in the opening half.
● Texas A&M held a 30-25 lead at the intermission before outscoring the Bulldogs 41-34 in the second half.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
● Four Aggies made their A&M debut on Friday night (Alex Caruso, Fabyon Harris, J’Mychal Reese, Andrew Young).
● RS sophomore Kourtney Roberson scored the first points of the 2012-13 season with a layup at the 17:49 mark of the first half.
● Senior Elston Turner led the Aggies in scoring with 15 points, including 13 in the second half … It marked the 16th time he has led Texas A&M in scoring during the last two seasons.
● A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is now 15-18 in his second season at Texas A&M and 226-197 in 15 years as a head coach.
FIRST HALF NOTES
● Texas A&M led 30-25 after 20 minutes of play.
● The Aggies shot 10-of-24 (41.7%) in the first half as compared to 10-of-29 (34.5%) for the Bulldogs.
● A&M held a 30-25 edge in the rebounding column, led by Kourtney Roberson and Ray Turner, who each had four.
● The biggest lead of the half by either team was a 10-point advantage for the Aggies at the 6:24 mark … The lead was the culmination of an 11-2 run by A&M that started with 10:54 remaining in the period.
● Junior guard Fabyon Harris led the Aggies in scoring during the opening half, scoring 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting and a 4-of-4 mark from the free throw line.
SECOND HALF NOTES
● The Aggies dished out eight assists on 14 second half made field goals.
● Senior Elston Turner, who was held to just two points in the game’s first 20 minutes, made 5-of-9 shots after halftime for 13 second half points.
● Texas A&M’s biggest lead of the night was 17 points which it held on two occasions, at the 6:37 mark on a 3-pointer by Elston Turner which made it 62-45 and at the 5:13 mark when the Aggies took a 64-47 advantage on a lay-up by J’Mychal Reese.
● After going 1-of-7 from 3-point range in the first half, the Aggies were 4-of-8 from long distance in the second period.
UP NEXT
● The Aggies host Troy on Monday night at Reed Arena in a 7 p.m. contest.
● Louisiana Tech, meanwhile, will return to Rustin, La., to host UALR in its home opener on Nov. 14.
