National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Texas A&M 92, Green Bay 65
When: 7:20 PM ET, Friday, March 18, 2016
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Officials: # Bill Ek, # Verne Harris, # Mike Scyphers
Attendance: N/A

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Third-seeded Texas A&M stifled 14th-seeded Green Bay on the way to a 92-65 victory Friday night in a first-round NCAA West Regional game at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Danuel House scored 20 points and Texas A&M held the Phoenix to 38 percent shooting from the field. The Aggies won the rebounding battle 45-25 to easily survive and advance.

Texas A&M (27-8) held up its end of a possible meeting with archrival Texas in the second round. The Aggies and Longhorns have met only once (earlier this season when Texas A&M prevailed) since the Aggies left the Big 12 in 2012. Texas played Northern Iowa in Friday's late game.

However, the Texas A&M players didn't take the bait to talk about renewing the rivalry with the Longhorns.

"We're not going to get into that," House said. "We're just going to sit back and watch the game and enjoy this."

The Aggies seized firm control midway through the second half when Anthony Collins turned a steal into a fast-break layup. Then, as Green Bay was trying to move the ball across midcourt, Collins swiped a pass and found Tonny Trocha-Morelos for a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Trocha-Morelos's trey put Texas A&M ahead 66-45, its largest lead to that point.

Trocha-Morelos finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Khalil Small scored 22 points to lead Green Bay (23-13).

Green Bay surged ahead in the first half with a 12-0 run to take a 22-14 lead when Tevin Findlay made a layup with 11:13 left before the break.

"I thought the first 10 or 12 minutes, before we got in foul trouble, I thought we caused them some problems," Green Bay coach Linc Darner said. "In the second half, they got on a roll that we couldn't stop."

Texas A&M fought back by going to center Tyler Davis for five points during a 7-0 answering run that cut the Phoenix's lead to one.

The Aggies began to pull away late in the first half as they held the Phoenix to two points and no field goals in the final five minutes before the break.

While Texas A&M was frustrating a suddenly cold-shooting Green Bay team on one end, the Aggies threw an outside-inside combo on offense.

Trocha-Morelos found Admon Gilder open in the left corner for a 3-pointer. On the next trip down the floor, Davis made a nifty turn in the lane for a layup that put Texas A&M ahead 40-31 with 1:03 remaining before halftime.

House scored 11 and Davis added 10 in the first half as the Aggies took a 41-33 lead at halftime.

NOTES: With Texas A&M's tourney bid, Aggies coach Billy Kennedy led his third program to the NCAA Tournament. He previously guided Southeastern Louisiana (2005) and Murray State (2010) to the Big Dance. ... Green Bay was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996, when the eighth-seeded Phoenix lost to ninth-seeded Virginia Tech in the first round. ... Green Bay defeated Texas A&M 60-49 in the programs' only previous meeting on Dec. 1, 1995, in Milwaukee.
Top Game Performances
 
Green Bay   Texas A&M
Khalil Small 22 Scoring Danuel House 20
Carrington Love 6 Assists Alex Caruso 4
Jordan Fouse 6 Rebounds Tyler Davis 7
Khalil Small 5 Free Throws Made Tyler Davis 4
Carrington Love 5 Steals Alex Caruso 4
Jamar Hurdle 2 Blocks Alex Caruso 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Green Bay 65 37.5 9-27 14-23 14 20 5 14 18
Texas A&M 92 56.1 7-19 21-28 17 38 1 13 20