Freshman Khris Middleton scored a career-high 19 points and fifth-seeded Texas A&M beat No. 12 Utah State 69-53 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament's South Regional.
The Aggies (24-9) advanced to the second round for the fifth
consecutive year. They will face No. 4 seed Purdue on Sunday.
David Loubeau added 12 points and B.J. Holmes had 11 for Texas
A&M, which disrupted Utah State into one of its worst shooting
performances of the season and dominated the rebounding.
Utah State (27-8) lost its fifth consecutive first-round game.
Its last win came in 2001 over Ohio State. The Aggies shot 38
percent, well below their season average of 49 percent, and scored
20 points below their season average.