Posted on 02/05/2007 9:27:03 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
COLLEGE STATION - Josh Carter scored 24 points and Acie Law added 21 points and 15 assists, leading No. 6 Texas A&M to a 100-82 victory over Texas on Monday night.
The Aggies, coming off a big win at then-No. 6 Kansas on Saturday, won their 21st straight home game and maintained sole possession of first place in the Big 12.
Kevin Durant had 28 points and 15 rebounds for the Longhorns (16-7, 6-3 Big 12), but the Aggies finally found some scoring punch to go with one of the nation's stingiest defenses - and that was too much for Texas and its super freshman.
Durant set a Longhorns freshman record with his 14th double-double. The previous mark was held by Ron Baxter, who had 13 in 1976-77.
Texas A&M (20-3, 8-1) led 69-63 when Law hit the court hard and had to be helped to the locker room, biting his jersey in pain because of an ailing leg. The record crowd of 13,196 that included Texas Gov. Rick Perry chanted ''A-cie! A-cie!'' as he left the court.
With Joseph Jones already on the bench with four fouls, the Aggies were left to depend on inexperienced freshman Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis.
But the pair came through. Sloan kept Durant in check and Davis added four points until Law returned about three minutes later.
A 3-pointer by A.J. Abrams and two free throws by D.J. Augustin cut A&M's lead to 76-73, but the Longhorns got no closer. Augustin scored 23 points and had nine assists.
Sloan continued to impress even after Law returned, capping a 7-2 run with his basket that made it 83-75.
Carter added a basket before a steal by Sloan and another basket by Carter made it 87-75, and the Longhorns never threatened again.
Durant's 28 points were the most an opponent has scored against the Aggies this season. It was the first time Texas A&M allowed more than 70 points.
The Aggies were still able to hold Texas to less than 50 percent shooting, marking the nation-best 34th straight time Texas A&M has done that.
Durant scored 12 points in the first six minutes of the second half, including seven straight that gave the Longhorns a 58-57 lead, their first of the game.
A&M quickly got back on top on Carter's 3-pointer on the next possession, only to see it tied back up when Augustin hit a pair of free throws.
Sloan hit a quick 3 and Antanas Kavaliauskas sandwiched two baskets around a free throw by Durant to push Texas A&M's lead to 67-61 with 11:24 remaining. Kavaliauskas had 18 points and Sloan added 11.
Both teams shot 37 free throws, with the Longhorns making 27 and the Aggies 23. Jones and Dominique Kirk fouled out for A&M.
The Aggies led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but Texas made 20 of 21 free throws to cut the deficit to 45-40 at halftime.
That's an understatement and with some foul trouble. Great game -- I saw the last part of it. I think you guys are going far in the tournament if not winning it all the way you are playing.
AP Photo
Texas A&M's Donald Sloan flies to the
basket during the first half.
It's great national exposure for the A&M basketball team playing two nationally televised games against big name conference opponents in 48 hours with the Super Bowl inbetween.
I caught the very end (just flew in from Chicago this evening) so it was a nice thing to come home too.
I watched the win at Kansas and was cheering for you guys.
Have an Aggie story to tell you. My youngest daughter who is in college and I went to Disney World this summer and stayed at The Contemporary Hotel. We made reservations to eat in the restaurant at the Liberty Square for the character dinner. We are sitting there with the characters coming around when Goofy comes up and keeps give us a big thumbs up -- we couldn't figure out what was going on until he pointed to the OU logo on the tank top. He was from A&M at Disney for the summer. He kept visiting with us (my daughter) and finally someone yelled for Goofy to quit flirting. We laughed about it for sometime.
Then we got on the monorail that night and sat down next to a drunk UT person who was rude as could be and on the other side of the car was someone from A&M that told the guy off for being obnoxious. Told my daughter I am now rooting for A&M except against the Sooners! :)
Gosh, I can't stand tu.
I used to run track (for a personal coach, not for tu) at the stadium there in Austin. I'd be running a timed run and those football players would just walk off the field right in front of me...I'd have to throw on the brakes and that can cause an injury when you're in a sprint.
I'd give 'em a piece of my mind which I guess they thought was funny, being as I was all of 97 pounds...
Still, I carry a grudge to this day!
Yep, I always root for the Aggies, except against the Cowboys! ;-)
We took our band up to see the 6A state band competition at the stadium. Their people were rude to a group of band kids. Vowed then not to support them.
It was a thing of beauty last night. TFTP!
Cool.................
With the Kansas win ...
Just like football.
The Aggies are reminding me of last year's Florida team. They came out of nowhere and I think they've got an excellent shot at the Final Four, if not winning the whole thing. That win in Lawrence was huge.
We just got back last night (and missed the game) from moving our Aggie #2 to Orlando. She graduated in Dec and started working at Walt Disney World about two weeks ago. A&M has one of the country's best Recreation, Parks and Tourism programs and supplies a good number of interns to Disney. She is in recreation management at Fort Wilderness, the Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary Resort. Aggie #3 is a junior and he was at the game, lucky enough to win the ticket lottery. He loved it! Thanks for your kind remarks!!
I love Disney World -- my brother lives in Orlando and my daughter in Palm Coast. We loved the Contemporary Hotel -- first time we tried that hotel as we usually stayed at the Polynesian, but we loved it. We ran into a lot of people in the park working that were from A&M so now I know why. We actually visited two people my daughter knew from OU that were working there -- one in the Animal Kingdom and one on Main Street.
That game was awesome! Glad your son was able to witness it in person. You guys deserve this season after some of the ones you went through. You will represent the Big 12 well IMHO!
What's with our refs playing favorites in basketball now? I think it is time for Weiberg to retire from the Big 12 to spend more time with his family and get someone in that office that can get a handle on the Big 12 officiating.
Gig 'Em Texas A&M Aggies... BTHO Missouri!
TAMU Class of '88; Law Hall (may it R.I.P.) Ramp 9 Mule; fup!
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