January 14, 1998
No. 3-ranked Kansas overcame a tenacious Texas A&M defensive effort to beat the Aggies, 83-65, Wednesday night in front of 6,548 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggies forced 20 Kansas turnovers and held the Jayhawks to 47.1 percent field goal accuracy. Kansas came into the game shooting 49.8 percent, 13th best in the nation. However, the Aggies were ice-cold from the field, making just 34.2 percent, including just 3-of-16 from three- point range. Kansas connected on 8-of-16 three-pointers and dominated the boards with a 56-40 rebounding edge.
The Aggies (6-8 overall, 0-4 in Big 12 play) took a 21-18 lead midway through the first half on a short jumper by Steve Houston, but a 16-6 Kansas run handed the Jayhawks a 34-27 lead with 5:20 left in the half. The Aggies trimmed the lead to 39-37 with 2:46 left but Kansas scored six unanswered points to end the half with a 45-37 lead. A&M's Jerald Brown missed a dunk with :07 left and fouled Nick Bradford, who made two free throws to end the half.
The Jayhawks (20-2 overall, 4-0 in Big 12 play) opened the second half with a 9-0 run for a 54-37 lead as the Aggies missed eight straight shots. The Aggies cut the lead to 60-48 on a layup by Larry Thompson with 9:13 left in the game, but the Jayhawks went on another 9-0 run to put the game out of reach with a 69-48 lead with 6:44 left. From there, Kansas led by as many as 22 points and the Aggies could come no close than 17.
Freshman Michael Schmidt led A&M with a career-high 16 points while Larry Thompson scored a career-high 14 points and tied a career-best with 12 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the year. Jerald Brown scored 13 points, 11 in the first half, while Shanne Jones added 11 points.
Freshman Eric Chenowith led Kansas with 16 points and 20 rebounds, the most by an Aggie opponent since SMU's Jon Koncak grabbed 20 boards in 1984. Junior All-American Paul Pierce scored 15 points while Ryan Robertson and freshman Kenny Gregory each scored 13 points. Robertson added eight assists with Lester Earl grabbed 15 rebounds.
A&M junior Calvin Davis, who has been limited because of lower back problems, played only 14 minutes and was scoreless for the first time since early in his freshman season.
The Aggies are back in action on Saturday when they meet Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. Tipoff for the regionally-televised game (ESPN Regional) is set for 12:45 p.m. Kansas plays host to Kansas State on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.