November 13, 1998
North Texas Notes
Charles Washington tied his career-high with 21 points, his fifth consecutive double-double going back to last season. He also scored 21 last year against Nevada.
North Texas Quotes
Head Coach Vic Trilli: "This is a great facility. I've been to A&M many times and I love playing in this environment. The problem I had tonight is that I have only one player who has ever played a division I ballgame. Everything went to heck when we got into a playing situation. I like the way A&M played. They play hard ball and that Jones kid killed us. They shot well and they really spread the floor. We got tired quick. That happens to a team that hasn't been in a division I environment. A&M has a great student body. Their basketball program could be so, so good. You can recruit when the students are behind you. That is the name of the game. I give coach Watkins two years to get some great recruits. I like the way he coaches. They should be happy with where they are and where they are going. You have to give A&M credit, too, because their defense got out there and pressured us. Our problem was a lack of experience. I was hopeful coming in but sometimes you've got to go through this. More than anything, we broke down in what we were doing. We had a lack of patience. We played hard, but we just didn't play smart."
Forward Charles Washington: "We settled for the outside shot and got down early in the game. I think our motor went out onh us and we got tired. It was a long season last year. We had a lot of losses and the coach is really trying to turn that around."
Texas A&M Notes
The Aggies opened the $36-million Reed Arena with tonight's 80-59 triumph over the University of North Texas. Friday's game was the first basketball game played in the arena, which seats 12,500 fans for basketball.
Starting tonight's game for A&M was Chris Clayton (Sr., Ventura CC); Clifton Cook (Jr., Howard CC); Michael Schmidt (So., Toronto, Canada); Paul Jacobs (Jr., Moberly CC); and Shanne Jones (Sr., The Colony, Texas). Jones is the only starter returning from last year's 7-20 squad, as Cook and Jacobs are newcomers while Schmidt and Clayton came off the bench for the Aggies in '97-98.
Tonight's crowd of 6,511 was the second-largest non-conference home crowd in Texas A&M basketball history. The largest crowd to see a non-conference contest was 7,192 against LSU in the 1981-82 season.
Senior forward Shanne Jones' jumper at the 19:49 mark of the first half was the first basket in Reed Arena history. Jones, went 10-of-12 from the floor, leading all scorers with 25 points while adding eight boards.
Two Aggies recorded double-doubles in the victory. Paul Jacobs, a junior transfer from Moberly Community College, notched 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Guard *Clifton Cook, a transfer from Howard Community College, poured in 12 points and 10 assists.
A&M's team free-throw percentage of 76.2 percent (16-of-21) was better than any game last season. The Aggies shot a perfect 9-for-9 in the first half.
Jones' 10-of-12 (83.3 percent) shooting night was the best peformance by an Aggie in the past two seasons.
Cook's 10 assists equaled last year's team-high by Steve Houston in a game against Stephen F. Austin (Nov. 22, 1997).
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Melvin Watkins: We felt the roar tonight. What did we have, a crowd of 6,500 or so? This is going to be nice. Now we have to make sure this building is secure so we don't rock it side to side (like Kyle Field). This a young team. Our past will tell you that we folded at times. Tonight, North Texas came on strong and we responded. Otherwise, it could have gotten ugly. I get butterflys before games. They started today about 1 o'clock and I couldn't get rid of them until the game started. This really can be a great atmosphere for college basketball. The win was the big thing tonight. With seven wins last year, we need every win we can get. We've been shooting thousands and thousands of free throws in practice and that gives the guys confidence. What we really need to do now is to break the video tape down. We need to enjoy this moment, but this is a long season and there will be ups and downs. We aren't playing for just one game. North Texas got hot for a little while and it was a little scary, but we stuck with our game plan. I don't think Jerald (Brown) ever thought of himself as a defensive stopper -- maybe we found something tonight. It's difficult to give Shanne (Jones) the basketball because surely the teams will try to take him out of the game and then other players will have to step in. We need to get Joe White back into the rotation. He's back in practice now so hopefully he's there to stay. I was pleased with 51 rebounds, but we can eliminate teams from getting as many offensive rebounds as they did."
Forward Shanne Jones: "The main thing tonight was the atmosphere. I couldn't believe there was that many people. I thought we ran into the wrong gym. I was excited from the jump. Our free throw shooting was good tonight because of a drill in practice. Everybody shoots one free throw and if you don't make it you run. Everyone has to make it before we can leave practice. That's our incentive to make free throws. This was a big game for us. We needed to get off to a good start. Last year, the rebounds killed us. We lost leads. Hopefully this year, we can stay ahead. Jerald and Aaron Jack could be starting. They are a major part of our team."