January 12, 2000
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH MELVIN WATKINS:
"We were only down by five at the half, and I was pleased about that. Our offense obviously eluded us in the second half. You've got to put the ball in the hole. I wasn't disappointed in our shot selection, we just couldn't get it to fall. That's an NCAA tournament team we played tonight, and we played them tough. I told our team, 'One thing about Texas is they're never going to quit.' (on Ivan Wagner) He would take the ball from us when he had us one-on-one, not even in the traps. He took it from Jamaal [Gilchrist], so I put Andy [Leatherman] in there, and he took it from him too. Who else do you turn to? There's no break in this conference, but that's what the Big 12 is all about. Right now, it's very difficult for us. Our confidence is not very good. (on Chris Mihm) He's got other weapons around him that he can turn to when things are not going his way. He's a lottery pick and I think he needs to turn pro. He's a very good player. His inside presence changed a lot of our shots tonight."
TEXAS A&M GUARD BERNARD KING:
"We came out in the first half ready to play. In the second half, I don't know what happened. Their pressure defense got to us. They played very good defense. A lot of our shots were just misses. Every game is a learning experience for us."
TEXAS HEAD COACH RICK BARNES:
"I thought it was a great team effort on our part. I told them we were playing a team that would play us hard and wouldn't give up any easy shots. Our defense was good in the first half. We held them to five field goals. We did a great job pursuing the ball. They did a good job getting to the glass. Our bench was a major factor for us. Forty minutes is a long time. Our depth was certainly a factor. Ivan [Wagner] had a great spurt for us. We fed off his enthusiasm. He's a much better shooter than most people think. (on A&M) They played very hard. I knew they were going to fight all they way. They never quit. Melvin's teams always do that."
TEXAS GUARD WILLIAM CLAY:
"I wanted to come out here and just do what I've been doing all year. I told Coach [Barnes] I felt better pressuring the ball. I wanted my defense to create my offense. Coach told us to attack them because they wanted us to shoot. Ivan did a great job of getting us going. When we attacked, that opened everything up. Our press wore them down."
TEXAS GUARD IVAN WAGNER:
"As a team, we were struggling. We needed something to get us going. I'm glad I was the player to do that. We were stagnant on offense in the first half. They did a great job of cluttering the middle early. When they do that, we have to knock down shots from the outside. A&M's young, but they're very talented. I see great things coming for them."
A&M NOTE:
The Aggies' .291 shooting percentage was the 7th lowest in school history. It was the lowest since A&M set the school record with a .236 effort against Northwestern on Dec. 18, 1993.