January 22, 2000
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH MELVIN WATKINS: "It's been a brutal schedule for us. We've grown up some. We've had a chance to get better and we have. This is a big win. It's special because it's a conference game and it's against a ranked team. We hope this is the beginning of what Aggie Basketball will be about. Maybe people won't be as shocked when we beat a ranked team. We're just getting better and they were the next team on our schedule. We thought we matched up well with them. We hope we see and believe that sometimes things don't go right, but we're going to fight until the final buzzer. That's what Aggie spirit is all about. We challenged the guys at halftime. We weren't rebounding well and we were just standing around on offense. We made some adjustments and to see your team come back out and make those adjustments was pleasing. I was happy for the kids and the fans. They wanted this just as much as we did. That was a good feeling to see them celebrate with the team."
TEXAS A&M GUARD JAMAAL GILCHRIST: "The last three or four teams have been ranked. We've tried to win all of them but we got one. Coach [Watkins] stressed for us to play 40 minutes. Things turned out good for us. It was a game of runs. They got up on us, but Coach told us not to give in, keep our heads up and keep fighting. I wish we could pack the stands every night, but this is another step. It felt good when the fans came out there to celebrate."
TEXAS A&M GUARD BERNARD KING: "Tonight it was great coaching. We matured out there. We listened to Coach [Watkins]. We executed our plays and we attacked them. We put in a lot of hard work, and we kept playing. It feels great to upset a ranked team. (on the low number of turnovers) I think we're just handling the pressure better. It's helped us to play ranked teams."
OKLAHOMA STATE HEAD COACH EDDIE SUTTON: "It's a great win for Texas A&M. We have been fortunate to win in College Station in the past. We saw tape and I told Melvin [Watkins] that they were doing a great job. I had some concern coming off the big win against Texas. Sometimes teams have letdowns. I know our coaches had respect for Texas A&M, but I don't know how much our players had. We had a chance to break the game open but we missed some key free throws. It allowed the crowd to get back into the game. We gave up too many offensive rebounds and we just didn't play well enough to win. They have a better team than last season and Melvin does a good job coaching his ball club. (on Aaron Jack) A.J. really made some big plays. He may have wanted to win more, being from Oklahoma. (on the Big 12) The Big 12 is only going to get better. A&M has made a decision to get better. They have a beautiful arena and many things to sell when they go recruiting. Their coaches are doing a great job. This is the first ranked team A&M has beaten in a while. That's the kind of stuff you build on. Melvin can use it in recruiting. Don't get me wrong, I'm disappointed that we lost, but I have to take my hat off to Texas A&M. (on Desmond Mason) We should have gotten the ball to him more in the second half. I maybe should have gotten him off the bench earlier, but he usually doesn't get into foul trouble."
OKLAHOMA STATE FORWARD DESMOND MASON: "They stuck around and when the momentum changed, they bit us like a wounded dog."
LAST TIME A&M DEFEATED A RANKED TEAM: The Aggies beat No. 15 TCU 81-70 in the first round of the Southwest Conference Classic in Dallas. A&M went on to win the tourney as the No. 8 seed.
LAST TIME A&M DEFEATED A TEAM RANKED HIGHER THAN NO. 12: The Aggies beat No. 5 Texas in Austin, 71-69 in overtime, during the 1981-82 season.
The Aggies had lost 29 straight games to ranked teams prior to today's win over No. 12 Oklahoma State.