Texas A&M
TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech Escapes with 72-70 Win Over A&M
Jan 09, 2002 | Men's Basketball
January 09, 2002
Kasib Powell scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half and Will Chavis' 3-point basket in the closing minutes helped Texas Tech to a 72-70 victory over Texas A&M Wednesday night.
The Red Raiders (13-1, 2-0 in Big 12) won their 10th straight and are off to a blazing start under first year coach Bob Knight, but still couldn't pull to a comfortable lead against the Aggies, (6-10, 0-2). The Aggies lost for the 10th time in 12 games.
With the score tied at 60-60, Andy Leatherman took a fast break pass from Bernard King and raced the length of the floor for a layup that gave A&M the lead with 5:08 to play.
Chavis countered with a big 3-pointer with 4:42 that started a 9-0 run and a 69-62 lead with 2:22 to go. A&M got it back to a one-point 71-70 deficit with 14 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Nick Anderson, two free throws by Leatherman and a 3-point play by Bernard King.
Chavis added a free throw with nine seconds left and King's final 3-point shot at the buzzer missed the mark.
Andre Emmett added 17 points for the Red Raiders. King had the sixth triple double in A&M history with 20 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Leatherman finished with a career high 17 points.
The Aggies matched the favored Red Raiders shot-for-shot in the early first half, led by Leatherman, making his first start of the season after recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
Tech hit 6-for-7 of its first seven shots and the Aggies, slumping from the field in recent games, hit 7-for-11.
The Aggies played the second half without starting center Andy Slocum, who suffered a hand injury in the first half.
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Texas A&M Postgame Notes
Bernard King posted a triple double tonight, only the sixth in A&M history and the first since David Edwards had three in 1993-94. Edwards also had a triple double in 1992-93. The only other player in school history to have a triple double was Vernon Smith in 1980-81. King's 10 assists were a career high.
The Aggies have not led at halftime since Nov. 30th against Long Beach State. In 12 games since, they have trailed at halftime 11 times and been tied once (in win against Purdue).
The Aggies made just 37.0 percent from the field, the fifth straight game the Aggies have shot 37.0 percent or worse.
A&M posted a 45-36 rebounding edge, tying for its second biggest margin of the year, despite losing top rebounder Andy Slocum, who played just seven minutes in the first half before leaving the game with a broken bone in his left hand.
The Aggies posted 24 assists (with only 10 turnovers), their most assists since they had 24 against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 2. Since that game, A&M had no more than 13 assists in any game. The Aggies' 10 turnovers tied for its second fewest of the season.
The Aggies made 9-of-22 from three-point range (.409), their most treys since they had 11 in the season opener against George Washington. The three-point percentage was only the second time all season the Aggies have made better than 33.3 percent from three-point range and was its best since the opener against GW (.500).
Andy Leatherman finished with a career-high 17 points. His previous best was 16 points last season against Birmingham-Southern.
Keith Bean posted a career-high 12 rebounds. His previous high was 10 against three different opponents.
The Aggies have started 12 different lineups in 16 games this season.
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Postgame Quotes
TEXAS TECH FORWARD KASIB POWELL: "We knew Bernard would be the one to take the last shot. We just prayed he would miss. Going into, we knew this wasn't going to be an easy game. Our goal was to fight. I knew I had to step up and play my best. We saw they had some big guys and we had a disadvantage. We kept our poise because we've been there before. With the crowd into the game in the last few minutes, we knew we couldn't panic or we'd lose the game."
TEXAS TECH COACH BOB KNIGHT: "I thought coming in that this was going to be our toughest game all year. The A&M coaches did a great job getting their team ready to play. I was really pleased with the way our guys hung in there. We weren't great and missed some free throws, but I thought our defense was good. At the end, I wanted to call a timeout if we made the free throw. We had several options. We had two or three timeouts and could have used them all or just played straight with our pressure. I liked how we handled the situation at the end. I'm just happy we hung in there. (Kasib Powell) had no assists against Kansas State and had six tonight. They were up 62-60 with five minutes left and Will (Chavis) hit a big three. I thought that was the biggest shot of the game. Overall, I thought we came out playing well. It was a good college basketball game. We tried to put our normal defense on Leatherman, but he just burned us and we had to change. We didn't make all good plays, but we made a lot of good plays. I can't look at this game and say we improved, we just hung in there. A&M played well. They played better than any other team we've played. We knew coming in that A&M was an accident waiting to happen and we didn't want to be that accident."
TEXAS A&M GUARD BERNARD KING: "We just wanted to score two points (at the end). I couldn't drive, so I had to throw up a long shot and it didn't fall. Tech didn't do anything surprising. I think our practices have picked up because we're tired of losing. I know I am. We're trying to bring ourselves together and turn this around."
TEXAS A&M GUARD ANDY LEATHERMAN: (On new chemistry) "I think it goes back to practice these past two days. All the people on this team really wanted this win. We didn't win but we have been encouraging everyone on the team to strive harder. Practice has just been better. We know we can't do this without each other. Coach Watkins challenged us to get in the gym and get more shots. We havn't been hitting our shots the past few games. Tech executed their offense and played good defense."
TEXAS A&M COACH MELVIN WATKINS: "Obviously, we've been disappointed in our kids lately. As I've said before, we've had some internal problems. But I'm pleased with the way we came out and played tonight. We responded to a lot of the things we've been working on in practice. This is a starting point and we'd better build from here. We didn't shoot as well as we would like to, but we hit some hard shots. We're still nursing some injuries. The players who are left on the team are going to give it all they've got. (On last play) I wanted to get the ball inbounds and just go. When they missed the free throw and we got the rebound, there was kind of a tie-up and it took some time off the clock. But there were a lot of plays that could have gone for us or against us. It would have been nice to get a win because we've suffering from a lack of confidence. We had a great crowd and atmosphere. You like to win anytime, but especially under those circumstances. "
