Texas A&M
UTSA
UTSA Snaps Aggies' Four-Game Winning Streak with 80-75 Victory
Dec 15, 2002 | Men's Basketball
December 15, 2002
Ike Akotaobi posted 29 points and nine rebounds to lead Texas-San Antonio to an 80-75 victory over Texas A&M.
UTSA (3-3) got clutch shots from Akotaobi to keep the Roadrunners in the game. But the senior forward fouled out late and it was LeRoy Hurd who gave UTSA the final lead hitting a a jump shot with 1:27 remaining to go up 74-73. Hurd scored 20.
The Roadrunners did not miss a field goal in the final 6:50 to become the first team to defeat A&M at home this season.
Texas A&M (5-2) was led by a 16-point performance by freshman Antoine Wright. The Aggies missed all six free throw attempts in the final two minutes.
Akotaobi scored with two seconds left in the opening period to give the Roadrunners a 34-32 lead heading into the break. Both teams shot just 37-percent in the opening half, but the Roadrunners used a 30-17 rebounding advantage to overcome an early seven point deficit.
Kevin Turner hit his third three-pointer of the game midway through the second half to give A&M a 59-50 lead, its largest of the game.
Akataobi cut the Aggies' lead to two twice inside the five minute mark on 3-point plays.
Akataobi trimmed the A&M lead to 73-72 one with just two minutes remaining on a third three point play, but he fouled King on the other end for his fifth fould. King missed both free throws, his first misses at the line all game.
Hurd made the most of it, hitting a jumper to give UTSA a 74-73 with 1:27 remaining.
The Roadrunners closed the game with an 11-0 run with just over two minutes remaining to erase a 73-69 deficit and take an 80-75 victory.
A&M's only basket in the final two minutes was a layup by Wright with just two seconds remaining. The Aggies missed all six free throws in the same stretch.
At halftime, Texas governor Rick Perry introduced new Aggie football coach Dennis Franchione to the crowd. Franchione briefly addressed the crowd and stated that the coaching staff had caught Aggie fever.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas A&M Head Coach Melvin Watkins - "Free throws hurt us, but before that, we weren't very tough today. They beat us on the glass, we weren't ready to do this today. I account it to us being soft on the defensive end. We knew who we had to stop and we didn't. This has to push us forward. We had a step back and now we have to get back on track. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves and with this group, when we do that, we are setup for a let down. When we get back to the practice floor we will get after it and get ready for our game next Sunday. We have to execute and play for forty minutes. There is nothing we can do now but learn from it, and we have a lot to learn from this one."
UTSA Head Coach Tim Carter - "I really thought that down the stretch we did a really good job running our half court offense. I thought we executed and hit big shots. We really didn't hurt ourselves down the stretch. This is a huge win for our program. I hope we can keep our heads and stay level."
POSTGAME NOTES:
Antoine Wright scored 14 points with 11 rebounds, his third straight double-double.
