January 31, 2003
--Senior forward Brian Brookhart will share his thoughts on the season, and other things, with us each week in AggieAthletics.com's journal segment.
Journal Entry #8
It is Friday, January 31, the day before the Texas Tech game, and it is definitely a big one for us. It is a must win so we can get back to .500 in conference following the tough and disappointing loss to OU. Tech is a good team, but we feel we can and should beat them if we play to our potential. We gave up too many second chance points against OU, and that is what cost us the game up there. We just didn't get the job done on the defensive glass! Everyone is talking about the game against Tech because Coach Knight will be going for his 800th career win, and also the winner of this game will move ahead of the other in the Big 12 standings. They are saying we might have a sellout crowd for this game, which will really be a bonus for us. Reed Arena gets loud and hot when there are lots of fans there yelling and screaming.
Prior to the OU loss we beat Kansas State at home. It was a good win for us, and one that we felt we had to get to stay alive in the Big 12 race and help us reach our ultimate goal of post-season play this season. It was a total team effort in which everyone contributed to the win. I was glad Tomas played such a great game because his parents came from Italy to visit him and see him play. It was the first time that his mom has ever flown and her first time here in Aggieland.
Against OU Bernard King became the all-time leading scorer in A&M history. He now has over 1,780 points in his career here. That is an amazing feat in itself, but he is also on pace to become the all-time leading scorer in Big 12 history. I don't think people realize what a special player Bernard is. He does some amazing things on the basketball court. Jesse King also had a good game against OU. He is so tough to guard and creates a lot of mismatches on the court with his size, speed, and shooting touch. Well, I need to head to practice and get ready for the game against Tech.