Texas A&M
(#6) Oklahoma
Aggie Men Fall at No. 6 Oklahoma, 75-68
Jan 28, 2003 | Men's Basketball
January 28, 2003
Bernard King became Texas A&M's all-time leading scorer on Tuesday, and the Aggies fought back from a 19-point second-half deficit but fell just short in a 75-68 loss at No. 6 Oklahoma.
King moved past Vernon Smith, who scored 1,778 points for the Aggies from 1977-81. The senior now has 1,790 career points and is just 41 shy of becoming the Big 12's all-time leading scorer.
Hollis Price scored 24 points and Ebi Ere had 18 for the Sooners, who extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 33 games.
OU (14-3, 5-1 Big 12) beat Texas A&M for the seventh straight time and ran their record in the series to 18-1. The Aggies (10-6, 2-3) got 21 points from Bernard King, who became the school's career scoring leader.
Oklahoma put together a 14-0 run in the first half to get control after a listless start in which it committed six of its 11 turnovers. The Aggies led 13-9 before Price made a 3-pointer and followed with a short bank shot. Ere added a short jumper and two free throws in the spurt.
The Aggies, meanwhile, went scoreless for nearly seven minutes, missing nine shots and turning it over twice.
Oklahoma coasted in the first half despite having point guard Quannas White for just two minutes. He picked up his second foul at the 18:09 mark, then got No. 3 with 11:56 to play, about 20 seconds after checking back in.
Oklahoma scored the first seven points of the second half to build a 48-29 lead. Texas A&M gradually chipped away and got within 68-61 with 3:44 left. The Aggies nearly cut the margin to four, but a 3-point try by Kevin Turner with 2:55 remaining rimmed out.
White then hit a jumper in the lane to make it 70-61, and after an A&M turnover, Kevin Bookout scored on a pass from Price for an 11-point lead with 1:51 to play.
Ere came in averaging 15.4 points per game but had totaled just 25 in the previous four games, shooting 9-of-48 during that stretch. He was 5-of-14 against A&M, scoring most of his baskets in close.
Antoine Wright added 13 points for A&M while Tomas Ress grabbed a season-high 8 rebounds.
Texas A&M returns to action on Saturday when the Aggies host Texas Tech at Reed Arena. Tipoff for the game is set for 5:30 p.m. and tickets are available through Ticketmaster or by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-888-99-AGGIE.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME NOTES
- With 21 points, Bernard King passed the late Vernon Smith to become Texas A&M's all-time scoring leader. Smith, who played from 1977-81, scored 1,778 career points. King now has scored 1,790 points in an Aggie uniform.
- King also tied Iowa State's Marcus Fizer as the Big 12's all-time leading scorer in conference games only. Fizer scored 922 points from 1998-2000 at ISU.
- Bernard King's 8 rebounds tonight was a season high.
- Texas A&M's 68 points tied a season high for an Oklahoma opponent. Alabama scored the same in a 68-62 win over the Sooners in OU's season opener.
- Tomas Ress tied a career high with 8 rebounds tonight.
