Texas A&M
(#3) TEXAS
Aggies Fall to No. 3 Texas Before Record Crowd, 95-87
Feb 08, 2003 | Men's Basketball
February 08, 2003
T.J. Ford scored 19 points and Royal Ivey helped put the clamps on Bernard King as the third-ranked Texas Longhorns held on for a foul-plagued 95-87 Big 12 Conference victory over Texas A&M.
Ford helped Texas (15-4, 6-2 Big 12) break a two-game road streak and win its ninth straight in College Station. Sydmill Harris added 17 points off the bench.
Ivey, a noted defensive stopper, scored 16 points but his defense on King was a bigger key. King missed his first 10 shots and finished with just 10 points, although it was enough to pass Marcus Fizer as the leading scorer in Big 12 history.
Ivey drained two free throws with 11:41 remaining to give Texas the lead for good, 69-67. The lead was still two points after Bradley Jackson split a pair from the line with just under six minutes left to get Texas A&M (11-8, 3-5) within 80-78.
Ford and Harris each made a pair from the line and Ivey scored on a follow shot for an 86-78 lead with 3:54 to go. The margin never got below four thereafter.
The Longhorns shot 80 percent at the free-throw line as they drained 32 of 40 attempts. The Aggies also were frequent visitors to the line, shooting 66 percent (21-of-32).
Freshman Antoine Wright matched a season high with 25 points to lead Texas A&M, which has lost consecutive games for the first time in 2002-03.
The game was played before a school-record crowd of 12,633, marking the first back-to-back sellouts at A&M home games since 1983.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas head coach Rick Barnes: "They (Bernard King and Antoine Wright) are both terrific scorers and we had to try and stop them. I though Brandon's (Mouton) defense in the second half was good. We knew coming in that it would be a hard game. T.J (Ford) did a great job of talking to the team at halftime and getting the team ready to play in the second half. Coming down the stretch I thought we played with a lot of poise. The crowd was as loud tonight as we have heard it here and we knew it was going to be a tough environment. We stayed poised and made the plays we needed to down the stretch."
Texas sophomore guard Sydmill Harris: "Coach told us that they (Bernard King and Antoine Wright) could not get their averages tonight. Antoine did a great job in the first half and we contained him in the second half. Texas A&M is a rival to The University of Texas so there is going to be some added emotion. It was a physical game. I thought it was a great atmosphere here tonight. The fans were not quiet for one second. They helped their team a lot tonight."
Texas sophomore guard T. J. Ford: "Sydmill (Harris) turned it up a notch for us tonight. We knew it was going to be a tough game. This is the way basketball should be. It was tough but we made some big baskets at the end."
Texas A&M forward Keith Bean: "We missed some free throws down the stretch. We need to learn to close out games."
Texas A&M forward Antoine Wright: "I think it came down to being tough. The big guys went hard to the glass. We were right there but when it came down to it, they were a little bit tougher than we were. They were more physical the second half. They did a little bit of grabbing and pushing and it was hard to get open. Once Bernard (King) catches the ball, he demands attention. He creates shots for himself and other people. Once I caught the ball, it was hard to get to the basket. (On T.J. Ford) He's so fast and they know how good of a passer he is. If we put pressure on him, another guy cuts and gets the ball. It we don't put pressure on him, he scores."
Texas A&M head coach Melvin Watkins: "I think that the lack of free throws and offensive rebounds hurt us tonight. They are just a little bit better than we are right now. We'll go look at the tape and get better. When Bernard (King) has an off night, someone else needs to step up and they did that tonight. We have to get back on track at home on Wednesday (against Missouri). All the games are big. Wednesday's game is big because it's our next one. The Texas defense is one that is going to pressure you. That's why they are the No. 3 team in the country. T.J. Ford makes them go. He's a great passer and you don't want to foul him. We played for 40 minutes. We had a few breakdowns. If we could have played like this at Baylor (on Tuesday), we would have won. We were concerned about Keith (Bean) coming into the game because he bumped his knee against Baylor and hasn't practiced all week. But he gave us a double-double. We need that more often. We need that come Wednesday."
