Texas A&M
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(#12) KANSAS
Aggies Fall to No. 12 Kansas, 71-65
Jan 17, 2004 | Men's Basketball
January 17, 2004
Keith Langford scored 21 points and No. 12 Kansas held off Texas A&M 71-65 Saturday, extending its winning streak to a season-high five games.
Kansas (11-2, 3-0 Big 12) won its seventh straight conference game dating to last season and improved to 9-0 against the Aggies (7-6, 0-2).
Aaron Miles had 11 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for the Jayhawks, who had to scramble even after taking a 61-48 lead with 4:17 to play.
Texas A&M's Antoine Wright led a 17-10 charge, scoring 11 of his 25 points over the final 1:51. Wright also grabbed 12 rebounds.
Langford shot 7-of-8 from the field and made both of his 3-point attempts.
The Aggies went cold early in the second half and Kansas moved to a 51-39 lead behind nine straight points from J.R. Giddens, who made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
The Aggies led most of the first half until the Jayhawks rallied behind Langford in the closing minutes for a 31-29 halftime lead.
Langford picked up two quick fouls and was slowed early. Kansas trailed 20-15, but Langford scored 10 points over the final 4:22 of the first half.
Langford's 3-pointer with 3:46 left in the half tied it at 22, and his 3 with 2:06 to go gave Kansas its first lead since the opening basket of the game.
The Jayhawks never trailed in the second half.
Each team was without a key player. Jesse King, A&M's second-leading scorer, sat out with a bruised toe. Kansas freshman David Padgett was sidelined with a stress fracture in his left foot.
Postgame Notes and Quotes
TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH MELVIN WATKINS: "I'm proud of our effort tonight, but we came up short. Our game plan was to collapse inside, and you've got to give Kansas credit. They were able to get it out to the perimeter and hit shots. That's what good teams do when you take away one part of their game -- they find a way to make shots. We had a lot of good looks but they didn't go down. We've got to get the ball moving. We just don't pound the inside. When we did get it inside they would double team, and we were able to get it out to the open man. We're not deep enough to take out our second leading scorer. We've got to get Jesse (King) healthy. We've got to do some things on defense, but we're in games now. Somewhere we're going to win. We had a few breakdowns, but the kids played their tail off tonight and we're going to build on it."
FORWARD ANTOINE WRIGHT: "The first half I rushed some shots, maybe because of the jitters. And that carried over into the whole game. Guys were missing shots they usually make. Sometimes being too open works against you. It was more us than them. (Andy) Slocum did a great job on (Wayne) Simien. He really stepped up. Our guard play has to step up. We make some shots and it's a different game. It's frustrating. The team was right there and we didn't get a couple bounces that we needed. It helps our confidence when a team like Kansas comes in and we play with them, but we're not satisfied with moral victories."
CENTER ANDY SLOCUM: "It's disappointing. We let them get on a streak and didn't answer. I've been playing hard against post players all season. When a big name guy comes in here, I want to play my best."
KANSAS HEAD COACH BILL SELF: "Our first shot defense has been very good all year. They dominated us physically as you can see by the rebound margin. I knew they had athletes, but we didn't know they were going to be that physical." (On Langford's 10 -point run to end first half) "We didn't deserve to have the lead at the half, but Keith picked us up and went on a good run to give us the lead at the break." (On Texas A&M) "They have pieces. I personally love (Andy) Slocum and would love to have him on my team. Antoine Wright is as good a scorer as we have in our league. This is the first time I've seen him in person and he can score. We're very fortunate that when they had a good offensive possession but didn't score, we were able to go down the floor and put the ball in the basket. Down the stretch, we did not do a good job of closing the game out. We were happy to come down here and get a win. Any road win is precious, regardless of the margin."
KANSAS FORWARD WAYNE SIMIEN: "We were able to make the plays down the stretch in order to win the game. We didn't play very well in the first half but we were still up by two. We knew it was important to come out fast in the second half and try to put some distance between us and them. We got our butts kicked again on the boards and that is something we definitely need to fix."
KANSAS FORWARD JEFF GRAVES: "It is always hard to go on the road and get a win. Wherever we go, it is always 'beat KU' and the other team always plays with a lot of emotion. We were able to overcome that and finish them off."
NOTES:
- Antoine Wright scored 25 points and tied his career-high with 12 rebounds. It was Wright's first double-double of the season and the seventh of his career. Wright's 12 boards are a career-best for him in Big 12 play.
- Andy Slocum had 14 rebounds, tying his career-best for Big 12 play (he had 14 against Oklahoma as a sophomore). He set his overall best with 16 earlier this season against Prairie View A&M. Slocum also added a career-high four assists today.
- A&M has out-rebounded 10 of its 13 opponents, including five straight. The Aggies have out-rebounded all 13 opponents on the offensive boards.
- The Aggies shot a season-low 36.4 percent from the field. Their previous low was 36.7 percent at Houston while the previous low at home was 41.7 percent in the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- The Aggies made just 11-of-18 from the free throw line (61.1 percent). In their previous four games, the Aggies had made 79.3 percent from the line.
- A&M has been out-scored in the second half of nine games this season after leading at halftime in eight games.
