Texas A&M
BAYLOR
Jones Dominates Inside as Aggies Beat Baylor, 74-62
Jan 29, 2005 | Men's Basketball
January 29, 2005
Acie Law scored 22 points, including 11 in the last 6˝ minutes, and freshman Joseph Jones added 21 as Texas A&M held off Baylor for a 74-62 win on Saturday.
The win gives the Aggies (14-4, 3-4 Big 12) a school-record 13 home wins this season.
Texas A&M led 53-51 with 6:53 remaining before going on a 10-0 run, which began with a layup by Law and was highlighted by Jones' one-handed put-back dunk with just more than five minutes left.
The shot gave Texas A&M a 59-51 lead and brought the raucous crowd of 10,818 to its feet.
Jones was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and also had 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.
Law added nine points in the final 3:50 and also tallied two rebounds and a steal in that period. He finished with five steals and two 3-pointers for the Aggies.
Baylor (9-8, 1-5) was led by Aaron Bruce who scored 27 points, including four 3-pointers.
Baylor has now lost three straight and four of its last five games.
Texas A&M led by one at halftime and opened the second half with an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 44-35.
Baylor cut the lead to 46-43 about midway through the second half thanks to sharp shooting from the 3-point line. The Bears hit 11 shots from beyond the arc, with Kevis Shipman joining Bruce with four 3-pointers.
Texas A&M increased its lead to 51-46 when the Bears threatened again.
The Aggies led early, outscoring the Bears 7-0 in the games' first two minutes. Baylor did not lead until Patrick Fields hit a free throw with 2:52 left in the first half to give the Bears a 30-29 edge.
Bobby Leach added a career-high 14 and Antoine Wright had 11 points and added 11 rebounds for Texas A&M.
Postgame Quotes and Notes
Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew: "I liked last year's press conference a lot better after the game. Really credit A&M for changing the atmosphere here. A lot of times crowds don't understand how important they are to college basketball and what they can do to a team. I know this has been a much tougher place to play and that's why they've only lost one game at home this season. If the crowd has been as good as they were tonight, which on tape they seem to be, that really gives the home team a lift. They deserve to be congratulated as much as the team. As far as inside, we only have two big guys and if both of them go out we are pretty small. Credit them, they are a very physical team. They do a great job with the physicality. With a young, inexperienced team we don't match up strength-wise with them right now. That's something we'll address in the future. We'll be returning guys that will get stronger and the guys coming in will be bigger and stronger. That will help us rebound. The place really got loud and motivated them to continue to play hard."
Texas A&M Junior Antoine Wright: "The crowd's been great all year. We just have to keep getting wins at home. They were great, especially in the last four minutes today. We've been appreciating it. Coach put everybody's mom's name on the board earlier this week. He said "Antoine, you've got as many offensive rebounds as your mom." He put everybody's mom on the board for every stat they didn't have in Big 12 play. I think mine was on there twice. That was in practice a couple of days ago. Tonight I just tried to get my hand on the ball and get some deflections to get my mom off the board. A team like Baylor plays the zone so wide that if you play into their hand you'll just sit there and reverse the ball. We were doing that early. Once we started driving the ball, we saw how easy it was to penetrate the zone."
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Gillispie: "It was a good win for us. I thought both teams played awfully hard. I thought they weren't going to miss any three point shots in the first half. They were on fire. I'm really proud of our team. It was a gritty, hard fought, pullin' teeth win. I really think those make you better. I didn't think we rebounded as well as we can. I just pointed out that some of their mothers had the same amount of rebounds as they did. It was all in fun and they took it that way. I thought that we had a chance to get off to a good start, which we did, and I'm proud of that. What determines how our season's going to be viewed is how we handle good times and how we handle bad times. Our team, at the core, is a real team. I love every single guy we have, but we're playing with a short roster. When its all said and done, we have a team at the core and that makes a coach real proud. Joe (Jones) was a force down low the entire game but especially in the second half. Chris Walker couldn't have played better for a guy of his ability than he did in the second half, offensively and defensively. That was a big key for us. Aaron Bruce can control a game. He can make shots. He makes every single player on the court better. He's a guy that you hate to play against because he's crafty. He's a coach's dream. I'm so appreciative of our fans. They just keep coming. I think we give them something to watch -- if they like to watch missed shots and missed free throws and a lot of fouling. We definitely give them something to watch. Hopefully, we're establishing a home court advantage like everyone else in this league. Bobby Leach came in and played really great again for us, but he should do that because he's a senior. He's the only senior on our team."
A&M NOTES:
*A&M is 13-1 at home this season, the most home victories in school history. The 1975-76 and 1979-80 teams went 12-0 at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
*A&M's 14-4 record is its best after 18 games since the 1978-79 team started 15-3.
*Today's attendance of 10,818 was the ninth largest in A&M history and was the most ever for an A&M-Baylor regular-season game. In the last five games, A&M has attracted five of the top 12 crowds in school history.
*A&M posted a +21 rebounding margin (43-22), its largest since it had a 55-30 margin against UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 27.
*Freshman Joseph Jones scored 21 points and tied his career-high with 13 rebounds (UT-Permian Basin). Jones has had six double-doubles, including three in Big 12 play, most by a league freshman.
*Sophomore Acie Law scored 22 points, his third best of the season and in his career. In the last three games, Law has averaged 18.3 points.
*Junior Antoine Wright scored 11 points with 11 rebounds, one board shy of tying his career best. Wright has posted five double-doubles this season and missed two more by just one rebound.
*Senior Bobby Leach scored a career-high 14 points and tied his career-best with five rebounds (Penn State). Leach's previous scoring high was 10 in three games this season, including two in Big 12 play. Leach has scored nine or more points in six straight games.
