Texas A&M
MISSOURI
Aggies Roll in Second Half to 91-63 Win over Missouri
Feb 05, 2005 | Men's Basketball
February 05, 2005
Antoine Wright and Bobby Leach scored 20 points apiece and Texas A&M used sizzling long-range shooting to beat Missouri 91-63 on Saturday night.
Texas A&M shot 75 percent from 3-point range in the second half, making 9-of-12 to erase a one-point halftime deficit and coast to the lopsided win.
It was a turnaround from the first half when the Aggies made just 2-of-7 3-point shots.
The win is Texas A&M's 15th of the season, which ensures the Aggies their best finish since going 19-11 in the 1993-1994 season.
Leach's 20 points was a career high for the senior. He made 4-of-5 3-pointers, with three coming in the second half.
Joseph Jones added 17 points and had four blocked shots for Texas A&M and Acie Law scored 11 points and had a career-best 14 assists.
Texas A&M (15-5, 4-5 Big 12) trailed 43-39 with 17:15 left before going on a 13-0 run fueled by hot 3-point shooting to take a 52-43 lead. In that span of under three minutes, Texas A&M made three 3-point goals, including two by freshman Dominique Kirk.
The Aggies hit four more from beyond the arc and Wright made his second three-point play of the night to put Texas A&M ahead 73-55 with just more than six minutes remaining.
Missouri (10-12, 2-7) managed only eight more points the rest of the game, while Texas A&M piled on 18, six of which were from 3-pointers.
Freshman Jason Horton led Missouri with 17 points, including five 3-pointers and Jason Conley added 12.
Texas A&M took advantage of 19 Missouri turnovers that led to 24 points.
Missouri led 7-4 early, but Texas A&M outscored the Tigers 11-0 to take a 15-7 lead with 13:27 left in first half.
Missouri made two 3-pointers late in the first half to lead 35-34 at halftime.
The Tigers have now lost four straight and seven of the last eight and remain winless on the road.
Former Texas A&M coach Melvin Watkins was greeted with a warm ovation on his return to College Station as an assistant with Missouri. Watkins resigned last season after the Aggies went 7-21 and winless in Big 12 play. His last game as Texas A&M coach came in a loss to Missouri in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Postgame A&M Notes & Quotes
Missouri Head Coach Quin Snyder: "In the second half, Texas A&M played lights out basketball. We felt we were in good position going into halftime although we had some fouls. Obviously we felt good going into halftime with the lead. We couldn't find a way to dig in and stop them in the second half. We have young kids with potential and we see some flashes. A lot of the things we have to learn from are emotional and toughness."
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Gillispie: "It was an awfully good win for us. I thought we played hard, extemely hard. They have a lot of guys and I thought they were playing well. They did a great job of running their offense and reversing the ball. They really exposed us pretty good and we kept on fighting. When you make 9 out of 12 threes in a half, your chances of winning are pretty good. The reason we were able to get those kind of shots, other than Antoine banking one in with no time left of the shot clock, is because we moved the ball much better than the first half. A lot of it had to do with our point guard (Acie Law). That's about as good of a 20 minutes that a lead guard can play. That's what we're looking for. I think he took another step toward being a major lead guard. I don't think there are too many of those. He ran the team flawlessly. He got everybody shots. When his shot was there, he made it. That's what a big-time player does. I thought Antoine Wright was as good as I've ever seen him. I thought Joseph Jones was as good as I've ever seen him, especially in the first half. Without Joe, we would have been in a big bind. Dominique Kirk makes threes and he's a tough little rascal. Bobby (Leach) played his best game ever. It was just fun to watch. You don't get a chance to be a part of a half like that too often. It was awfully fun to be on our sideline tonight during the second half."
Texas A&M Junior Antoine Wright: "That's probably the best we've played in the Big 12 since I've been here. (On second half bank in three pointer) I was just trying to get it to hit the rim so hopefully Joe could get a rebound, because he's been complaining about me stealing his rebounds. It was just one of those nights where everybody was making shots. I threw it up and it went in. It's just a tremendous compliment to Coach Gillispie. Nobody thought we would be able to do this. Some of us, even on the team, had doubts about how the season was going to go. We definitely knew we were going to be improved. Coach Gillispie has believed it since the day he came here. He's only talked about winning. He never doubted it. He's been getting after us and it's paying off. Coach Watkins is a great competitor and I expected him to get those guys fired up and ready to play. I really didn't think about it though. He's a great coach, but I didn't think about it much during the game."
Texas A&M Sophomore Acie Law: "When they got into man, coach told me and Bobby (Leach) that we weren't being aggressive enough. So we took it upon ourselves to drive and try to create opportunities. Dominique (Kirk), Antoine (Wright), and Bobby (Leach) were knocking down shots. These last two weeks, Bobby has been great for us. He has taken it upon himself to get more aggressive."
*A&M improves to 15-5, assuring its first winning season since it went 19-11 in 1993-94. It's also the most wins in a season since 1993-94. Prior to that, A&M had not had a 15-win season since going 16-14 in 1988-89.
*A&M's 15-5 start is its best since it started 15-5 in 1979-80 and eventually advnaced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
*A&M improves to 14-1 at home, the most home wins in school history.
*A&M's 28-point margin of victory was its largest ever in Big 12 play. The previous best was a 21-point win (68-47) vs. Texas Tech at Reed Arena in 1999. This was also Missouri's largest loss of the season (previous: 78-54 vs. Creighton).
*A&M's 91 points tied for its most ever in Big 12 play. The Aggies lost to Missouri, 96-91, at Reed in 1999. It was also the most points Missouri has allowed this season.
*A&M shot 61.1 percent from the field, its second best of the season (64.0% vs. Oakland).
*The Aggies shot a season-best 57.9 percent from three-point range. The Aggies 11 three-pointers tied a season-high (UT-Permian Basin) and tied for the seventh most in A&M history (tied for fourth most in a Big 12 game).
*A&M's 28 assists tied a season high (Oakland). 28 of A&M's 33 field goals were assisted.
*Acie Law had 11 points and a career-high 14 assists. His previous best was 11 against UT-Permian Basin in November. It tied for the fourth most in A&M history, one shy of the school record of 15. The last Aggie to have 14 or more assists in a game was Clifton Cook, who had 14 in a pair of games in 1998-99.
*Bobby Leach scored a career-high 20 points with a career-best six rebounds, making a career-best 4-of-5 three-pointers. Leach's previous best was 14 points in the Aggies last home game against Baylor.
*Leach also added four assists. A&M is 10-0 when leach has four or more assists.
*Leach has scored at least nine points in eight straight games. Before that stretch, his career high was nine points.
*Tonight's attendance was 9,049, the sixth straight Reed Arena crowd of more than 9,000.
*Antoine Wright scored 20 points, moving his career total to 1,128, 20th in A&M history.
*Dominique Kirk tied his career high with three three-pointers.
*A&M has out-rebounded 16 of 20 opponents.
*A&M is 9-0 this season when making at least 50 percent from the field.
*A&M is 14-1 when its opponent shoots under 45 percent.
*A&M is 12-0 when it has at least 14 assists.
*A&M is 14-2 when its opponent scores less than 70 points.
*A&M is 7-0 this season when the game is decided by 20 or more points.
