March 10, 2006
Joseph Jones had 21 points and Josh Carter 15, including four of Texas A&M's season-high 12 3-pointers, and the Aggies won in the Big 12 tournament for the first time, beating Colorado 86-53 in the quarterfinals Thursday at American Airlines Center.
The Aggies (21-7), who have won a league-high eight straight games, play No. 8 Texas (26-5) in the semifinals Saturday. That comes 10 days after Acie Law hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 46-43 victory over the Longhorns.
In what might have been an NCAA elimination game, Colorado (20-9) was only 18-of-60 shooting and was never in the game after jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead. The Buffaloes will have to wait until Sunday to find out if they go to the NCAAs for first time since 2003, and third time in 10 1/2 seasons under coach Ricardo Patton.
Jayson Obazuaye and Richard Roby had 12 points each for Colorado. Roby, a sophomore and an All-Big 12 pick, was a season-worst 3-of-18 shooting.
Texas A&M had never played on the second day of the Big 12 tournament, having lost in the first round nine straight years before getting a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed this year.
With the way the game began, it looked as if the Aggies might extend their dubious postseason streak. Then they started hitting long-range shots.
The Aggies trailed until Carter's first 3-pointer made it 13-11 with 10:46 left in the first half. They never trailed again and went on to their biggest margin of victory in a postseason game.
After Roby missed, Carter made another 3-pointer while being fouled and added the free throw.
Even when Colorado extended its defensive pressure beyond the arc, and the shot clock was running down, Law made a long 3-pointer. The shot clock was nearing zero again on the next possession when Dominique Kirk hit, pushing the Aggies ahead 23-13.
Those four 3-pointers were part of a 23-2 spurt that ended when Jones made a tough baseline jumper while being fouled. He missed the free throw, but it was still 29-13 with 5 minutes left.
Jones didn't have any of the 3-pointers, but was 8-of-10 shooting.
The Aggies led 38-24 at halftime, then opened the second half with Jones making a layup and then a free throw after being fouled. Colorado never got closer than 14 points after that, and trailed by at least 20 the final 12 minutes after Carter hit another 3-pointer to make it 53-33.
After Colorado struggled to beat 12th-seeded Baylor 65-61 in the opening round Thursday, Chris Copeland had a 3-pointer and a layup in the opening 9-2 spurt against Texas A&M. The team's second-leading scorer behind Roy didn't score again, missing his last nine shots.