Texas A&M
(#18) Oklahoma
Oklahoma 71, Texas A&M 63
Feb 01, 2006 | Men's Basketball
February 01, 2006
Michael Neal continued his hot shooting and led No. 19 Oklahoma with 16 points in a 71-63 victory over Texas A&M on Wednesday night.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Sooners (14-4, 5-2 Big 12).
Texas A&M (13-6, 3-5) stayed in the game by shooting 10-for-15 from behind the arc.
Neal, a junior who missed the Sooners' first two conference games because of injury, went 4-of-9 from 3-point range -- the fourth straight game in which he's made at least four shots from behind the arc. He's made 18 of his last 35 3-pointers.
His fourth 3-pointer, with 6:17 left, gave Oklahoma its biggest lead at 64-50. The Aggies scored the next 11 points and pulled within 64-61 with 3:09 left on a 3-pointer by Dominique Kirk, but managed only a pair of free throws after that.
Terrell Everett, who scored 15 points and added six assists, hit a 3-pointer with 2:31 left to extend Oklahoma's lead to 67-61, and he clinched the win with a steal and a dunk with 54 seconds left.
Kirk went 4-for-5 from 3-point range and scored 12 points for the Aggies, who have lost six of nine games after a 10-0 start. Center Joseph Jones led Texas A&M with 14 points, but struggled with foul trouble in the second half.
Acie Law, the Aggies' leading scorer at 16.9 points per game, scored 13 and had six assists.
After a first half that included 12 lead changes, Oklahoma led 40-33 -- at that point the largest lead of the game for either team. The Sooners closed the half on an 11-4 run.
In contrast to the first game between the teams this season -- won by Oklahoma 45-44 -- both teams came out strong offensively.
Oklahoma made nine of its first 13 shots, the Aggies eight of their first 10, and both still were shooting better than 50 percent by halftime. Texas A&M also went 5-of-6 from 3-point range in the half.
Texas A&M cooled down considerably in the second half, finishing 39.6 percent from the field. Oklahoma shot 50 percent. Taj Gray scored 13 points and had four blocked shots for the Sooners, while Kevin Bookout added 11 points.
Oklahoma is 25-1 all-time against Texas A&M and has won its last 14 games against the Aggies.
