Texas A&M
(#8) Texas
Texas 74, Texas A&M 70
Mar 11, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2006
P.J. Tucker had a season-high 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 8 Texas to a 74-70 Big 12 semifinal victory Saturday over the Texas A&M Aggies, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped and will have to wait another day to find out if they will get their first NCAA bid since 1987.
The Longhorns (27-5) set a school record for victories while avenging a 46-43 loss 10 days earlier at Texas A&M.
While Tucker didn't score in the final 5:45 Saturday, he was still very involved.
Law's two free throws with 3:36 left broke a 64-all tie, putting the Aggies (21-8) ahead for the only time since midway through the first half.
Tucker had a shot hit off the front iron, which was rebounded by LaMarcus Aldridge and passed out to Kenton Paulino for a go-ahead 3-pointer. After rebounding a miss by the Aggies, Tucker drove and handed the ball inside to Brad Buckman for a layup that made it 69-66.
Aldridge had a putback on Tucker's miss, and the Longhorns then switched their defense. Tucker guarded Law, who couldn't get off a shot and passed to Joseph Jones, whose 3-point attempt with 12 seconds left was woefully short. Daniel Gibson was fouled on the rebound and made both free throws for the Longhorns.
Paulino had 15 points and Gibson 11. Aldridge had nine points and 11 rebounds.
Josh Carter led Texas A&M with 25 points and seven rebounds. Law had 16 points and seven assists and Jones scored 14.
Texas plays No. 17 Kansas or Nebraska in the championship game Sunday. The Longhorns were in the Big 12 title game in 2001 and 2004, but haven't won a conference tournament since consecutive Southwest Conference titles in 1994 and 1995.
The Aggies had never played on the second day of the Big 12 tournament before this week. They had lost on the first day nine straight years before getting a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed this year, and beat Colorado 86-53 on Friday.
Down 43-30, Texas A&M opened the second half with a 14-4 run during which Tucker had the only Longhorns baskets. Carter had consecutive 3-pointers, one from the right corner and one from the left, before Law's layup got the Aggies within 47-44 with 14 minutes left.
Texas A&M tied it twice before Law's free throws for the Aggies' only second-half lead.
That was the only time the Longhorns didn't lead after Tucker drove for a layup, his body in the air and making contact with Dominique Kirk, and made a free throw to make it 23-20 with 8:41 left in the first half.
Tucker had 15 points and eight rebounds by halftime. The Longhorns led 43-30, matching their season-low scoring output from the March 1 game.
