Texas A&M
15-3, 1-2
Oklahoma
17-1, 3-0
No. 6 Oklahoma Proves Too Much for Texas A&M
Jan 17, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2009
Post Game Audio [mp3]:
Head Coach Turgeon
Players Carter & Davis
OU Head Coach Jeff Capel
OU Players Austin Johnson & Taylor Griffin
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Austin Johnson had 19 points and Blake Griffin added 16 and No. 6 Oklahoma held off a late rally by Texas A&M for a 69-63 victory Saturday.
Oklahoma (17-1, 3-0 Big 12) led from start to finish, but allowed Texas A&M to cut a 13-point second-half lead to two on a 3-pointer by Donald Sloan with about 2 minutes remaining.
Johnson pushed the lead to 62-57 with a 3-pointer about 30 seconds later and Johnson had four free throws and Griffin added two to secure the Sooners' fifth straight win.
Griffin was forced to the bench several times after he got into early foul trouble. He entered the game leading the league in rebounding with almost 14 a game, but grabbed just six on Saturday.
He got his fourth foul when he climbed over an Aggies defender on a dunk attempt with just under 5 minutes to play.
Taylor Griffin added 11 points and Willie Warren had nine for Oklahoma.
Josh Carter had 17 points for the Aggies (15-3, 1-2), who had won 11 straight at home.
A&M trailed 51-37 before going on a 15-5 run to cut the lead to four with about 5 minutes left.
B.J. Holmes added 11 points for the Aggies and Bryan Davis, Derrick Roland and Sloan all had eight.
The Sooners were effective against A&M's Chinemelu Elonu, who entered the game with three straight double-doubles, but struggled with early fouls and finished with seven points and five rebounds.
Oklahoma scored the game's first nine points and stretched the lead to 19-6 with about 10 minutes left thanks to 2-of-10 shooting by the Aggies. Texas A&M went on an 8-2 run to get within seven and trailed 30-25 at halftime.
POSTGAME QUOTES & NOTES
Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel
"I'm proud of my team. We beat a really good A&M team today. We built a good team in the beginning which helped us out when they started making their runs. Our guys stepped up and made plays throughout the entire game. We're a team that is getting better every time we go out. This game was an example of toughness. Elonu is a tremendous athlete. We made a concerted effort to box him out and get him in foul trouble. Our guys know that we can win without Blake Griffin. We have been consistent the last few games and we will continue to get better."
Oklahoma Senior Guard Austin Johnson
"I'm used to stepping up late and making shots. I work on shooting deep 3's and when they left my hand tonight they felt good. We've been through these last minute situations before. We jumped on them quick in the beginning and were able to get them out of their offense."
Oklahoma Senior Forward Taylor Griffin
When Blake leaves we feel like we have to make up what he does on the floor. We especially concentrate on the rebounding. They have guys that are pretty heady and look to draw the charges. Our guards are great and when they play well we are hard to beat. Experience and talent is the difference between this years's game and last. This is a hard team to beat. We couldn't get them down in this great atmosphere.
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon
"This one hurts. They have a couple great players on their team. Blake Griffin was tremendous and Austin Johnson was making every shot he took. They made the plays and we didn't. We never were able to get enough pressure on them to control the game. I thought we were nervous to start. They were aggressive and we weren't. You can't give a great team 9 right out of the chute. It hurt to have Chin out of the game; he's really carried us lately. Our backup bigs just didn't play well. Our team is getting better and will get better so don't count us out.
(On game at Kansas on Monday) "I'm looking forward to going to Kansas. Kansas fans have always been good to me. I've loved going to Allen Field House since I was 4 years old. The place just makes me feel good. I know I will coach well because I love being there so much."
Texas A&M Junior Forward Bryan Davis
"We tried to stick to the game plan. Sometimes it worked for us and others it didn't. We need this loss to hurt but we also need to realize that we played the #5 team close and played a pretty good ball game. We always feed off the crowd when we play, so we tried to get them involved so we can make the big plays.
Texas A&M Senior Guard/Forward Josh Carter
"We didn't make our plays down eh stretch. We didn't com out aggressive and they were able to jump on us because we were just standing around. We know that our team isn't going to quit like we did at some points last year. We are always going to fight for the win. I always think that we can win the game if there is still time on the clock. At about 3 minutes to go tonight I really thought we were going to win, so it hurts to not walk away with a victory."
NOTES
*Oklahoma has won two straight against A&M after the Aggies had won the previous three meetings.
*The loss was A&M's first at home this season (11-1), ending an 11-game home winning streak.
*A&M held Oklahoma's Blake Griffin to 16 points, his third fewest of the season, and just 6 rebounds, which tied his season low (USC).
*A&M made just ,609 from the free throw line (14-23). The Aggies came into the game making .715 from the free throw line and had made .749 in the last 12 games.
*OU came into the game making just .667 from the line but made .833 (15-18) today, its third best performance of the season.
*OU's Austin Johnson scored a season-high 19 points, just one shy of his career high of 20 set last year against Texas Tech. He made 3-of-6 three-pointers, also a season-best. He came into the game making just .294 (15-51) from three-point range.
*A&M had 16 turnovers today and is 3-3 when it has 15 or more this season.
*The Aggies are 30-3 under Mark Turgeon when they make at least 45 percent from the field, but are 10-11 when they shoot under 45 percent.
*Josh Carter's 17 points gives him 1,339 in his career and moves him into 12th on the A&M scoring list. Today he passed the late Todd Holloway (1,331 in 1983-87).
*Monday's game at Kansas marks the first time that Mark Turgeon has coached at Allen Fieldhouse. Turgeon played at KU from 1983-87, becoming the first Jayhawk player to appear in four straight NCAA Tournaments. He served as an assistant coach at KU from 1987-92 under Larry Brown and Roy Williams and was a member of Brown's coaching staff when KU won the NCAA title in 1988. Turgeon is 0-2 in his career against Kansas, losing twice last season (in College Station and in the Big 12 tournament semifinals in Kansas City. Turgeon is a native of Topeka, Kan., where he led Hayden High School to consecutive state championships.
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