Texas A&M
15-5, 1-4Big 12
Texas
14-4, 3-1Big 12
Aggies Fall to No. 14 Longhorns, 67-58
Jan 24, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)---Damion James scored 28 points, including 11 in a two-minute stretch of the second half, to lead No. 14 Texas to a 67-58 win over Texas A&M on Saturday night.
Neither team had led by more than five before James started his run. His first basket put Texas up 44-37 and a couple of layups, short jumpers and a rim-rattling dunk pushed the Longhorns' lead to 52-40 by the time he was done.
The Longhorns (14-4, 3-1 Big 12) also got 15 points from Gary Johnson in winning their 19th straight at home. Donald Sloan scored 17 points for the Aggies (15-5, 1-4).
The home team has dominated this rivalry of late. Neither team has won on the road since Texas won at College Station in 2004.
The two worst shooting teams in the Big 12 played like they couldn't miss in the early going with both teams knocking down long and mid-range jumpers. James scored 13 and Texas A&M's Chinemelu Elonu had 11 points in the first half. Both got involved a series of big dunks that charged up the rivalry atmosphere.
Elonu finished a fast break with an alley-oop dunk that James answered with a two-handed jam moments later. Texas' next bucket came when A.J. Abrams floated a soft pass that James finished with another slam for a 26-23 Texas lead. The Longhorns led 30-28 at halftime.
James' run started with a layup and free throw with 11:22 to play. Less than 30 seconds later, Texas A&M's Josh Carter made a 3-pointer to keep the Aggies' within four and kept the Longhorns within striking distance.
Not for long. What the Aggies couldn't do was rein in James.
Two free throws and a slashing reverse layup after a Texas A&M turnover kept the Aggies from creeping closer and brought the sellout home crowd to its feet. Another alley-oop dunk, this time on a pass from Varez Ward, put Texas up 52-40.
The Aggies, who shot 36 percent in the second half, couldn't muster any kind of an answer. The Longhorns pushed the lead to 13 twice, the first when Connor Atchley finished a three-point play and again at 60-47 with 1:44 left.
Texas needed James and Johnson's ability to strike from just about anywhere on the floor. Abrams, Texas' best 3-pointer and career leader, was held to 0-for-2 shooting from long range under the defensive lockdown provided by the Aggies' Derrick Roland and Dash Harris.
Abrams remains three shy of the Big 12 career record of 338 3-pointers held by Kansas' Jeff Boschee (1999-2002).
