Texas A&M
22-8, 11-5
Oklahoma
13-17, 4-12
No. 23 Aggies Win Final Game of the Regular Season over Oklahoma, 69-54
Mar 06, 2010 | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2010
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -Khris Middleton scored 15 points, Bryan Davis added 13 points and 10 rebounds and No. 23 Texas A&M dominated the paint for a 69-54 victory against tumbling Oklahoma on Saturday.
Texas A&M outscored the Sooners 38-16 in the paint and shot 52 percent while winning for the eighth time in their last 10 games. Oklahoma (13-17, 4-12) has allowed its last seven opponents to shoot at least 50 percent during an eight-game losing streak, the school's longest since February 1969.
The Aggies (22-8, 11-5 Big 12) got Oklahoma's frontcourt players in foul trouble early and then pulled away after Tiny Gallon injured his right ankle on a blocked shot against Middleton early in the second half.
Tommy Mason-Griffin scored 16 points to lead Oklahoma. Andrew Fitzgerald and senior Ryan Wright, playing his final home game at Lloyd Noble Center, scored 10 apiece.
Davis led the Aggies back from a nine-point deficit in the first half, and A&M used a 9-0 run early in the second half to take control.
Middleton hit a 3-pointer from the left side and B.J. Holmes followed with a three-point play and a 3-pointer from the right wing as Texas A&M built a 50-38 lead.
Middleton then followed Ray Turner's two-handed follow dunk with four straight points as the Aggies pushed their advantage to 64-48 with 5:58 remaining.
Texas A&M entered the weekend in a three-way tie for third place and moved closer to locking up one of the Big 12's four first-round byes in next week's conference tournament. The Aggies still had to wait for the rest of the conference's games Saturday to play out to find out where they'll be seeded.
Mark Turgeon, coaching his 100th game for the Aggies, moved to 71-29 at the school.
Tony Crocker, a four-year starter for the Sooners who was also playing his last home game, had four points before fouling out with 5:58 to play while preventing Middleton's dunk on a breakaway.
Oklahoma used an 11-1 burst that featured three 3-pointers before Mason-Griffin's driving layup pushed the lead to 23-14 with 8:10 left in the first half. Davis led the Aggies back with eight points, including three dunks, in a 14-3 charge and A&M led 36-32 at halftime.
The Sooners were within two when Gallon came down awkwardly after blocking Middleton's jumper from the right side. With Wright, Crocker and Fitzgerald all facing foul trouble, he returned to play but was clearly limping.
A&M Postgame Notes
*The Aggies will be the No. 4 seed and will receive a first-round bye at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship next week in Kansas City. This is only the third time in the league's 14-year history that A&M has received a bye, but the third time in the last five years. The 2006-07 team was the No. 2 seed.
*The Aggie tied for second in the final Big 12 standing with an 11-5 record,matching the highest finish in school history. The 2006-07 team finished second at 13-3.
*Mark Turgeon has won 71 games at A&M, the most victories in a three-year period by an A&M Coach. Billy Gillispie won 70 games from 2004-07.
*A&M won each of its last three games by at least 15 points. The only other team in school history to win three straight conference games by 15 or more points was the 1919-20 squad that finished 19-0.
*A&M's senior class has won 98 games, tying last year's class as the winningest in school history.
*A&M is 17-5 in its last 22 Big 12 games, second only to Kansas' 20-2 mark in that span.
*A&M swept the regular season series with Oklahoma for only the second time in history. The 2006-07 team also swept the Sooners.
*Bryan Davis scored 13 points with 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season and the ninth of his career. Davis has posted double figures in rebounding in six of the last nine games. He also tied his career-high with 4 steals.
*Nathan Walkup tied his season high with 8 rebounds and tied his career-best with 4 assists.
*Freshman Khris Middleton scored a team-high 15 points, his seven game in double figures, his fifth in Big 12 play.
*Donald Sloan scored 10 points with 4 assists and 3 steals, his 14th straight game scoring in double figures.
*A&M made .510 from the field, its second straight game at better than 50 percent. A&M is 30-0 under Turgeon when they make at least .500 from the field, including a 9-0 mark this season.
*A&M posted a +10 rebounding margin. The Aggies have out-rebounded 9 of their last 10 opponents and have had at least a +8 margin in eight of the last 10 games. A&M is 19-2 this season when it wins the battle of the boards.
*A&M has 8 fast break points. The Aggies are is 30-1 under Turgeon when the have at least 8 fast break points, including an 11-0 mark this season.
*A&M led the Big 12 in scoring defense in Big 12 play, allowing just 65.8 points per game. A&M allowed just 58.2 points in the last six games. The Aggies held their Big 12 opponents to an average of 10.5 points under their respective scoring averages. A&M is 19-1 this season when its opponent scores fewer than 70 points, losing only to Kansas (59-54).
*Oklahoma made just .362 from the field, the third straight A&M opponent to shoot under 37 percent and the fourth in the last five games. A&M is 16-2 this season when its opponent shoots under 42 percent.
*A&M rallied from a 9-point first half deficit. The Aggies have rallied from deficits of nine points or more to win four Big 12 games.
Postgame Quotes
OU Head Coach Jeff Capel
"Congrats to A&M, they were the better team. They are very, very good. They are disciplined, they defend you, have great leadership with their two seniors and they played well enough to win tonight.
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark TurgeonMark Turgeon
"I thought Oklahoma started out great and shot the ball well. They had us down nine at the 12 (minute) timeout and the eight (minute) timeout. From the eight timeout until the finish, I thought defensively we were as good as we've been. Our defense was great. Our ball screen defense was great. We played shots and we rebounded. It was a really good second half defense for us."
On clinching a bye in the Big 12 Tournament: "That's big for us. Physically, we have some guys banged up and some guys are healthy. That extra day is really going to help us. Starting out in the league 3-3 and ending up 11-5 and getting a bye says a lot about these guys. The reason that we're so successful is that these guys bring an unbelievable amount of toughness to the program. A lot of the games that we've won over the last four years with these guys have been because of toughness."
Senior Forward Brian Davis
On this group of seniors winning more games than any other: "It's a combination of having the right guys and teamwork. We're a family out there playing as hard as we can."
