Texas A&M
17-5,4-4
BAYLOR
15-7,5-4
No. 16 Aggies Upset by Baylor in OT, 76-74
Feb 05, 2011 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Anthony Jones blew a chance to give Baylor the lead near the end of regulation when he stepped out of bounds.
So when given a second chance to come through in overtime, he knew he had to take it.
Jones' layup with 3.1 seconds left in the extra session lifted Baylor to a 76-74 win over No. 16 Texas A&M on Saturday.
"I felt like I let my teammates down by stepping out of bounds, so it was important to make up for that," Jones said.
Perry Jones, who led the Bears (15-7, 5-4 Big 12) with a season-high 27 points, gave them a 74-73 lead with his 3-point play with just over a minute left in overtime. Texas A&M's B.J. Holmes made one of two free throw attempts to tie it at 74.
Texas A&M got the ball back, but Middleton was called for a foul for pushing off as he drove to the basket, setting up the shot by Jones. He got the offensive rebound off a missed shot by LaceDarius Dunn just before the shot clock expired and hit the eventual game-winner.
A.J. Walton stole the ball from Khris Middleton as the Aggies tried for a desperation shot.
Baylor coach Scott Drew was impressed with the maturity his young team showed in the win.
"Early in the year, in crunch time, we would lose," Drew said. "I think we're getting better in operating in crunch time. I just really liked the fight our guys had today."
Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon raved about the play of Perry Jones, a freshman, and Drew talked about his development.
"He's starting to demand the ball more, getting confident and the team's done a better job of getting him the ball," he said, "and we're going to need it."
Perry Jones couldn't keep a smile off his face after the win, and said winning in College Station was like "winning a championship."
Holmes finished with 19 points to lead Texas A&M (17-5, 4-4). Dunn scored 17 for Baylor and Anthony Jones and Quincy Acy had 10 points apiece.
The Aggies tied it 69-all on a 3-pointer by Nathan Walkup with 48 seconds remaining. Anthony Jones stepped out of bounds on the other end, giving Texas A&M the ball back with 19 seconds remaining. Walkup had a chance for the win, but his 3-point attempt fell short.
"It was frustrating because we didn't start the game off right and had to fight our way back the whole game," Middleton said. "Everyone knows we should have came out playing better."
It was the first overtime game between these teams since a 116-110 win by Baylor in five overtimes in 2008. The victory snapped a three-game road losing streak for Baylor and was Texas A&M's fourth loss in five games.
"We've been struggling on the road all year," Anthony Jones said. "To come in here in a hostile environment we knew whether it was 40, 45, 50 minutes, we were going to come out with a win."
The Aggies made just 18 of 30 free throw attempts, including three misses in overtime.
Perry Jones made a pair of free throws that made it 69-63 with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation. The Bears didn't score for the rest of the period to allow Texas A&M to tie it.
The Bears used a 16-6 spurt to extend a one-point lead to a 63-52 advantage midway through the second half. The Bears had a pair of 3s in that span while Texas A&M's shooting went cold.
The Aggies went on an 8-2 after that while the Bears didn't hit a field goal for more than four minutes to cut the lead to 65-60 with 6 1/2 minutes to go.
Baylor was up by 14 with about five minutes left in the first half before the Aggies used a 15-4 run to cut the lead to 43-40 at halftime. Texas A&M frazzled Baylor with its full-court press in that span, getting three steals off of it including two straight in the last minute.
"We started another game awful and gave them confidence," Turgeon said. "Our defense was atrocious until about the 10 minutes mark of the game and then it was really good. But it was just too late."
Texas A&M's leading scorer, Middleton rebounded from a shutout performance in Monday's loss to No. 3 Texas with 18 points and nine rebounds. David Loubeau added 15 points for the Aggies.
- Khris Middleton set a new career high with 7 assists on the day ... his 9 rebounds matched a career high.
- Kourtney Roberson's 11 points and 8 rebounds were both season highs in a Big 12 game.
- Naji Hibbert set a career high with 3 steals.
- B.J. Holmes (41), David Loubeau (36), Naji Hibbert (33) and Kourtney Roberson (24) all set new career highs in minutes played.
- B.J. Holmes matched a season high with 4 treys on the afternoon ... Holmes (167) is now 8 shy of current team staffer Dominique Kirk (175, 2004-07) for fourth all time on the school's 3-point field goal chart.
- Texas A&M's 10 steals were the second-highest total of the season.TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
We started another game awful and gave them confidence. I thought Baylor played great. Perry Jones was fantastic. We missed a lot of open ones, missed a lot of free throws.
On defensive play...Our defense, it was atrocious until about the 10-minute mark of the game, then it was really good. But it was too late. The bottom line, the way you start the game gave them a ton of confidence.
On how the team played with Kourtney Roberson in the line-up...We were bigger and stronger, I thought Naji did a great job on Dunn. We were rebounding better, and a lot of that was Kourtney.
On the start of the game...I've got to get our guys playing more aggressively defensively early in the game. We worked hard Wednesday and Thursday, like the season just started, and there was no carry over.
Was it lack of focus that let the last play of the game happen...It's definitely focus. I thought the first offensive rebound, we were in a scramble a little bit, and we still should've had the rebound and we didn't. Then the last one, I think we made the same mistake in a clip I showed them against Texas, just boxing out the wrong guys.
On defensive play...I thought we were pretty good, we were just fighting uphill the whole game. I thought we had a lot of great looks, I think we got out of rhythm in our zone offense because we were trying to get B.J. the ball.
Is this something the team can snap out of...I don't know. I thought we were going to snap out of it today, but the way we were the first 10 minutes...Texas came in a whooped us, but (today) was our worst 10 minutes of the year. Today we were just flat out of it, like I've never seen.
On sitting Dash Harris and Naji Hibbert's play...Naji played well, he didn't make shots, but his defense was really good. I thought you had to guard him to spread things out more.
On Kourtney Roberson's play...I thought Kourtney was good, he helped us defensively, got some second-chance points, and made a few layups. He has got to make free throws. Kourtney and Naji helped us, they grew up a little bit today.
On needing a win...You need every game. I just want us to play well, and I think we did down the stretch of this game, we couldn't make enough shots. Hopefully the last ten minutes of the game will carry over.
On the team missing close plays...It comes down to making close plays, and when you're lacking confidence, those things happen. All you can do is keep plugging.
FRESHMAN FORWARD KOURTNEY ROBERSON
On the end of the first half...We just pushed up and they turned the ball over, making them turn it over, and that's when we got into the game.
SOPHOMRE FORWARD Khris Middleton
On starting the game slow...It's frustrating. We didn't start off the game the right way, we were falling behind the whole game, then you get into overtime and we just couldn't win it.
Does it feel like you lost it at the beginning...I guess so. I think everybody knows we should've came out playing better, if you have to play catch up the whole game, which we did, then tying it up and getting a chance to take the lead a few times, you just can't finish it sometimes.
On missing free throws...It was frustrating, it's something I have to forget about and move onto the next game.
On having momentum in overtime...I think we did, overtime we took the lead, just couldn't knock down some of those free throws, and that was the game right there. I think we got the crowd behind us, we were thinking we had to extend the lead to 7, 8, 9 whatever. It felt like we had the game in control.
BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTESBAYLOR HEAD COACH SCOTT DREW
Always a tough place to play, fans do a great job, A&M is very tough at home, Turgeon does a great job with his team.
There were numerous times when we could have caved in and we didn't. I'm very proud of the way our guys stuck together and played down the stretch.
On tough travelling on the road...I know I'm sick of the bus, and the 7-footers really don't like the bus. To persevere after a long week of inclement weather, they really competed and battled and did it for 45 minutes tonight.
On winning down the stretch...I think this is a young team, with one senior, Lace, and earlier in the year in crunch time, we'd lose. But I think we're getting better at operating in crunch time. Guys are getting more comfortable. I just really like the fight our guys had today, how they stuck together, and you have to do that to have a chance to win in a place like this.
On Anthony Jones making the final shot...We used to joke when he first got here that he was big shot Anthony Jones, because some guys just have a knack for hitting game-winners or being in the right place.
On Perry Jones' play...I think Perry's really done a good job, he's starting to demand the ball more, getting confident, and the team's done a better job of getting him the ball and we're going to need it.
On winning in dramatic fashion...Those are the moments to bring a team together, we're 4-4 and we needed a win to stay above .500 in the Big 12, and we know how big the Big 12 is.
What does it say about the team if they can score without Dunn...They're growing up. I think Lace did a good job passing the ball and getting the ball to the right people. I think he is trusting his teammates more and they're trusting themselves.
On rebounding...I know A&M has been unbelievable this year, we knew what a fight it'd be here, we had to hold our own. We were relying on second-chance points and knew we had to get rebounds.
FRESHMAN CENTER PERRY JONES III
On what he did to be successful offensively...I'm better in the post than anywhere on the floor, I just utilized my abilities on the floor to get my teammates a win.
On what it feels like to get a win in College Station...Right now it's great, it's like winning a championship. We've been in overtime before, I know that. For this game, the crowd was hostile so it feels good to get a win.
JUNIOR FORWARD ANTHONY JONES
On the final play of the game...The play was for Lace to get to rim or get a foul, they played pretty good defense, so he pulled up and missed the shot. Coach always tells us to go in every time and rebound, every time, so I went in got the ball and was lucky to get it off in time.
On stepping out of bounds at the end of regulation...I felt like I let my teammates down by stepping out of bounds, so it was important for me to make up for that.
On getting a win on the road...It's huge. We've been struggling on the road all year. To come in here in a hostile environment, the whole time we were saying, whether it's 40, 45, 50 minutes, we were going to come out with a win.
SENIOR GUARD LACEDARIUS DUNN
I think we came out with intensity, I think we knew it was going to be a 40-minute game and we wanted to get the first point.
It was just great defense, I give them credit for switching the guys up, the second half they stayed on me and did a good job of not letting me get comfortable and make the shot I normally do.
Coming here and getting a big win in a very hard place to play in, we did a great job coming here and staying focused to get the win.
Great first half, just have fun and just play. Just make sure we're doing the right things on the court, not giving up, not quitting.
Once my legs left, I just wanted to get the ball to Perry. We were trying to get it to him and let us carry us.
