Texas A&M
vs Rice
Texas A&M 56, Rice 53
Dec 11, 1999 | Men's Basketball
December 11, 1999
Bernard King sank a 12-foot jumper with 33 seconds left to play to nail down a 56-53 Texas A&M win over Rice on Saturday night at Compaq Center.
Larry Scott led Texas A&M (3-3) with 16 points, including the first nine Aggie points. Carlton Brown grabbed seven rebounds for the Aggies.
Rice (3-4) was led by Nick Robison with 16 points and Brandon Evans with 11. Ferron Morgan hauled in 10 rebounds for the Owls.
Playing without four injured starters, the Owls made a determined second-half effort, chipping away at the Aggies' 11-point halftime lead throughout the second half. However, Rice was hampered by poor free-throw shooting, managing to convert on only 9-of-18 second-half free throws.
Rice scored seven straight points to cut the A&M lead to 52-48 with 4:53 left. After a pair of Aggie free throws, Rice followed a free throw with a clutch 3-point shot by Adam Robinson to whittle the Owls' deficit to 54-52 with 1:17 remaining. King then drove to near the free-throw line to sink the shot that secured the victory. After that, Rice managed only a free throw from Robinson with three seconds left.
Scott scored the first nine points for Texas A&M to open a 9-2 lead with 15:54 left in the first half. Rice managed to cut its deficit to 16-12 before the Aggies reeled off a 10-3 surge to take a 26-15 advantage with 6:30 left in the half. Aaron Jack sank three free throws in the final minute before the intermission to give Texas A&M a 37-26 lead at the half.
