Texas A&M
at Southwest Missouri State
SMS Tops Aggies in Las Vegas Classic Opener, 76-65
Dec 17, 2001 | Men's Basketball
December 17, 2001
Mike Wallace had 22 points and 16 rebounds to lead Southwest Missouri State over Texas A&M 76-65 Monday night in the first round of the Las Vegas Classic.
The double-double for Wallace, the 10th leading rebounder in the nation, was his sixth in eight games this season. Wallace had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the first half as the Bears took a 38-35 lead.
Southwest Missouri (4-4) gave up eight unanswered points to start the second half before going on a 22-5 run to lead 60-48 lead with under seven minutes remaining.
Terrance McGee scored 16, Robert Yanders 11 and Travis Walk 10 for the Bears.
Texas A&M (5-4) went nine minutes without scoring in the second half and was unable to recover. Bernard King, the Aggies' leading scorer, was hit with a technical foul during the span after he punched the basketball into the stands. King was benched more than five minutes during the scoreless stretch.
King was one of three players to receive technical fouls in a game that saw 49 fouls called with four players from Texas A&M fouling out.
King led Texas A&M with 20 points and Andy Slocum had 10.
The two teams now advance to Las Vegas where Southwest Missouri will play Purdue and Texas A&M faces Illinois-Chicago, with both games on Thursday.
