Texas A&M
(#25) TEXAS
Texas A&M 100, Texas 82
Feb 05, 2007 | Men's Basketball
February 05, 2007
Josh Carter scored 24 points and Acie Law added 21 points and 15 assists, leading No. 6 Texas A&M to a 100-82 victory over Texas on Monday night.
The Aggies, coming off a big win at then-No. 6 Kansas on Saturday, won their 21st straight home game and maintained sole possession of first place in the Big 12.
Kevin Durant had 28 points and 15 rebounds for the Longhorns (16-7, 6-3 Big 12), but the Aggies finally found some scoring punch to go with one of the nation's stingiest defenses -- and that was too much for Texas and its super freshman.
Durant set a Longhorns freshman record with his 14th double-double. The previous mark was held by Ron Baxter, who had 13 in 1976-77.
Texas A&M (20-3, 8-1) led 69-63 when Law hit the court hard and had to be helped to the locker room, biting his jersey in pain because of an ailing leg. The record crowd of 13,196 that included Texas Gov. Rick Perry chanted "A-cie! A-cie!" as he left the court.
With Joseph Jones already on the bench with four fouls, the Aggies were left to depend on inexperienced freshman Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis.
But the pair came through. Sloan kept Durant in check and Davis added four points until Law returned about three minutes later.
A 3-pointer by A.J. Abrams and two free throws by D.J. Augustin cut A&M's lead to 76-73, but the Longhorns got no closer. Augustin scored 23 points and had nine assists.
Sloan continued to impress even after Law returned, capping a 7-2 run with his basket that made it 83-75.
Carter added a basket before a steal by Sloan and another basket by Carter made it 87-75, and the Longhorns never threatened again.
Durant's 28 points were the most an opponent has scored against the Aggies this season. It was the first time Texas A&M allowed more than 70 points.
The Aggies were still able to hold Texas to less than 50 percent shooting, marking the nation-best 34th straight time Texas A&M has done that.
Durant scored 12 points in the first six minutes of the second half, including seven straight that gave the Longhorns a 58-57 lead, their first of the game.
A&M quickly got back on top on Carter's 3-pointer on the next possession, only to see it tied back up when Augustin hit a pair of free throws.
Sloan hit a quick 3 and Antanas Kavaliauskas sandwiched two baskets around a free throw by Durant to push Texas A&M's lead to 67-61 with 11:24 remaining. Kavaliauskas had 18 points and Sloan added 11.
Both teams shot 37 free throws, with the Longhorns making 27 and the Aggies 23. Jones and Dominique Kirk fouled out for A&M.
The Aggies led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but Texas made 20 of 21 free throws to cut the deficit to 45-40 at halftime.
Postgame Quotes & Notes
Texas Freshman D. J. Augustin: "We knew what we had to do, we just didn't execute in the beginning. We started off slow, we knew that we had to box out and play good defense. Some of their guys were in foul trouble and coach told us to drive it at them. That's what we did. We were giving them wide open shots and their shooters were knocking down shots. I give the credit to Texas A&M, they played well."
Texas Freshman Kevin Durant: "They weren't doing anything special. I was just trying to get my teammates open. They came up with some big shots and they played well. They weren't doing anything to keep me from scoring I was just trying to get my teammates good shots."
Texas Head Coach Rick Barnes: "Missed free throws, we were right where we wanted to be. We didn't get stops and we gave up too many offensive rebounds. Those two missed free throws were really big, I don't think I could have asked to be in a better position. We didn't guard anybody in the last four minutes. We were terrible. I am disappointed in the fact that we were right where we wanted to be. I thought we did what we wanted to do to try to get to the bench and then we let them hurt us. We gave up wide open layups. You have to protect the basket and we just didn't do it. I am disappointed with the way our last two games we didn't get stops when we needed to. Offensive rebounds are a part of that. I realize that we are not the most physical team in the country. We give a lot away in terms of pounds out there."
Texas A&M Senior Acie Law: "I feel like if we just hold onto our position we can accomplish our goal of winning the Big 12 Championship. There is still a long way to go but we feel that we have put ourselves in a good position. In the first half, we were able to pass the ball around and get good looks. They were calling the game pretty tight and we wanted to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. (On the play of Brian Davis and Donald Sloan) They were huge. We wouldn't have had a victory without the way they performed tonight. They are just maturing right before our eyes. Everybody knows that it is tough to play for coach at the beginning but they have continued to stick with it and bought into what coach is doing. Dominique had a tough night and Joe had a tough night. Sloan came in and he was huge and Brian has played extremely well these past two games. Josh Carter just stepped up tonight, he took it upon himself to make plays."
Texas A&M Senior Antanas Kavaliauskas: "It was more hustling. Coach said rebounds were going to be a key. In order for us to win I had to go up and grab those balls. I think I should have had a few more than I had.
Texas A&M Sophomore Josh Carter: "I looked around and Brian Davis and Donald Sloan were in. I felt like I had to be a leader since Acie, Dominique and Joe were out. Me and AK (Antanas Kavaliauskas) had to step up, whenever Acie went down I tried to do a little more."
Texas A&M Head Coach Billy Gillispie: "It was a great win for us against a really, really, really good team. I never thought that if they scored 82 points we would win. They are hard to guard and we are awfully lucky to win. We have a long line of players down there, that is not one of the problems that we have. We couldn't guard them, DJ Augustin is great. They are all good and they're fast, they are hard to deal with. We couldn't keep them out of the paint and all we did was foul. (On the play of Carter, Davis and Sloan) Three guys grew up. That's what I believe Josh can be on a daily basis. You know he is going to make shots if he gets them. Our guys did a great job of getting him some shots. He had three offensive rebounds and seven defensive rebounds. That was huge especially when Joe and Antanas weren't out there. He grew up a lot. Sloan and Davis received a lot of attention before they got here and they showed you why. They have great freshman over there but we have some good ones ourselves. I'm proud of our guys for stepping up in such a big game. (On Acie Law) We have a guy out there that plays point guard for us. So far he's decided that he is not going to let us loose. We have a senior guard playing with a hunger. He is putting us on his shoulders no matter what the circumstance is. We are nine games into the conference season and we are in good shape but we have a lot of work to do."
A&M NOTES:
*A&M's 20-3 start is the best in school history. Under Billy Gillispie, A&M has posted three straight 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.
*A&M has won 21 straight at home, including 10 straight Big 12 games. A&M is 16-0 at home this season.
*This was A&M's third straight win against a ranked opponent.
*A&M has held 34 straight opponents under 50 percent from the field, the longest streak in the nation.
*A&M has won three straight at home against Texas for the first time since it won four straight from 1982-84.
*A&M's 100 points were its most ever in a Big 12 game and the Aggies' most against the Longhorns since a 106-89 win in College Station in 1989.
*A&M is 18-0 when leading at halftime this season and has won 23 straight games when leading at half.
*A&M shot 50.8 percent from the field, the best against Texas this season.
*A&M posted a +16 rebound margin (47-31), its best of the season and the best by any team against Texas this season.
*A&M had 15 offensive boards, a season-high for conference play.
*Of the 33 field goals made by th Aggies, 29 were assisted.
*A&M's 29 assists were a school record for Big 12 play.
*Acie Law scored 21 points with a career-high 15 assists, a school record for Big 12 play that tied the overall school mark (Kyle Kessel vs. TCU in 1996, David Edwards vs. TCU in 1994 and Tony Milton vs. Marshall in 1989-90). It was the fourth double-double of Law's career and his second of the season.
*Josh Carter scored a team-high 24 points and added a career-best 10 rebounds, his first career double-double. Carter has averaged 24.5 points in his last two games against Texas (he had 25 in the 2006 Big 12 Tournament).
*Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 18 points with a career-high 11 rebounds, his second double-double of the year.
*Donald Sloan scored 11 points, a career-high for Big 12 play.
*Brian Davis scored 8 points with 6 rebounds, both career highs for Big 12 play.
