16 THE BATTALION
*€t»«aOAV JANUARY 1*. IMS
Sports
Metcalf unsure: of Aggies’standing after loss
By FRANK L. CHRISTL1EB
fcditor
After watching his Texas AfcM
basketball team lose 68-64 to
Texas Tech Monday night in C.
Roltie White Coliseum, Coach
Shelby Metcalf had no prophecies
or predictions to make about the
Aggies’ outlook for the rest of the
season
Metcalf also had no excuses for
the loss to the Red Raiders, which
dropped the Aggies to a 2-1 South
west Conference record and a 9-4
overall record. v
"I really think we should have
won the game, ’’ Metcalf si^idTues
day. “We had some mental mis
takes that hurt us. I’ve looked at
the film five times now and we just
made some key mistakes. We
threw away some passes and that
really hurt us."
Although Texas A4i M took a 40-
29 halftime lead over Texas Tech,
the Raiders finally tied the game at
56 with 5:18 left in the game. T}ie
two teams stayed close until Texas
Tech took the lead for good at 62-
60 when David Reynolds hit a
jumper with 1:42 remaining.
Many of the Red Raiders com
eback points resulted from tur
novers forced by their pressing
defense. The Aggies, holding a 53-
47 lead with 8:22 left in the game,
tried to hold the ball with a passing
game at their own end of the
court However, guard Joe
Washington brought Texas Tech
into the 56-56 tie by hitting sever
al key free throws during the next
three minutes
Metcalf said the Texas Tech
pressure wasn’t an important fac
tor in the Aggies’ second-half
breakdown. ,
It shouldn’t have bothered us
at all, because we've played
against more pressure than that
We heat them on the boards (42-
23) we had more assists (13-11) and
more field goals. We just didn t
play real well (down the stretch,
t Guard Tyren Naulls had a sea
son-high 23 points, while forward
Claude Riley and guard Reggie
Roberts each had 12 points, lead
ing the Aggies to the rebounding
edge were Riley with 16 and cen
ter Rudy Woods with 10. Woods
also had six points.
A key factor in Texas A&M s
first three conference games,
which include a 60-54 win at TCU
and a 47-46 victory over Bayfor,
has been the Aggies’ be low-
average shooting. Texas AfirM has
shot 42, 48 and 44 percent in the
three games, compared to their
opponents’ 43, 56 and 51 percent.
Texas Tech, which raised its
^WC record to 2-2 and its overall
record ta 10-4, had lost to Texas
and Houston after upsetting
Arkansas in a conference opener.
Metcalf said: T'd say the jury’s
still out on which way we re going
to go. If 1 knew, I’d tell you._If
we’d have finished up strong Mon
day night, I’d say wc had gelled,
but I can't say that.”
Adding that the Aggies must be
come more consistent as a team,
Metcalf praised the individual
performances of three players who
have progressed since the start of
the season * ’ ■ f U
*T think the most consistent
thing has been Claude Riley’s re-
hounding, and pcuh^bly Roy
Jones’ defense ftas been a* consis
tent as anything," Metcalf said
"Ixmniel Bluntson 'transfer ban
ter from Blinn Junior College) is
really feeling more comfortable in
our offense He now understands
the system and is really helping us
this season. I think as a team,
though, we need to get a lot more
consistency.’’
Texas A&M plays its next two
games Tuesday at SMU and Jan,
23 at Rice before returning home
to host Arkansas Jan 26. The
Owls, who stunned basketball fol
lowers by defeating Hawaii, San
Francisco and North Carolina
State in the Rainbow Classic twrt
weeks ago, have lost conference
games to Houston and TC1T
Mr. New and Improved leads
Texas to easy win over Coogs
Texas A6t M forward Claude Riley goes high to
block a Texas Tech shot in the Red Raiders’
68-64 win over the Aggies Monday night in G.
Rollie White Coliseum. Ready to retrieve the
Pbo^D by C. Mictwl Chang
ball are Aggie forward Roy Jones (44) and
Texas Tech center Dwight Phillips, while
Texas A&M guard Reggie Roberts watches the
action during the first half of the game.
I'nited Fresi Inlcmatkmai
HOUSTON — The develop
ment of 6-9 sophomore forward
Mike Wacker of Texas makes the
Longhorns as forboding as the
Houston Cougars when the two
teams crash the basket for re-,
bounds However, Texas strength
prevailed in Tuesday night’s
meeting of the two top-20 teams
Texas, unbeaten and almost un
noticed, manhandled the phy sical
Cougars 95-83 and the keys were
Wacker’s 32 points, most of them
from inside 10 feet, along with the
Longhorns' uncanny free throw
shooting.
In the only other conference
game, Terry Teagle hit an 18-foot
jumper as the buzzer sounded,
lifting the Baylor Bears to a 52-50
win over Southern Methodist
University. Rice University’s
Ricky Pierce scored 24 points to
send the Owls past Texas-San
Antonio 83-51 in a non-conference
game.
Texas was ranked 18th in the
country entering the game and
Houston was 12th Both had won
10 straight games and the match
drew a sellout crowd at Hofheinz
Pavilion.
With the win, Texas raised its
record to 11-0 for the season, mov
ing to the top of the Southwest
Conference with a 3-0 mark It
was Houston s first loss since the
second game of the season.
Texas coach Abe Lemons said
W'acker was just uncanny’ as he
scored 10 more points than he had
in any other game this year.
Wacker had seven rebounds to
assist 6-10 LaSalle Thompson on
the boards against the imposing
front line of 7^foot Akeem Abdul
Olajuwon, 6-9 Larry Mk-heaux, 6
6 Clyde Drexler and 6-6 Michael
Young.
“Once we got ahead like we did
early in the game we just played
relaxed and just did what we had
to do to win, W'acker said. "We
moved the hall around Virdell
(Howland) was shooting good out
side like he* always does and l .aSal
le got a lot of rebounds.
Wacker said the experience
gained during his freeman season
has paid off
W’e’re more mature Last year
was a learning experience It took
a while to learn the system," he*
said.
W’acker and Thompson com
bined to limit Olajuwon to two
points, and the Houston center
missed all six of his free throw
tries. Texas, on the other hand,
made 33 of 41 free throws by draw
ing nine two-shot fouls and getting
into the one-and-one penalty
situation early in each half The
Longhorns made the first free
throw in 11 of 12 one-and-one
situations.
Wacker was 14 of 15 at the free
throw line.
The vj^tory for Texas against its
stiffest opponent of the season
' came in the first week the team
was ranked in the top 20
“W’e surprised ourselves,"
Thompson said. T didn’t think we
would be able to take the lead ear
ly like we did and h«lld it the whole
game. It’s our biggest win of the
season. Everybody should know
now that we re good. We should
get a little more recognition. ’'
Wacker and Thompson ganged
up on Olajuwon under the basket
and all of the lamghoms contri-
buted to a staunch defensive effort
on guard Rob Williams, Houston's
leading scorer. Williams scored 10
points and hit only four of 14 shots
from the field.
In his three meetings with
Texas last year, Williams scored
40, 32 and 37 points, and Wacker
said holding him to 10 again would
be difficult.
"Usually he will make thfr shots
that he missed tonight. W r e’H have
to be ready for him next time.
Remember
is
Your One-Stop
Bookstore!
• Used Books • Calculators
• School Supplies • T-Shirts
• Aggie Gifts • Vet Supplies
• Greek & Military Supplies
* OPEN DAILY 7:30-4:00
304 Jersey St. 696-2111
Lll
Across From Ttw
Uni vanity Polka Station
-C
Thousands put
their fingers on it...
Advertising in The Battalion
845-2611
Culpepper
Plata
693-8276
Announces
S ^ C/
FOR 2 ^
1 Schmaltz Sandwich
2 Small Salads
All The Ice Tea You Can Drink
Reg. 4.43
or
3.45 total
(+ tax)
$-| 81
only -t. each
Monday Thru Friday
Culpepper Plaza
HOME-MADE SOUPS
1 Served Piping-Hot
PWv Daily
We Love fTtone Orders!
693-8276
B. L. Shane's
Lake view Club
Continuing A Tradition of The Very Best
In Country-Western Music and Dancing!
Welcome Back Aggies" Dance!
Monday, Jan. 18
i Thursday Night
JOHNNY
RODRIGUEZ!
Limited Mumber of Tickets — Mo Standing Room
Tickets for This Special Show
Tickets On Sale At Lakeuiew
$6.00 Person an( j a t Tip Top Records
Saturday Night
(DARRYL McCALL!
I and
and "A Little Bit Of Texas"
Thursdays Are Still
MICKLE BEER NIGHT!
(Lone Star Draft Beer St a Cup or $1.00 a Pitcher)
Minors Are Still Welcome!
3 Miles North of Bryan on Tabor Rd.