Texas A&M
ggies take time out before tournament
Even with loss to Cougars,
A&M has bye into quarters
Battalion Sports
March 1, 1982 /Page 15
Texas A&M University forward Claude
Riley lies still as Texas A&M trainers
Jay Harris (left) and Steve Smith
attend to him during the second half
of the Houston Cougars’ 96-93 victory
photo by C. Michel Chang
Saturday. Although no foul was
called, Houston center Akeem Abdul
Olajuwon had hit Riley from behind
while both were attempting to get a
rebound.
by Frank L. Christlieb
Sports Editor
“Ol’ Seaweed!’
University of Houston forward Clyde
Drexler looked at teammate Michael Young
and laughed after the Cougars’ 96-93 vic
tory Saturday over the Texas Aggies.,
Seaweed?
“He played his best game of the year—of
his life,” Drexler said of Young, the 6-6
guard/forward who led UH with 27 points
and 13 rebounds. But Seaweed?
“Moses Malone (of the Houston Rockets)
used to call him that when Young played
against him during the summer,” Drexler
said, still laughing.
It didn’t matter to Drexler that he didn’t
have the best game of his own career. As
long as the Cougars avenged their 95-77 loss
Feb. 1 to the Aggies in G. Rollie White Col
iseum, nothing else mattered.
After all, Houston entered the game
assured of at least a bye into the tournament
quarterfinals. With the victory, the Cougars
clinched second place and a spot in the SWC
semifinals.
But an Aggie loss coupled with a Baylor
defeat of TCU Saturday night could have
taken away Texas A&M’s chances for a bye
into the Dallas portion of the Southwest
Conference tournament, which begins
Thursday in Dallas’ Reunion Arena.
However, TCU defeated the Bears, giv
ing the Aggies third place and a few days off
until they must face the winner of tonight’s
Texas-Baylor game Thursday in the quar
terfinals.
“Both teams were ready to play,” Drexler
said. “We didn’t care what they (the Aggies)
had at stake — we just wanted to beat them
because they beat us up there.”
The Cougars, who finished the regular
season 20-6 overall and 11-5 in the SWC,
have won eight games in row, with Texas
A&M being the last team to defeat them.
The 96 points were the most given up by the
Aggies in a game this season.
SWC
tourney
TONIGHT — Rice at Texas Tech,
SMU at TCU, Texas at Baylor;
all games 7:30.
THURSDAY — (At Dallas): Texas-
Baylor winner
vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m.;
SMU-TCU winner vs. Rice-Texas
Tech winner,
30 minutes after opening game.
FRIDAY: Arkansas vs. winner of
Thursday’s
game, 7 p.m.; Houston vs. winner
Thursday
first game, 30 minutes after opening
game.
SATURDAY: Championship game,
8 p.m.
Young, all but overlooked because of the
recent performances of Drexler and guard
Rob Williams, went about his work with a
quiet and deadly efficiency.
“I don’t think they were paying much
attention to me,” Young said. “Things just
kept falling into place for me. This was one
of our best games of the year.”
Young said the Cougars, favored by
many to win the SWC championship after
last year’s trip to the NCAA playoffs, will go
into the league tourney with a positive feel
ing. But he said:
“We’re going to enter the tournament
just like we’re at the bottom and struggling
to win. We’re not going to worry about who’s
picked.”
Houston coach Guy Lewis said he
couldn’t begin to predict an outcome for the
SWC tourney.
“I really don’t know who the favorite
could be,” Lewis said. “I don’t even know
who to pull for.”
Metcalf said that although the Aggies lost,
he was pleased with their comeback in the
second half.
“We’ve only played one real poor ball-
game — that’s the one at Arkansas (won by
the Razorbacks 92-75),” Metcalf said. “This
team’s come a long way from being picked to
finish sixth in the conference at the begin
ning of the season.”
The Aggies finished the regular season
17-9 overall and 10-6 in the SWC.
Texas A&M guard Reggie Roberts, who
scored 11 points before fouling out with
4:23 left in the game, said the team couldn’t
quite overcome the second-half streak that
gave the Cougars a 13-point lead with 15:17
remaining.
“I feel disappointed, but 1 feel pretty
good about the way we came back,” Roberts
said. “We kept strong, and it still came down
to the last shot.”
Tyren Naulls’ 22-footer from the top of
the kfey with four seconds left bounced off
the rim and into the hands of Houston cen
ter Akeem Abdul Olajuwon, whom Claude
Riley fouled with two seconds left.
“I feel it was one of our best gar
Roberts said. “It’s just that the shots
were falling for them weren’t falling fc
They just came out hot at the start o
second half, and spread their offense i
little bit.”
Naulls said the Aggies didn’t give up
falling behind early in the second half .
“We never feel out of the game until it’s
over,” Naulls said. “We were hitting too, but
it seemed like they were hitting six points to
our two, so we couldn’t do anything about
it.”
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