Thursday, January 31, 1985AThe Battalion/Page 11
'V ^'U
suitts says Guard play helps A&M cruise past Rice
Owls died
on boards
By BRANDON BERRY
Sports Writer
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Assistant Sports Editor
HOUSTON — At halftime of
last night’s A&M-Rice game, a
group of students performed a
dribbling, shooting and break
dancing routine.
The youngsters, from the Uni
versity of St. Thomas elementary
school, should have arrived ear
lier to help the Owls with their re
bounding. Rice was out-re-
bounded 25-12, giving A&M a
30-24 halftime lead.
That was the difference in the
game.
“Obviously, the offensive re
bounds in the first half gave them
the big edge,” Rice Head Coach
Tommy Suitts said. “The re
bounds, coupled with our free
throw shooting (four of 10 in the
first half) gave them a big lead.
Even though we were out-re-
bounded, we could have been
even at the half if we had made
our free throws.”
Rice forward Tony Barnett,
who led Rice with 10 rebounds,
said the Aggies just push him
around underneath.
“We just let them get too many
offensive rebounds,” Barnett
said. “They went to the boards
hard. They’re one of the better
rebounding teams we’ve seen.
“They were a plus eight on re
bounds coming in, so we knew
they had a good rebounding
team. They just killed us inside.”
Rice’s Greg Hines agreed with
Barnett.
“They were just big a strong on
the inside,” Hines said. “Wejust
didn’t block them out like we
should have.”
Suitts said having to put Hines
on the bench with three fouls in
the first half hindered the Owls
on the boards.
“Their board domination was
much more pronounced when
Greg was out of the game,” he
said. “It really hurt us.”
See OWLS, page 12
' '
Texas A&M center Jimmie Gilbert (top
right) goes up over the back of a Rice player
Photo by DEAN SAITO
for a tip-in during the Aggies’ 64-52 victory
over the Owls Wednesday night in Houston.
HOUSTON — Somewhere on
Highway 6, Texas A&M guard
Todd Holloway found his jump
shot. After that, the rest was easy as
the Aggies downed the Rice Owls
64-52 Wednesday night.
Holloway, only a 43 percent
shooter through the first 18 games
of the season, hit seven of 10 shots in
the second half as the Aggies ex
panded a four-point halftime lead.
“I got my shot back tonight,” Hol
loway, who finished with 17 points,
said. “Ever since my ankle got hurt,
I’ve been missing my jumper, but
now I feel healthy again.”
“He tested the waters well,” A&M
Head Basketball Coach Shelby Met
calf said of Holloway’s shooting.
“We’re glad he’s coming around, but
Don Marbury’s knee is still a day-to-
day situation. He hasn’t practiced in
quite awhile. He overcomes it with
natural ability, but he’s getting a
little bit rusty.”
The outcome of the game was
never seriously in doubt, once the
Aggies began hitting their shots.
A&M led 30-24 at halftime, despite
hitting just 38 percent from the
field.
“We stayed in the game the first
half by being on the boards and
some good individual moves by Mar-
bury,” Metcalf said. “In the second
half we executed better and our
zone bothered them some. Rice
played more up-tempo than we ex
pected.”
Rice Coach Tommy Suitts said the
Aggies were everything he expected.
“A&M played well, but I expected
them to play well,” Suitts said. “They
were my pre-season choice to crack
the top three in the conference. As
for us, we’re on a roll and rolling the
wrong way.”
Metcalf said it was nice to leave-
Houston with a win, but the sched
ule won’t get any easier.
“I hope this team is getting better
because we are fixin’ to get tested,”
he said. “Now we have to go to
Fayetteville, Dallas and Houston.”
For the Aggies, 14-5 overall and
in second place in the Southwest
Conference at 6-2, the game marked
the first time this season that all
three guards had explosive scoring
nights.
Marbury led A&M with 19 points
and Kenny Brown had 15, but Hol-
Kenny Brown
loway’s rejuvenated jumper was the
talk of Autry Court.
“Holloway really penetrated well
tonight,” said Rice forward Tony
Barnett.
A&M next road encounter comes
Friday night in Fayetteville’s Barn
hill Arena, where the Arkansas Ra-
zorbacks have won 17 straight
games, 45 of their last 46.
“This is a good time to go to Ar
kansas,” Metcalf said. “The weather
will be nasty, their fans will be nasty
and their team’s going to be nasty.
So it looks like its time to go.
“We’ve played well on the road
this year, out playing well on the
road and playing well in a foreign
country are two different things.”
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