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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1985)
(SPORTS Wednesday. February |3. igS^TheBawalinn/P^. Ivv OC0l^ J lm L «^ l l|, shnienij / Vankinju, accused into ‘ nv asiot; I wurcesB |' | ate Am I c each aii. “rines foij! > handleii-. I se ph Mfl* W Manse I of the On' J 1 '’ onlv tt lioins ar paociffl J s( 'lcliena lined, aiuli | ''entencK; e<i fromi |‘ said j. J discuss s P theviKtit krmycaiii| ncalfs aJ ^llen | the fact that he hot anti'Ei linted in Thet Ags hoping to corral un-stable Mustangs By BRANDON RF.RRV •••• : — —• ...... . if Photo by DEAN SAITO A&M’s Don Marbury (3) takes a baseline jumper between three Baylor defenders during last Wednesday’s game. By BRANDON BERRY Sports Writer “We’re gonna be the dog, no doubt about it,” said Texas A&M Head Basketball Coach Shelby Met calf about tonight’s showdown against No. 9 SMU in Dallas. “But why bother to play the game t h^ re s not the chance of an upset. What I want everyone to under stand about the game is that it’s an important game, but it’s February and it’s an important game. People can’t lose sight of the fact that the guys had to play well in December and January to play in a big game in February. “It’s an important game, but our guys just need to level off and play well the rest of the way, regardless of whether we win the game or not.” The question of an A&M victory could be far more important in late February and early March. The Ag gies’ currently occupy second place in the Southwest Conference stand ings with a 7-3 record, 15-6 overall. A win over the Mustangs would cat apult A&M into first place with only five games remaining in the regular season. NCAA tournament bids are auto matically extended to conference champions and at-large bids are given to the runners-up with the best season records. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t an Td tying if I said it wasn’t an important game. But what’s even more im portant is that it would give our players a real confidence boost/’ A&M’s Shelby Metcalfs thoughts on tonight’s SM V game in Dallas important game,’’ Metcalf said. “But what’s even more important is that it would give our players a real confi dence boost. ox it s a real important game for SMU, too.” . I hese days, every game is impor tant for SMU. The two-game confer ence lead it enjoyed a week ago has been reduced to ti mere half-game after close losses to Arkansas and last-place Baylor. Sandwich in an overtime defeat to North Carolina State on national television and the Mustangs are in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Those are much tougher times than SMU, ranked No. 2 a few weeks ago, is accustomed to. “They’ve been on the road for all three games,” Metcalf said. “They still haven t lost at home this season. ‘ 1 hey’re a fine ball-club, a real tine ball-club. They have a seven- footer (Jon Koncak), and Carl Wright and Larry Davis are out standing. And that Butch Moore is just a stud for them. He’s the glue that keeps that team together.” But Koncak is usually the Mus- tang that tears his opponents apart Koncak averages 17.8 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. He scored 31 points against traditional power house North Carolina and almost single-handedly beat the Aggies down the stretch in College Station. “We were able to keep him under control for most of the game here, but we were helped by Carl Wright missing his outside shots,” Metcalf said. “You can’t count on that to happen twice. “We need to plan on SMU being ready to play as well as they are capa- ble of playing, and we have to be just a litile bit better. I hey may be upset about losing to the last-place team in the conference, but I saw that game and SMU didn’t play badly. Baylor just played a great game. “But that game is indicative of wha( the entire league is like this yeat, he continued, “Everyone’s tough, from top to bottom. You can’t slow down or somebody’s likely to reach up and bite you. Maybe we can do it to SMU.” Anything s possible, especially if every dog truly does have his day. Photo by DEAN SAITO Texas A&M center Jimmie Gilbert (30) will get to match up once again tonight with one of the nation’s premier college centers, SMU’s 7-foot Goliath, Jon Koncak (53). Jled itslm |lf, the Nr bring bns bad. Iliar wilt pphies i ^ be bron [■re disaki; pility for led its ling the McNat. the M peculiar lese metiKf ey were pc lent, Meta liis superr ild, AtlaiS ..cv^Lu^tainometnisseason. every dog truly does have his dav n f Zur / . / |» f 7 * *y uoes nave ms day. Goliath, Jon Koncak (53). ^ d £ as ^ in 9 in most blue chips in recruiting game Moore, more than one blue chin commit- . ^ ^ ICU, with commitments from four Texas blue chip football players and a chance at a~frfth player from the elite list, held the early recruiting lead over the other eight Southwest Lonference schools going into to- | day s NLA A national signing day. j TCU Coach Jim Wacker, whose Horned f rogs were the surprise team of the SWC last season with an o-3 record and Bluebonnet Bowl ap pearance, has carried that same mo mentum into the recruiting season. But the state’s No. 1 blue chip prospect. Bay City wide receiver Hart Lee Dykes, is expected to ex tend the suspense right down to the wire with recruiters from Texas A&M, Illinois and Oklahoma still hoping for his signature. KT J A 0 f a y is the first day under NCAA rules that colleges can offi cially sign high school athletes to scholarship agreements. Schools are able to obtain non-binding commit ments prior to Feb. 12. Wacker has commitments from a list of 28 recruits headed by Jasper wide receiver Reggie Davis, Huf fman running back Greg Moore, Houston Madison quarterback Ron- ald Jiles and Fort Worth Eastern Hills defensive tackier Mitchell Ben son. The Frogs, who have never signed four blue chippers in the 20-year history of the Dallas Times Herald’s annual list, also are still in the run ning for a fifth blue! chipper, wide receiver Jarrod Delaney of Houston Madison, Delaney reportedly was still con sidering Miami and TCU. SMU, the only SWC school with more than one blue chip commit ment, is hoping to sign a pair of Cor sicana players, running back Bill Jones and linebacker Robert Mc- Dade. The remaining five SWC schools, Arkansas, Houston, A&M, Rice and Texas 7 ech, went into the signing date with no blue chip commitments. Out-of-state recruiters once again have drawn heavily on the state’s schoolboy talent, gaining verbal commitments from three blue chip talents and they have a chance to e^et three others today. |e “caul* I of Mctdl jthat hell J and sew In could® Ivasion, Mij Jnity chief!? lurface APOLLO HAIR RESTORATION/ REPLACEMENT CLINIC OF HOUSTON TOTAL HAIR RESTORATION ™ ★Minoxidil Physician Supervised ★ Hair Progression: Step-by-step ★Derma N/acuum™ The Ultimate Replacement ★ Select your own program with health professionals dedicated to meeting your needs. Call 409-846-4080 1842 Greenfield Plaza Blue chippers already committed to out of state schoqjs include Aldine MacArthur tackle Michael Babi- neaux, Louisiana State; Houston Westbury defensive back Kevin Thompson, Oklahoma and Houston Madison defensive end Broderick I homas, Nebraska. The three remaining uncom mitted blue chippers all have non- l^exas schools on their shopping In addition to Dykes and Delaney, Gainesville s Dante Williams is con- step 2 (5 months)! Step 3 (8 months) Hours By Appointment Bryan, Texas 77802 sidering Ohio State, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Moore, who rushed for 5,578 yards and scored 59 touchdowns during his high school career, was the latest member of the schoolboy elite to verbally commit to the Horned Frogs. “I think they are going to explode in another year or two and when they do, I want to be in the middle of it,” Moore said. 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