â– 
Monday, March 4, 1985/The Battalion/Page 13
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Tech, Myers bask
in SWC sunshine
Ags accomplish mission #1
Associated Press
â– Texas Tech Coach Gerald Myers
was savoring his team’s first South
west Conference basketball title in
12 years today, getting his suit dried
out, and giving himself 24 more
hours to enjoy the Red Raiders’ re
markable resurgence.
KTech’s 61-53 victory over T exas
Christian on Saturday produced an
outright title and the Red Raiders’
first 20-victory season sinc/s 1977,
only the sixth in the history of the
school.
■“I’m not even going to think about
the conference tournament until
Monday," Myers said. “We won our
game against SMU (last Wednesday)
and really didn’t get to enjoy it be-
case we had this one (TCU) coming
up and wanted to concentrate on it.
Pewant to enjoy it.”
â–  Arkansas, Texas A&M and SMU
all linished in a three-way tie for sec
ond place with 10-6 records by vir
tue of SMU’s loss to Houston. The
Mustangs finished the regular sea
son by losing six of their last nine
games.
â–  In other games on Saturday,
A&M crushed Rice 79-62 to clinch
the No. 4 seed in the tournament
while Arkansas ripped Baylor 106-
71 Sunday, Houston ambushed
MU, 79-76.
â–  Texas Tech, picked in the presea
son to finish fourth behind SMU,
Houston, and Arkansas bounced
TCU, then gave their coach a
shower with his suit on.
“It was worth it,” beamed Myers.
“It’s a great feeling to win the
championsnip,” Myers said. “We
came into the game wanting to win it
outright and were able to do that.
“I’m happy for our fans and play
ers who nave wiated a long time
since we did this last and I’m glad
that we’ve been able to give them
something they can enjoy.
“It was a great reward for our se
niors who worked hard and have
gone through some tough times.
That was the big thing to me, we
won it for those guys.”
Tech finished its regular season at
20-7 and posted a 12-4 league re
cord. TCU fell to 8-8 in SWC play
and is 16-11 going into the tourna
ment.
TCU Coach Jim Killingsworth
said the Red Raiders were “a deserv
ing champion.”
“They beat everybody else so they
ought to be the champion,” Kill
ingsworth said. “They play mighty
tough defense.”
Vince Taylor, who had a game-
high 15 points for the Red Raiders
said: “It’s really hard to believe we
did this,” said Taylor. “We always
had the confidence we could do it
but we just had to go out and prove
it.”
’85 SWC Tourney Format
Here are the Southwest Conference Post-Season Basketball Classic
pairings for this coming weekend with each team’s tournament seeding
in parentheses:
Friday, March 8 — Reunion Arena — Dallas
12:08 p.m. — (1) Texas Tech vs. (8) Baylor
2:08 p.m. — (4) Texas A&M vs. (5) Texas Christian
7:08 p.m. — (2) Arkansas vs. (7) Texas
9:08 p.m. — (3) Southern Methodist vs. (6) Houston
Saturday, March 9— Reunion Arena — Dallas
1:08 p.m. — Tech-Baylor winner vs. A&M-TCU winner
3:08 p.m. — SMU-Houston winner vs. Arkansas-Texas winner
Sunday, March 10— Reunion Arena — Dallas
1:08 p.m. — SWC Tourney Championship Game
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Assistant Sports Editor
Before the season began, the
Texas A&M men’s basketball team
wanted to finish in the top three of
the Southwest Conference.
Mission accomplished.
“I’m very pleased with an 18-9 re
cord with the schedule we played,”
said A&M Coach Shelby Metcalf af
ter the Aggies stumpped Rice 79-62
Saturday night. “It’s a tribute to this
team of fine young men. This is the
only way to end the season. It was a
great win for us.”
However, after three blown
chances to sit alone at the top, the
Aggies must now look toward win
ning the SWC tournament, which
would give the Ags an automatic
NCAA bid. An NCAA or NIT bid
was another of the Aggies’ goals be
fore the season.
Mission yet to be accomplished.
“I think we should get an NCAA
bid,” Metcalf said. “I’ve been disap
pointed when I hear about only two
schools from this conference being
invited. I think (the SWC) should get
at least three or four bids to the
NCAA. It’s really out of the coaches’
hands. But, I think we should get at
least four teams.”
The Aggies finished the season
tied for second in the SWC with Ar
kansas and SMU with a 10-6 record.
A&M will be seeded fourth in the
tournament because it lost two
games against both SMU and Arkan
sas.
Friday at 12:08 p.m., the Aggies
will began the search for the second
goal, winning the SWC tournament,
when they take on TCU in Dallas’
Reunion Arena.
“I think everybody is playing toge
ther,” said A&M forward Kenny
Brown, who led the Aggies with 22
points. “It has been a team effort.
Our goal is to win the tournament
and get a NCAA bid.
“I think (the NCAA) will take
about three or four Southwest Con
ference teams. If we get in the finals
(of the SWC tournament), I think we
will get a bid. I think we can get into
the finals, but we just have to take
them one at a time/’
Brown said Saturday night’s win
got the momentum rolling back in
the right direction. The Aggies have
suffered through a slump the last
two weeks. The win over Rice was
the second straight for the Ags after
they lost three of four SWC games,
putting them out of contention for
the regular season title.
“(The Rice win) will start another
good note for us,” Brown said.
“TCU will be a great game for us.
We know they will be ready for us
and of course we will be ready for
them. (The Rice win) will build a lot
of confidence for us.”
With no shot clock at the SWC
tournament (the teams usually have
45 seconds to shoot the ball), Metcalf
expects the Horned Frogs to stall the
ball.
“TCU will sit on the ball without
the clock at the tournament,” Met
calf said. “It’s going to be a tough
game. They have great perimeter
shooting so we will have to play them
man-to-man.
“Without the clock, everybody is
going to have to go in and put a de
lay in their game. It will change the
complection of the game.”
Guard Todd Holloway, who had
20 points, said the Rice victory will
keep the Aggies rolling toward their
goals.
“We’re 2-0 (after consecutive wins
over Houston and Rice),” Holloway
said. “We hope this will start another
string of wins for us. This will get
things started.”
Rice Head Coach Tommy Suitts
agreed the Aggies have a good
chance in the tournament.
> “A&M played very well,” Suitts
said. “I was very impressed with the
way they played. They had emotion,
enthusiasm and intensity. They have
good players and they played a good
ball game.
“I hope they play as well in the
post-season tournament, since they
are capable of earning a (NCAA or
NIT) post-season bid.”
Forward Winston Crite, who
broke the A&M block shot season re
cord when he recorded five blocked
shots against Rice, said the Ags have
are in good shape to win the tourna
ment.
“We want to be on a roll going
into the tournament,” Crite said.
“Since we won our last home game,
Photo by DEAN SAITO
Rice’s Greg Hines charges into Texas A&M’s Mike Clifford
(25) during Saturday night’s game at G. Rollie White Col
iseum. The Aggies charged past the Owls 79-62 to force a
three-way tie for second place in the Southwest Conference.
we are on a roll. We have as good a
chance as anyone to win the tourna
ment.”
Brown said skill wasn’t the only
reason the Aggies won.
“Coach Metcalf had a lucky rab
bit,” Brown said. “I rubbed it a cou
ple of times and that helped.”
If the lucky rabbit helps this week
end, the Aggies will have accom
plished all their preseason goals.
Mission Impossible? Not quite.
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