Friday, February 28, 1986/The Battalion/Page 9
Sports
Ags still knocking
at SWC title door
A&M takes slim hope to Arkansas
By KEN SURY
Assistant Sports Editor
■ The back door to the Southwest
I,Conference title hasn’t closed on
■exas A&M yet.
■ Although that door isn’t wide
R>en,the Aggies still could share the
SWC championship with current co-
Beaders Texas and TCU il they beat
Arkansas in Barnhill Arena Satur-
Hty. ■"
■ But it's not Basketball
■at simple.
gHBA&M (17-10 overall and 1 1-4 in
[ He SWC) hasn’t beaten Arkansas in
N Fityetteville since 1971. But while the
|R;i/orbacks (12-14 overall and 4-11
■ the SWC) are suffering their
iwbrst season since 1974, the Aggies
iwuii’t he taking them lightly in their
1:0,S p.m. regionally televised con
test.
Vjl“0u r biggest thing right now is to
|| Ht ready for Arkansas,” A&:M
Hard Don Marbury said. “We’ll
U Kled to play smart and play hard.”
■ Butdefeating Arkansas will not be
Hough for A&M to claim the title.
■The Ags need Texas Tech to pull
■other upset as it did Wednesday in
Huiih king of f f ront-runner TCU, (>2-
pl. Tech travels to Austin Sunday to
fpliiv Texas, which hasn't lost a SWC
Maint at home this season.
■A&M also needs Houston to drop
\ TCU to its fourth SWC loss Saturday
in llofheinz Pavilion.
■“Houston’s such an up-and-down
Him this year,” Marbury said.
HCU) could have trouble again
■turday. 1 feel like it's gonna be a
HOnd game.”
■The Cougars may have an added
1 ■■ incentive to beat TCU since it will be
Houston Coach Guy Lewis’ final
|game in Hofheinz Pavilion.
■ But while A&M Coach Shelby
Metcalf knows the possibilities for a
SWC title are there, he said he’ll only
i concern himself wit h Arkansas.
■’(The SWC championship’s) out
of our control,” Metcalf said. “The
— thing you have to consider is that
T(T and Texas haven’t lost a game
at home. We lost a home game and
that’s the dif ference.”
That home game was the Aggies’
58-56 loss to SMU, which started
A&M’s slide from the top of the
SWC to its current third-place status.
“SMU hurt us physically and we
started losing,” A&M guard Todd
Holloway said. “But I think we’re
back together after these last three
wins (over Texas Tech, Houston and
Rice).”
In Wednesday’s game at Autry
Court, the always-voeal Rice stu
dents tiled to help break A&M’s cur
rent win streak through verbal
abuse.
"S-M-U, S-M-U," was one of the
chants the students shouted at Hol-
lowav when he approached the tree-
throw line. Holloway missed the
front-end of a one-and-one at the
end of the SMU game which would
have sent the game into overtime.
But Holloway shrugged off the
shouts as he hit lB-of-14 f ree throws
on the night to help A&M beat Rice,
70-62.
Hollowav and Marbury received a
lot of abuse from the Rice students
due to the pair’s Jan. 16 charge of
marijuana possession in Calvert.
One spectator had a cellophane
bag of f ake marijuana which he con-
tinuallv waxed in the direction of the
two A&M guards.
The Owl fans had a vast reper
toire of chants aimed at Marbury
and Holloway on the night, includ
ing "Junn-kie," “Buss-ted,” “Hunts
ville" and “Micheal Rav,” the latter
in reference to the NBA’s disqualifi
cation of New Jersey Net Micheal
Rax Richardson for using cocaine.
But Wednesday’s abuse was only a
prelude to what the Aggies can ex
pert in Arkansas. The weather in the
()/.arks isn't always hospitable for
airplane landings and the Barnhill
Arena f ans aren’t ex e/ hospitable to
opponents.
"You knoxv sometimes getting in
and out of Fayetteville is tougher
than plaxing the Razorbacks,” Met
calf said.
Photo by DEAN SAITO
A&M’s Jimmie Gilbert moves in position for a Cashaw Wednesday night. The Aggies close the
shot, despite pressure from Rice’s Terrence SWC regular season against Arkansas Saturday.
Lady Ags gun
for upset in
the Ozarks
By DOUG HALL
Sports Writer
Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. game be-
txveen Texas A&M and Arkansas has
all the makings of a great basketball
game:
• Location — The fourth-place
Ladv Aggies
(16-11,‘9-6)
must travel to
Fayetteville,
Ark., in the
heart of the Ozark Mountains, to
play the third-place Arkansas Lady
Razorbacks, who are 10-1 in Barnhill
Arena this season.
Women’s
Basketball
• Importance — Arkansas (20-6,
12-3) still has a chance of moving
into second place and thus receiving
an opening round bye in next week’s
SWC postseason tournament in Dal
las.
A&M is trying to end its second
season under Coach Lynn Hickey
with momentum going into the con
ference tourney.
• Revenge — The Lady Ags are
out to avenge their 74-65 loss at the
hands of the Razorbacks earlier this
season in G. Rollie White Coliseum.
A&M went into the locker room at
the half leading 37-28, but suffered
through a second-half lapse which
allowed Arkansas to rally for the
win.
A&M Assistant Coach Eileen Fee
ney said the Lady Ags have taken
several steps in this xveek’s workouts
to prevent another UA comeback,
y “Arkansas is similar to Texas
T ech on offense because they are
very patient,” Feeney said. “So xve
have been working on adjusting our
defenses. Every time (UA) comes
down the floor, we’ll give them a
new look.”
Arkansas Assistant Coach Don
Paul said the A&M game also is im
portant for his team.
“We think (the Lady Aggies) are
playing a lot better now than when
xve played them earlier this year,”
Paul said. “We’re not taking (A&M)
lightly.
“Their girls are probably think
ing, ‘Hey, we know we can beat
them.’ They have to be fired up.”
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