t “ J 1 - J 7 ^ Sports (Aggies stun SWC, rock favorites to grab early lead Hogs latest A&M victim ; Uf By Anthony Wilson aiUK Sports Writer The Texas A&M men’s basketball ||§eam sent a message that rang loud 1 - and true to the rest of the Southwest ^ Conference Saturday afternoon with '"H a 74-67 victory over Arkansas in G. ’ ^ Rollie White Coliseum, ili'tjp. The Aggies, who were picked to “ Q finish near or at the bottom of the ffLi SWC but now are alone in First place V"f * uh a 3-0 conference record, refuse to be taken lightly this season. ^ ^ To prove it they have begun an as sault on a conference that has seen its top three teams, SMU, Baylor and ^ Arkansas, fall to them, vote /: These guys’ toughness could be Compared to one of Sly Stallone’s 511 most popular movie characters. Just 15 ^ call these guys the Slambos of the « swc. “I just hope we can keep it going a Coach Sheltr A&M Head Coach Shelby Metcalf Said. “We’ve got a good chemistry on this team, and we’ve played hard. But we’ve got to bust our tails to compete, and so far we’ve been able to do that.” Four Aggies scored in double Fig- res, led by junior center Doug Den nis’ 22 points on a blistering 7-of-9 noting from the field and 8-of-8 om the free throw line. I Donald Thompson chipped in 17 r aints and 10 rebounds, Freddie icks got 16 points and 7 assists, and ftParryl McDonald added 10 points, igPicluding two crucial second-half three-pointers. 0 A&M looked to be in over their heads early when Arkansas jumped Out to a 12-4 lead five minutes into the game. But A&M’s defense toughened, holding the Razorbacks to six points over the next five min utes and forcing Arkansas’ 6-foot- 11, 250-pound center Andrew Lang to pick up his third foul. During that same stretch, the 6- foot-8 Dennis scored 10 of A&M’s 13 points, including a 12-foot jumper to give the Aggies their first lead, 17- 16. A&M seemed to be in trouble again at the 7:58 mark when Mc Donald slithered into the lane be tween defenders and was whistled for his third foul when he went up for the shot. But the Aggie offense didn’t miss a beat with “D-Mack” on the bench. Dennis and Thompson combined for eight of A&M’s final 13 points in the first half. A&M trailed 37-33 at halftime. The Hogs dominated inside and improved their lead to 43-35 with Lang back in the game to start the second half. Ricks closed the gap to four points a minute later by canning a three- point shot. At 12:13 Arkansas’ Ron Huery hit a 21-foot three pointer, putting the Hogs up 52-46. McDon ald responded 20 seconds later with his own 22-foot three pointer. A&M garnered its first second half lead, 55-54, at 8:18 on a pair of Ricks free throws. Arkansas never had another lead, but the two teams were tied three times in the next three minutes. The Aggies moved ahead for good at 4:59 on a 10-foot baseline jumper by Dennis. McDonald fol lowed with his second three pointer to seal the game. How? Anyone’s guess By Hal. L. Hammons Assistant Sports Editor Southern Methodist. Baylor. And now Arkansas. Let’s face it, sports fans — Aggie basketball is alive and well and raising . . . well, eyebrows. For those of you who may have been in Viewpoint Aspen the past few weeks — or Photo by Robert W. Rizzo Texas A&M forward Doug Dennis looks to pass the ball in the Ag gies’ 74-67 upset of Arkansas Saturday at G. Rollie White Col- iseum.Dennis scored 22 points in the game, as Texas A&M com pleted a sweep of the three Southwest Conference favorites. those who stop keeping up with col lege spots at about 11:30 p.m. New Year’s Day — let me explain: a bud ding juggernaut is forming in G. Rollie White Coliseum. Maybe the Aggie hoopsters think they’re at the Cotton Bowl. Practically everyone who thought they knew what they were talking about figured Texas A&M would sweep its first three games in confer ence, all right. With three losses. Can you blame them? Remember the teams under consideration. SMU was the one that beat Top 10 team Florida and almost beat North Carolina as well. It was the one that trounced A&M in' Hawaii the week before conference started. Baylor was the one that returned practically everyone from the team that almost won the SWC last year. Arkansas was the one everybody admitted had more talent than any body else. And yet the Aggies beat them. T hey beat them all. It wouldn’t be strange if the team had turned out to be substantially different from the one projected to Finish anywhere between fifth and eighth in an admittedly average con ference. Let’s face it: A&M was not exactly a lock in the war for tins . Southwest Conference crown. Mone - , like obvious competitors in the battle for the basement. But is the team that much differ- « ent from the one people expected to’ Z see? ‘ Z Before the season people saw the- * Aggies as a team with: no age, no ex- penence, no height, no rebounding',' Z no shooting, no ball-handling (other ‘ than Darryl McDonald), no depth, ;*• no leadership and, in a nutshell, np - chance. t Now, tell me what of that doesn’t | apply now? And yet the team is the ily i only unbeaten team in the confer--*'■' ence. ^ > The best thing you can say abopi S' A&M’s offense is that it doesn’t look * “Whooda thunkit?” — anonymous Aggie aftet;^ the A&M-Arkansas gam^ absolutely terrible very often. Fre quently it looks organized, and the stupid turnovers are getting fewer and further between. Pretty hefty praise, huh? The shining aspect of the team is- definitely its defense. Against Ar kansas, ranked second in the confer ence with a 52 percent field goal rate, the Aggies looked like the NCAA on SMU football. The Razorbacks shot 38.8 per cent, including a 34.3 percent ratio in the second half. They were 8 fdr 31 from more than 10 feet outsidh. See Aggies, page 16 Top 10 of ’87 he year’s headliners in Texas A&M sports By Hal. L. Hammons Assistant Sports Editor Well, 1987 is over, and it was an unprecidented one in terms of Ag gies in sports news. In sports rang- i n g fro softball to Analysis m t o draft-day poli tics, Texas A&M athletes found their names springing up iq newspapers and magazines across the nation. • - -0,,: It was not easy, but. I have chosen my “Top 10 Headline Makers of 1987.” Your rankings may vary. 10. Scott Livingstone Livingston^ led the Aggie baseball team to the Southwest Conference tournament championship and within a game of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The team was eliminated by eventual champion Oklahoma State. Livingstone was taken by Oakland in the draft and starred on the U.S. Pan American Games baseball team over the summer, which won the sil ver medal. “Stone,” alter stating he would not return for his senior year at A&M, announced later he would play for the Aggies in 1988 after all. 9. John Roper Even A&M Defensive Coordina tor R.C. Slocum was surprised at the progress the junior linebacker made this year. Roper earned the full-time job after sharing it with Steve Bullett in 1986 and proceeded to terrorize opponents’ backfields all year. ESP^< viewers across the country will hdt soon forget the picture of Roper driving Louismha State quar- terback Tom Hodson to the ground in the second quarter of the Aggies’ season opener. Hodson wobbled off the field groggily, and Roper popped off the ground with blood gushing from his face. Roper re ceived four stitches in his nose and played the entire second halt. Roper was the consensus choice for SWC Defensive Player of the Year and made many first-team All- America lists. See Top 10, page 16 ;s out «» es idec : plenty c e pit’ latett 1 ? Spring All-University Night * Introduction of Athletes * Yell Practice Monday, Jan. 18,1988 7:30 p.m. @ G. Rollie White AEROBICS & TANNING LOWEST RATES!