ember 26. Sports KTuesday, November 26,1991 The Battalion Page 3 id Sister Hospital ar: signs for S: ; cas •ged that if.. >t havethi: nt. were anyari previously! r for the ir|| n should hi te and that: i. eate new I . can go m: here's theif for the pfc sr, argued! ral's poweir which is ic oved the nap. eUM tR ec. 1 ; for each n. I ox Offi ce Manager Heck >gener Steve O'Brien Asst. Sports Editor Texas presents little challenge to SWC champs I f the Aggies are true champions, they'll kick the Texas Longhorns all the way back Austin. This is the time of the year when cellar-dwellers try to make their sea sons by beating a top gun. A&M is the top gun and the Longhorns, for all practical purposes, are the cellar dwellars. And Texas isn't carrying a 5-5 record by accident. They're a bad ex cuse for a football team. The Longhorn defense is good — one of the best — and they have the potential of keeping the Aggies and quarterback Bucky Richardson in check. But don't count on it. Much like Oklahoma, Michigan and Washing ton, the Longhorn defense relies on size to control opposing offenses. Size is good, but speed will win out every time. If you can't catch me, you don't scare me. The Longhorn defense is good, though. It's just that they aren't good enough. They can't overcome a Texas offense that would have trouble scor ing in Las Vegas. I'm not saying Longhorn quarter back Peter Gardere isn't a good quar terback. That's much easier said. Pe ter Gardere is not a good quarterback. And what about Butch Hadnot? If he's the next Earl Campbell, I'm the next Ernest Hemingway. Move See O’Brien/ Page 4 Aggies win opener, 83-56 Barone wins first game as Aggie's coach By Anthony Andro The Battalion First-year Texas A&M head coach Tony Barone happily addressed reporters after his team had won its season opener against Prairie View A&M Monday night in G. Rollie White Coliseum. Across the cluttered media room lay reminders of the basketball program's past. Under one table hid one of the most ironic reminders — a media guide with former A&M coach Kermit Davis Jr.'s im age beeming across the cover. Perhaps it was a sign that the short and turbulent Davis era had been swept under the table, and the Barone era had begun. The new coach had his players run ning on all cylinders. A&M controlled the entire game and easily defeated the Pan thers 83-56. Barone was pleased with his team's performance. "This is a great win for us," Barone said. "It establishes something for our kids. I'm over the winning and losing. I think I know how to handle it. "Young kids don't really understand it and it's very difficult to tell them they played hard, they played but they lost. To get a win for us is a great opportunity for these kids to build on it." The Panthers jumped out to an early 6-4 lead, but that would be their only lead. A Chuck Henderson three-pointer would give the Aggies a lead they would never relinquish. A streaking Aggie squad put together runs of nine, eight and six points in the first half to open up a halftime lead of 39- 23. The Aggies outhustled and outsmus- cled the Panthers. Most of the hustling was done by KARL STOLLEIS/ The Battalion Texas A&M point guard David Edwards has his shot blocked by Prairie View A&M's Daryl Pope Monday night in the Aggies 83-56 season-opening victory. Pope was called for a foul on the play. sophomore point guard David Edwards. Edwards tied a school record for steals in a game with nine. Former A&M basket ball player Darryl McDonald set the record against Southern Methodist Uni versity in 1988. Edwards led the Aggies with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. "Our first two games were good be cause they were competitive," Edwards said. "It made us ready for a team like Prairie View with their run and gun of fense." Barone was impressed by the play of A&M's point guard. "The key stat tonight were the number of steals he had compared to the number of fouls he had," Barone said. "I thinks that's a big issue. "I thought he got us going in terms of finishing the break. When he plays with in himself, I think he's as fine of point guard I have seen in a long time." The muscle came in the rebounding department. The Aggies were out-re bounded in their two preseason losses but controlled the boards against the Pan thers, winning the battle of the boards, 40- 32. The Aggies ended any chance of a Panther comeback early in the second half. A 21-5 run gave A&M a 60-28 lead. Prairie View did not score its first points of the second half until more than four minutes had gone by. After the run, the teams battled back and forth with neither team controlling the tempo. The Aggies shot 48 percent from the field and held the Panthers to 36 percent. Eleven A&M players scored in tne game. Damon Johnson and David Martin each scored 13 points. Chuck Henderson and Matt Haralson each contributed 10. Johnson said he had something to prove last night. "After the exhibition season, I Wasn't nervous at all," Johnson said. "I came out and wanted to show everybody why I was recruited by Texas A&M. "The first two games were a testing See Victory/ Page 4 Receive a gift from Post Oak Mall just for shopping early! When you shop early for the holidays at Post Oak Mall, save your receipts because we have a gift for you. Bring in your mall receipts totalling at least$150 to the mall Customer Service Booth and receive a handsome personal daily planner! Bring in your mall receipts totalling $300 or more and receive an exquisite crystal picture frame! Just for shopping with us. But HURRY! These gifts will disappear in a twinkle! u/is/ve^... OST OAK MALL WHERE YOUR HOLIDAY WISHES COME TRUE TEXAS 6 BYPASS AT HWY 30 / COLLEGE STATION Offer good while supplies last. Choose one per shopper, please. Receipts must be dated November 22, 1991 or later.