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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1998)
[hursday • February 19, 1998 The Battalion RT S ethi ggies match record of futility with 4th consecutive loss, 87-74 to Texas ggies unable to overcome size isadvantage in loss to Texas 'le '.I S By Chris Ferrell Staff writer I AUSTIN —You can say it’s just Stereotype. You can even deny it. lit last night in Austin, the Texas bnghorns proved that size really pes matter. It was a revelation that became ^infully evident to the Texas !iM Basketball Team as Texas bminated the paint to cruise to 187-74 victory over the Aggies at \e Frank Erwin Center. UT’s 7-foot freshman Chris |ihm, who gave the Longhorns 18I-8O win over A&M in College lation two weeks ago on a layup |ith 15 seconds left, once again proved to be more than A&M could handle. Mihn lead the long horns with 25 points, 15 re bounds, and five blocks. It was his presence under the basket along with A&M’s inability to finish that proved to be the biggest differ ence in the game. “Oh, he’s a pro,” Coach Tony Barone said. “He’s going to be a pro. The thing about Mihm that I like is offensively, he creates space against you. “They have a very nice post-up game. The balance between what they do in the perimeter and on the inside gives them the poten tial to be a good team.” The Aggies were outsized from §1131 aw nswi RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion iFreshman Michael Schmidt scored 21 points for the undersized Aggies. the very beginning. As has been the case all season, the Aggies were limited by in juries. A&M’s starting lineup fea tured 6-foot-8-inch freshman Aaron Jack, normally a power for ward matched up against Mihm. Senior Larry Thompson con tributed 14 rebounds and 13 points off the bench, but foul trouble in the first half limited what the 6-foot-9-inch center could do in the post. “We got in some foul trouble and I wasn’t really able to play him physically. The refs gave us lots of charges.” The only other Aggies over 6- feet-5-inches were freshman guard Michael Schmidt, who once again showed what an amazing upside he has with 21 points and three steals and junior forward Shanne Jones, the team’s leading scorer. Jones had some offensive success in the paint, scoring 14 of his team high 23 points on layups. By contrast, the Longhorns' shortest starter was 6-foot-4-inch Chico Vasquez. Their starting two guard, 6-foot-9-inch freshman Luke Axtell, was taller than the Aggies’ starting center. The out-manned Aggies, who only played six players, were forced to be less aggressive to try and keep out of further foul trou ble. This, along with Mihm’s roaming of the paint, caused A&M trouble underneath. “They really rebounded well in the first half, they really hurt us in the paint,” Barone said. (Sopho more forward Nnadubem) Muoneke, Mihm, and ( junior Kris) Clack got a couple of easy baskets and that really hurt us.” Texas outscored the Aggies by a margin of 56-36 in the paint as A&M went 20-for-37 from the lane (9 for 22) in the second half when Texas blew the game open). Much of the Longhorns’ damage during that run came from underneath on layups and dunks. And whether the Aggies want to admit it or not, size really did matter in the end. Jeff Schmidt Staff writer AUSTIN — It was business as usual last night in Austin as the University of Texas Men’s Bas ketball Team cruised past a be leaguered Texas A&M team for the tenth straight time, 87-74. The ten straight victories are a Texas record. Junior forward Shanne Jones led the Aggies once again with 23 points. Senior forward Larry Thompson had his fifth double double of the year with 13 points and 14 rebounds. True freshman Michael Schmidt continues to come into his own, scoring 21 points on 8 of 15 shooting. Schmidt is averaging 20 points in his last three games. The Aggies also shot a season-low 36 percent from the free-throw line. The Longhorns were led by true freshman center Chris Mihm, who scored 25 points and 15 rebounds. The Aggies, who only used six players, were worn down by the Longhorns up-tempo game and depth. They used eight players for most of the game and emptied the bench with one minute left. The Longhorns shot 70 percent from the floor in the second half, tying the third highest percentage under Coach Tom Penders. The Aggies cut the Longhorns lead to four points by the end of the first half, but Texas went on an 18 to 6 run to start the second half to put A&M away. The Ag gies would not get any closer than 11 points for the rest of the game. The Longhorns would ::: ■ RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion Aggies’ Coach Tony Barone had a hard time competing with a limited bench. ‘‘We’re playing with a limited number of play ers. They got a lead and we couldn’t come back.” — Tony Barone Men's Basketball Coach then use there superior depth and size (see sidebar) to hold on for the victory. “I thought we made a great run to get it to four. The key was that they (Texas) rebounded well tonight. We ran pretty well with them in the first half, but their depth obviously bothered us in the second half. We looked a little lethargic to start the second half,” Coach Tony Barone said. “Their inside and outside bal ance makes them a potentially dangerous team. They will make some noise in the conference tournament if they are shooting the three with consistency,” Barone said. Schmidt saw the Aggies’ lack of depth as a problem in the loss. “We’re playing with a limited number of players. They got a lead and we couldn’t come back. They made their shots, we missed ours,” Schmidt said. Texas center Chris Mihm felt the key to the win was the spurt at the beginning of the second half. “Coach Penders always em phasizes to come out strong in the first five minutes of the sec ond half. Today we came out fir ing because we didn’t want an other close game (in reference to the first game at Texas A&M),” Mihm said. The Aggies were unable to ral ly the team for a victory follow ing Barone’s reassignment as coach. Texas Coach Tom Penders has grown close 1(5 Barone, and despite the rivalry, he i^ sorry to see Barone go. “I feel for him. I’m sorry he’s not going to be the coach at A&M. We go at it as hard as we can when we play,” Penders said. “I would like to see A&M have a good pro gram. The kids on this (Texas) team have a lot of respect for the Aggies and it was a said evening to know that he’s going to be gone.” With wins Wednesday night by Iowa State, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, the Aggies are still in last place. The Aggies host Texas Tech Sat urday with a 12:45 tipoff. omen’s team shocks Longhorns, 86-68 lharpe’s, Alexander’s double-doubles lead way for Aggies despite 33 points by Texas’ Jackson p jm- Wmm 1 ' Hi ^ WmmmL -mm jy ” pm •A I k I il||!l& , j it ' . \9 mm m ItSI ««« w i® «f ■ Jv. s Ml BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion Phomore Prissy Sharpe tallied her 15th double-double of the season. By Michael Taglienti Staff writer The Texas A&M Women’s Bas ketball Team (7-16, 3-10) defeated the University of Texas 86-68 Wednesday night at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Aggies used their su perior quickness to dominate a slower Texas team. Aggie sophomore forward Prissy Sharpe hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 to end a first half that saw the lead change hands 14 differ ent times. The Aggies started the sec ond half with a 5-0 run to take a lead they would never relinquish. A&M outscored Texas 46-28 in the second half. Sharpe said the difference in the second half was the team’s pressure defense, and their will to win. “I think we just turned up the heat and they buckled,” Sharpe said. “We started pressing and we started getting rebounds. We turned it on and they folded.” Texas A&M Coach Candi Har vey was extremely pleased with the team’s play. “I’m as proud of this team tonight as I’ve ever been in my coaching career,” Harvey said. “This is what you dream about. A young team putting it all together, and tak ing all that practice and all that hard work, and making it work for them.” Texas Coach Jody Conradt was impressed with A&M’s play. “I thought A&M played extreme ly well,” Conradt said. “They did a lot of things that hurt us, and we didn’t respond.” Coming into the game, Harvey wanted to use the quickness of A&M’s guards to make up Texas’ size advantage. The Aggies ran a three-guard offense and pressed for most of the game, forcing Texas into 20 turnovers. “We did what we do best, and that is run the ball, penetrate, and use our quickness,” Harvey said. “We pressed for 40 minutes, and that is the first time we’ve done that, and it was very effective. I felt like it wore them down, and we got our transition game going a little bit in the second half.” Sophomore forward Kera Alexander said that this win was a total team effort. “Every person on our team con tributed and to have a team win, every person feels good about themselves coming out of the win, and that’s the best way to win. It felt good because everyone felt like they contributed something to the game, and that makes you feel good be cause you know as a team you beat them, and that’s the best feeling.” “Everybody came off the bench and contributed,” Harvey said. “It was truly a team win.” Longhorn senior center Angela Jackson scored a career high 36 points against the Aggies, but A&M’s superior perimeter defense held the Texas guards to 15 percent shooting (3 for 20) and 10 total points on the night. Harvey came into the game wanting to contain Jackson, and shutdown the rest of the Texas team. Harvey thought the mmt ^ * Hi (jgi L I mm V\ " If ^ v ^ ISP I®' '"iiAkti ISSIl'i/'y ^ BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion Sophomore Kera Alexander has been hot of late for the women’s team. Aggies succeeded in this area. “Jackson had a great game but Jackson couldn’t beat us by herself, and that is basically what she would have to have done tonight because we did such a great job on every body else,” Harvey said. Despite the Longhorns’ height advantage, the Aggies were able to keep Texas off the boards. A&M out rebounded Texas 43-32 in the game after getting out rebounded 45-27 in a loss to Texas in Austin earlier in the year. Sharpe led four Aggies in dou ble figures including Alexander with 17 points, junior point guard Kim Tarkington with 16 points, and freshman point guard Brandy Jones with 10 points. Sharpe had 13 rebounds along with her 29 points, giving her 15 double-dou bles on the season. Sharpe leads the Big 12 in this category. The loss leaves Texas at 10-13 on the season, 5-8 in Big 12 play. The Aggies’ next game is Satur day in Lubbock against Texas Tech.