The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 27, 1998, Image 8

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    j
Sports
Friday • February 27, ll
Turn out the lights, the agony’s ovei
Last game at G. Rollie White brings closure to an A&M era, miserable season for men’s basketball tea
Jeff Schmidt
Staff writer
The Texas A&M Men’s Basket
ball Team (6-19, 0-15) will host the
Baylor Bears (13-12, 8-7) at 2 p.m.
Saturday in the last men’s basket
ball game at G. Rollie White Coli
seum. The Aggies are coming off of
a 95-80 loss to Kansas State in
which they tied the all-time record
for consecutive conference losses
of 18. Baylor clinched the fifth-
seed in the Big 12 Tournament
Wednesday by defeating Iowa
State 69-54.
The Aggies own a 110-62 series
advantage against the Bears but
earlier this year, Baylor beat A&M
73-64 in Waco. Sophomore guard
Steve Houston was the Aggies’
leading scorer with 14 points and
dished out three assists.
Sophomore point guard Brian
Barone did not play, the only game
he has missed this season. The
Bears held a one-point advantage
at halftime, but the Aggies could
not pull off the upset.
The Bears are led by senior cen
ter Brian Skinner, a second-team
All-Big 12 selection last year and
possible NBA first-round draft
pick, and senior point guard
Patrick Hunter.
Skinner is averaging about 20
points a game in league play,
leads the Big 12 in field-goal per
centage and is second in the con
ference in rebounding at nearly
nine rebounds a game. Hunter
has come on strong this season
"I'm lli<- rest of llit*
jruyv, <bey’ll b<; loobinj/
forward lo next yeal*
witb the new arena,”
Porter Mo’.er
A variant < oa< h
chipping in 13 points and four as
sists a game. Roddrick Miller, son
of Baylor Coach Harry Miller, av
erages 12 points a game.
“Baylor has two great players.
They have Skinner, who’s a pro,
and Hunter, who’s a confident
player and makes big plays,” As
sistant Coach Porter Moser said.
“They are real physical inside with
Skinner. Those two guys have got
to be the focus point when you
ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion
Junior Kim Tarkington drives to the basket in the victory against Kansas St.
GREAT SUMMER JOBS!!!
Camp Counselor Positions available in
Western Massachusetts
On Campus Interviews - Monday, March 2nd
10am - 4pm - Career Services
John J. Koldus Building
Counselor positions for talented and energetic students
offering top salaries are open NOW for male and
female applicants who would like to be a part of Camp
Mah-Kee-Nac for boys or Camp Danbee for girls.
Excellent Salary, Room, Board & Travel are included
along with the opportunity to work with great kids this
summer.
Specialists needed in:
Team Sports:
Roller Hockey
Baseball
Soccer
Basketball
Tennis & Golf
Gymnastics
Figure Skating
Archery & Riflery
Cycling
Nature/Pioneering
Photography
Radio Station
Rocketry
Woodworking
Arts & Crafts
Ropes & Climbing
Swim Instruction
Water Skiing
Sailing
Windsurfing
Kayaking
Canoeing
Yearbook/Newspaper
Positions run June 20th - August 19th, 1998
NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY!!!
Call 1-800-753-9118 (men) or
1-800-392-3752 (women) for more information.
Check out our web site: www.campmkn.com
play against Baylor.”
In order to defeat the Bears,
the Aggies will need a well-
played game from their two cen
ters, Aaron Jack and Larry
Thompson. Both will be used to
battle Skinner and in an attempt
to get him in foul trouble. Barone
will play his usually solid defense
against Hunter.
“We have got to contain Skinner
and Hunter. You can’t let those
guys get five or six points above
their averages,” Moser said.
Another thing the Aggies must
improve on if they want to stay in
the game is their free-throw
shooting.
“Our free throw shooting was
bad down the stretch at Baylor. It
was the same old deal at the free
throw line,” Moser said.
Thompson, the team’s lone se
nior will be stepping on the G. Rol
lie court for the last time.
“We’ve told Larry Thompson to
look around and take everything
in because it’s your last game at
home. Enjoy every little bit of it,”
Moser said. “For the rest of the
guys, they’ll be looking forward to
next year with the new arena.
Hopefully, the guys will play a lit
tle harder down the stretch.”
By Michael Taglienti
Staff writer
The Texas A&M Basketball Team (8-17, 4-11) will take on the Baylor
Bears (16-9, 9-6) Saturday at 7 p.m. in Waco. The Aggies are coming off
a 81-76 defeat of the Kansas State Wildcats last Wednesday night.
The Aggies have won two of their last three games and are looking
to finish the season with a win. Finishing the season strong and es
tablishing momentum going into the Big 12 tournament is a priority
at this time of year.
Coach Candi Harvey said the Baylor game is a big game.
“It is a huge game. You talk about possibly winning five confer
ence games, and where we’ve come in the last two weeks,” Harvey
said. “Going and getting a road victory against a good in-state ri
valry, you are talking about a team that could go sky high into the
conference tournament. We could be pretty scary just from a con
fidence standpoint.”
Harvey thinks that while Baylor is a great basketball team, the Aggies
have a great chance at pulling off an upset in Waco.
“Baylor is an outstanding basketball team, but we know we didn’t play
as well as we are capable of playing against them when we played them
here at home,” Harvey said. “If we can put two halves together the way
we have been doing, that game could go to the wire.”
Baylor’s front line has been hit by the injury bug in the past few weeks.
Baylor’s backup center Shannon Applebury and forward Nicole Palmer
have recently had season-ending knee injuries. Coach Candi Harvey said
their lack of depth down low could be a factor in the game.
RYAN ROGERS J
Junior Shanne Jones has been one of the bright spots for the Aggies this season, averaging almost 20 points pe l
Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Teai
closes out regular season against Bayloi
“Their post depth is a little bit suspect right now with some in]
and hopefully we will be able to get them in a little bit of foultro#
see what we can do.”
In their previous matchup this year Baylor defeated A&M85
jfij
i ,4 *
Harvey
“ll is a huge game. YouU
about possibly wi imingfi
conference games and
where weVe come in tin
last two weeks,”
that game A&M had no answer for Baylor’s 6-foot-4-inch center
Moffitt. Moffitt and Baylor guard Lara Webb combined to score49|t
against the Aggies that night.
Baylor is coming off a 99-59 loss to the Texas Longhorns. Inthatf
Texas held Baylor’s scoring tandem ofWebb and Moffitt to 29 total pi
Webb was three for eighteen from the field on the way to 15 points
In the previous Baylor game, Aggie sophomore forward KeraAle
der scored 32 points in the loss. Alexander has had the hot hand oil
scoring 33 points in Wednesday night’s victory over KSU.
FINAL WEEK!
Class of ’98 pictures
are being taken for the
Elephants!
Don’t forget.
1998
Aggieland
at A R Photography
lexas Avenue
IAMU
Campus
CD
m
o
0Q
(V
03
C
HID fa k 5.
(between Jason’s
Deli and Academy)
Drop by
AR Photograplf
at its new
location on
Texas Avenue, or
call 693-8183 for
an appointment