Sports
The Battalion
Page 7 • Tuesday, November 12, 2002
I Aggies open with exhibition win over Ukraine
%
7
ammul
Kashmir
NEf\
0 300 ts
?ss. ESR!
Men’s basketball team rolls to 86-73 victory at Reed
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
Antoine Wright made sure his first game in an
Angie uniform was a memorable one.
The freshman from San Bernardino, Calif., scored
ateam-high 24 points and added eight rebounds as the
Texas A&M basketball team notched an 86-73 win
overMBC Nicolaev in the Aggies’ exhibition opener.
“It felt good,” Wright said. “I was just trying to stay
from getting too excited. It was my first college game,
so 1 was talking to (senior guard) Bernard (King)
before the game and telling them to keep me down and
not let me get too high. I was relaxed, and I was ready
to play.”
Wright was even subject to some good-natured
hazing after the game by King, who made the new
comer turn his jersey around so his name would be in
front before he came into the media room for post
game interviews.
King added 16 points and Kevin Turner, a junior
transfer, added 15 to help the Aggies, who never
trailed in the contest.
Because of a sizable early lead, head coach Melvin
Watkins was able to get every player in uniform on the
floor. A&M’s bench scored 22 points, led by an eight
point effort by junior Jesse King.
“We were trying to get a look at everyone,”
'e amassed n
[heir l.'*'
icighbors b
, but tens:"
both
Aggie soccer team hosts
i„ „t; first an d second round
NCAA action this week
Watkins said. “That will change some as we get into
the season. Tonight we wanted to get all these guys
into the game. The rotations were not probably what
they will be, but we use exhibitions to continue to
evaluate our players.”
A&M jumped to an early 20-6 lead five minutes
into the first half after Wright’s fourth field goal of the
game. Wright scored 1 1 points in the first 5:19 of the
game and was 6-of-9 from the floor in the first half.
“He came out very aggressive,” said King, who
has carried the majority of A&M’s scoring load dur
ing his first three seasons. “He’s a good scorer and
took a lot of pressure off me. It’s going to be tough to
stop us both.”
Nicolaev climbed back into the game late in the
first half after a three-pointer by Oleksandr Rayevskyy
cut A&M’s lead to three points, but Wright built
A&M’s lead back to five after a pair of free throws.
Nicolaev never got closer than four again as the
Aggies quickly built their lead to 15 by halftime.
“We looked at the scoreboard a couple times and
got a little casual,” Watkins said. “I broke out of
rhythm a few times with my subbing. There are some
things we need to be more conscious of and get better
at as we get closer to the season.”
The Aggies will wrap up their two-game exhibi
tion schedule next Tuesday against the EA Sports
All-Stars.
JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M freshman forward Antoine Wright attempts a three-pointer in Monday’s game at Reed Arena.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Missouri attempting to get over hump
mist
line’
lerman, Fffi
television.:
for flOIKL
cedastb •'
Tiina.
e sIkm--
in Tibdffr
lutlaweiKs
sect and®
/e matend
ision a®'-
■quests (of :
Great Hal s
atellite fr 11
| the BBC 1
[ foreign c®'
ng have
d out for
ports oils®
s.
;ontrasted
ing give"
the congts
enter,
a coat cited
I stacksoffc
n several
The No. 4 Texas A&M women's soccer
team will host first and second round
action for the NCAA Championship
Tournament beginning on Friday at the
Aggie Soccer Complex.
The Aggies (17-4-1) will meet
Northwestern State (12-5-5) Friday at
7:30 p.m. in the first round.
A&M was the Big 12 Regular Season
Champion and an at-large qualifier for
the tournament.
Northwestern is the representative of
the Southland Conference after win
ning the conference tournament.
The Aggies will be one of 16 different
schools hosting the first two rounds of
the tournament.
The No. 8 University of Texas
Longhorns (15-4-1) will also be playing
in College Station against the Western
Athletic Conference (WAC) Champion
Southern Methodist University (12-5-4)
at 5 p.m. Friday in the first round.
The winners from the two matches
will play in the second round matchup
on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Soccer
Complex.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — So
close, and yet so far.
Missouri’s second-year coach,
Gary Pinkel, appears to be on the
verge of turning the program around.
Week in and week out, the Tigers are
competitive.
They’ve put scares into No. 1
Oklahoma, No. 21 Iowa State and
No. 18 Colorado, losing by a touch
down each time. They led in the sec
ond half against Iowa State last week
and Colorado on Saturday.
But, the bottom line isn’t pretty.
Missouri’s record, 4-6 overall and 1-
5 in the Big 12, makes the program
appear as if it’s still on the skids.
That’s how tough it is to climb
the ladder in one of the nation’s top
conferences.
Pinkel, a success on the mid-major
level at Toledo, is convinced he’ll get
the job done at Missouri where the
school is closing in on its 17th losing
season in 19 years and has lost 17 in
a row to ranked opponents. Right
now, that’s small consolation.
“We’re close, but it’s all about
We're close, but it's all
about winning. There's not
a magical answer for it
except just keep working
and persevering and
getting through it.
— Gary Pinkel
Missouri head football coach
winning,” Pinkel said after
Saturday’s 42-35 overtime loss to
Colorado. “There’s not a magical
answer for it except just keep work
ing and persevering and getting
through it.”
As heartbreaking as the recent
losses have been, and Saturday’s was
the worst of the lot, Pinkel will take
them over the alternative of losing
big. He had enough of that last year
as players seemed to struggle
embracing the new program, getting
outscored 79-10 the final two games
at Kansas State and Michigan State.
“Are we going to become a much
better team next year and the next
year, I don’t think there’s any ques
tion about that,” Pinkel said. “I feel
awesome about our program. But that
doesn’t help this.”
Moral victories, he’s having none
of. Missouri rallied from a 27-7
deficit to take a 28-27 lead at one
point, but created its own misfortune
with a poor first half.
“We’re competing, but when
around here do you pass an award out
because you compete?” Pinkel said.
“For some reason people think we
tried hard in the second half. Why
wouldn’t we.
“If you’ve got any heart or any
character, if you’re a competitor, you
should fight.”
Players are doing a good job of
keeping their chins up. Wide receiver
Darius Outlaw got a sympathetic
reception after fumbling away the
Tigers’ overtime possession to end
the game, which left a Faurot Field
crowd in stunned silence. And play
ers on offense insist they’re not get
ting tired of carrying the load for a
porous defense that surrendered 575
yards on Saturday.
“The game of football is a team
game,” wide receiver Justin Gage
said. “You can’t point fingers at the
defense or anything like that.”
Some day soon, players believe,
this team will get over the hump.
“It’s getting smaller and you can
see it as we progress every week,”
Outlaw said. “The last five week's
have been tough on us, these last-
minute losses.
“We’ve just got to play hard from
the first minute to the fourth quarter
and then everything else should fall
into place.”
Missouri will attempt to get over
its hump when it visits College
Station on Saturday to take on the
Texas A&M Aggies, who upset then
No. 1-ranked University of Oklahoma
last week at Kyle Field, knocking the
Sooners out of the BCS hunt.
ie to all
ie and aW
16th h
Conin'*'
lid a red I* 1 '
Forms ^
:st intend'
s, but ret]*
nidlevel d*
I Tuition and Salary Pai
1
College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative
/J
Palestine
noveme" 1
ack.
h!
6//7ri/iu7t//(£/ SL’fiic?r<s
Aggicland Printing sells
Graduation Announcements
Te.vn? A&'Nf University,
Order today and receive
them in less than
2 weeks!
We sell
• Graduation Announcements
• Thank You Notes
Graduation Remembrance Displays
Personalized Graduate Notepads
Let the U.S. Coast Guard help you achieve your goals. By enrolling in this program you’ll train to become a commissioned officer, while the Coast Guard
pays for your college tuition. In the Coast Guard you’ll use your special training to enforce the law, protect property and even save lives. Cali to find
out about the exciting opportunities waiting for you in the Coast Guard.
Benefits
♦ No more student loans ♦ No more part-time jobs ♦ Receive up to $2,000.00 monthly salary ♦ FULL TUITION PAID ♦ Books and fees paid
♦ Free travel ♦ Free dental/medical care ♦ Optional life insurance coverage ♦ Summer employment ♦ 30 days paid vacation
♦ SAT 1000 or ACT 23 ♦ Age20-26upon
♦ Attend an approved college or university
♦ US Citizen ♦ Maintain 2.5 GPA ♦ Must have completed 60 college credits
graduating from college ♦ Be a sophomore or junior in a 4-year college program
y^ppj^j(^y^TriON DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 28th
Call 1-877-NOW-USCG ext 1788 or visit us on the web at gocoastguard.com.
H.S.
Coast Guard
*m COAST BUAM BeSSBTC
Order & pay online: www.aggielandprinting.com
1902 Texas Ave. South • College Station
(Texas Avenue and Park Place, in front of the new HEB)
693-8621 M-F 8:30-5:30
Dr. Matt Greene ’94
Dr. Mind! Greene ’94
Therapeutic Optometrists
EYE EXAMS AND CONTACT LENSES
“Do you hasro, GREENE eyes?”
404 University Dr. East - (979) 693 - 3177
*Aggieland’s CONTACT LENS Headquarters*
*Student Specials * Free LASIK Consultation*
*Scott and White Provider*All TAMU Plans Accepted
Psst Students:
The weather is changing;
why not change your look
by trading your specs
for contacts, or trying
out the new colored
lenses? Ask us about our
student specialsl
ACUVUE2
iuv & & & ? % & r i & h
Advancing thv Science of Sight