t
STATE
THE BATTALION
into
aida
because the missiles
illowed.
are still being
inspectors’ spokesman
eki, said Tuesday. He said
place Monday,
said Iraq was still study-
lissile order. He saidle
lent on the Saddam inlet-
had not seen it.
news conference thattlit
,vas still awaiting an ol-
the missiles,
ctors have completed lay-
d AI Samoud 2 missiles
to tag some unassembled
inspectors have
by the Iraqis southeast of
site where Iraq says it
s filled with biological
3n Monday and Tuesday
ned munitions fragments
i said.
es, meanwhile, bombed
lystems in northern and
i Tuesday because they
ion forces enforcing no-
5. military said,
itish planes have beea
zones in north and soul
991 Gulf War. They ate
ct minority Kurds in tie
Muslims in the south from
forces.
to change
n funding
e existing share-the-
i school finance system is
heavily on local property
It gives schools in proper-
>r areas money from
ier districts,
ny property-rich districts
cached the legal tax limit
omplain that they are
to raise more money
schools.
ek’s proposal would!
s funded based on the
r of teachers per
the national average of
r salaries as a basis. Tbe
formula would be
" for every 20 studentsfot
de levels.
Ier the proposal,
continue its facilities pro
hat helps property-pooi
districts construct
rough matching funds
ool districts would
property taxes — and
still have a $1.50 proper-
cap — to pay for
es as administration.
buses and buildings
anek’s plan.
JEWS IN BRIEF
sentenced for
er killings
JAHUA, Mexico - Act
the conviction of
i man for one of the 1st
es of murders of women
border city of Ciudad
but lowered the man's
entence to 20 years.
;entence for homicide
1 Tuesday on Abdel LaC
by Judge Hector
tes comes on the
ary of the first slayings
then, over 80 women
en raped, murdered
odies dumped in tie
i a case that has drawn
ead criticism
ua state police for failing
the eerily similar string
>.
mberof victims has risen
months, as more bodies
Police found the decoin-
imains of three women
is month in Juarez.
Jtors wanted a tougher
- like the 30 years
as originally sentenced
re his conviction was
?d on appeal - arguing
rif was responsible for
lurders, said Chihuahua
pokesman Fernando
ige Talamontes upheld
court conviction onlyin
i murder of Elizabeth
ircia.
Sports
The Battalion
Page 7 • Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Aggies travel to face No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks
KU boasts one of nation's best home-court records
By Dallas Shipp
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M men’s bas-
team will face one of its
toughest challenges tonight
when it meets the No. 7 Kansas
Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse in
Lawrence, Kan.
The Jayhawks are 13-3 this
year at home with two of their
three losses coming against
Arizona, which was ranked No.
1 in the nation at the time, and
Florida, which was ranked No. 7.
The Aggies (13-10, 5-7 Big
12) are 2-6 on the road this year,
including a heart-breaking 70-
69 loss to Texas Tech in
Lubbock on Saturday.
Senior guard Bernard King
led the Aggies with 23 points in
the losing effort.
A&M Head Coach Melvin
Watkins said he knows’ tonight’s
game against Kansas will be just
as tough as any other Big 12
came on the road.
“(Kansas) is one of the best
teams in the country, so we
know we’ll have to play our best
basketball,” Watkins said.
“They have an excellent inside
game, and they are equally good
on the perimeter.”
The Jayhawks are coming off
of a tough 77-70 loss to No. 5
Oklahoma on Sunday. With the
loss, Kansas is now tied with
Oklahoma for the lead in the Big
12 with a 10-2 conference record.
Kansas has four players aver
aging more than 15 points per
game including senior forward
Nick Collison, who leads the
Jayhawks with 18.7 points per
game and 9.1 rebounds per
game. Collison trails A&M’s
King by just 44 points for the all-
time Big 12 scoring leader.
The Jayhawks are third in
the nation in averaging 84.2
points per game, more than 10
points higher than the Aggies’
average of 74.1.
“Kansas likes to score a lot of
points and they do it with their
transition game,” Watkins said.
“Our challenge is to try to slow
them down in transition.”
The Aggies will have to keep
their number of turnovers down
against the Jayhawks to reduce
the amount of transition points
by Kansas. A&M enters
tonight’s contest averaging 14.8
turnovers per game, the worst in
the Big 12. But in their last six
games the Aggies have lowered
that number to 12.8.
“We have to be able to handle
their pressure and limit our
turnovers, which has been a
problem for us at times this sea
son,” Watkins said.
Rebounding will be another
key to the match up tonight.
Kansas has out-rebounded its
opponents this year by an
average of 7.7 boards per
game, fifth in the nation. The
Aggies have been outrebound-
ed by their opponents by 2.5
boards per game, also the
worst in the Big 12.
On the positive side for the
Aggies, King has scored in dou
ble digits in his last 18 straight
games and is averaging 18 points
per game this season.
Kansas Head Coach Roy
Williams said King is a strong
leader on the court for the Aggies
and Kansas is not looking past
this game.
“Bernard (King) has played
the way he’s played for years
(and is) doing a great job for
them,” Williams said. “I think
they’re much more of a team this
year and their record shows it:
they’re much improved.”
The Aggies will need a
strong offensive performance
to stand a chance against the
highly-touted Jayhawks. A&M
is 12-2 when shooting at least
43.2 percent from the field.
“We need to finish the season
as strong as we can to get some
momentum going for the confer
ence tournament,” Watkins said.
Tip-off is set for 6:37 p.m.
and the game will be televised on
local cable.
JOHN. C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION
A&M guard Bernard King brings the ball up the court. King is the Big 12
Conference's career scoring leader, leading KU’s Nick Collison by 44 points
A&M returns home following consecutive losses
ALISSA HOLLIMON • THE BATTALION
loccara Williams attempts a shot under the basket.
By Blake Kimzey
THE BATTALION
The Texas A&M women’s bas
ketball team will return home this
week where the weather is a bit
nicer, at least inside of Reed Arena.
After back-to-back losses against
Iowa State and Kansas State on the
road, the Aggies’ home record of 8-
5 looks inviting.
The Aggies will face Oklahoma
State University tonight, after a
dismal shopting performance over
the weekend helped No. 5 KSU
usher in an easy 88-49 victory
against A&M in Manhattan, Kan.
The Aggies shot just 32 percent
from the floor against the top team
in the Big 12.
“Once again we got into a game
where we couldn’t score,” said
A&M Head Coach Peggie Gillom.
However, going into the match
against OSU (6-18, 2-11 Big 12),
Gillom said there is still hope that
the Aggies (10-14, 3-10 Big 12)
can enter the final stretch of the
2003 season with an. added sense
of urgency. With three games
remaining in the season before the
Big 12 tournament tips off, the
Aggies see their remaining con
tests against OSU, Baylor and
Missouri as potential victories.
“The story to this season is not
written yet,” said A&M Assistant
Coach Steve Curtis. “We have two
more games at home, and one on
the road which are all winnable.”
Only OSU and Nebraska are
below the Aggies in the Big 12
standings, and facing OSU could
prove fruitful and give A&M an
added boost of confidence with a
win. As regular season play winds
down, Curtis said the Aggies are
looking to improve their seeding
for the end of season Big 12 tour
nament by staying focused and
finding ways to win their remain
ing games.
“We told them yesterday in
practice that we’re playing for our
seed in the Big 12 tournament at
this point,” Curtis said. “When our
See OSU on page 8
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Voting sites: vofe.tamu.edu
MSC, Student Rec Center,
Blocker, West Campus Library
and Evals LiBfary
9700 a.rhrTd 5:00 p.m.
SPORTS
recsports.tanm.edu