Sports
The Battalion
Page 5 • Friday, February 13, 2004
A&M basketball looks for success at Reed
Men hope to stop the bleeding against Oklahoma
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
After losing nine straight
games in Big 12 conference
play, Band-Aids aren’t going
to be enough to stop Texas
A&M men’s basketball team
I'rom bleeding. Right now
A&M needs about 10 pounds
of gauze and stitches to mend
ilieir its wounds.
The Aggies (7-13, 0-9 Big
12) will try to cut the gushing
iown to a drip as they take on
leUniversity of Oklahoma (15-
i,5-4)Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at
W Arena.
“It’s attitude.” said A&M
tollman guard Acie Law IV.
‘Every game our opponents
shoot about 50 percent, and
sometimes they have like 37
fieethrows. We can’t win play
ing defense like that.”
After going undefeated until
'Blastgame before starting its
!ig 12 conference slate,
Oklahoma was poised to break
into the top 5.
After a blowout loss to then-
No. 1 Connecticut, the Sooners
began a slide that saw' them lose
lour straight. After finally gel
ling its first win over a ranked
opponent in Big 12 play against
flo. 18 Texas Tech. 63-48, on
Saturday. Oklahoma seems to be
finally hitting its stride.
1 actually told my teammates
dial 1 don't want to play in the NTT
itoumament),” said Oklahoma
sophomore guard De’Angelo
Menander. “1 want to play in the
JP Beato III • THE BATTALION
A&M senior forward Jesse King dunks on a Nebraska defender in the
Aggies' 83-77 loss to Nebraska Wednesday night at Reed Arena.
the NCAA (tournament).”
While the Sooners are finally
breaking out of their slump,
A&M is doing the exact opposite.
“We’re fouling too much,”
said A&M head coach Melvin
Watkins. “We’re not defending
as well as we should be, and then
our execution has gone down.”
Frustration is clearly on the
face of every player and coach
as A&M has gone from a team
that nearly beat Big 12 powers
Kansas and Missouri to a squad
that is getting outplayed and
outhustled by Big 12 bottom
feeders Baylor and Nebraska.
In the Aggies most recent loss,
an 83-77 decision at Reed Arena
to Nebraska, Watkins sat sopho
more guard/forward Antoine
Wright on the bench after Wright
went zero-for-eight from the field
in 15 minutes of play.
A&M senior guard Kevin
Turner, the Aggies’ leading scor
er in their 72-64 loss to Baylor
last Saturday, didn’t even get off
the bench against Nebraska.
"I want these kids to under
stand that no one has the right to
play if they’re not going to play
hard," Watkins said. “We’ve had
some guys think they’re going to
play no matter what, and that’s
just not going to happen.”
The Aggies’ offense, once the
bright spot of the team’s play this
season, is sputtering - to say the
least. Help isn’t coming as A&M
will face a 2-3 zone against
Oklahoma, the same zone the
University of Texas played
against A&M earlier this season.
Against Texas’ zone the Aggies
failed to score a field goal for the
last 12:42 of the game.
“We’re really active.” said
Oklahoma head coach Kelvin
Sampson. “People tend to
stereotype a zone because they
think it’s not aggressive. Our
quickness and athleticism help
make our zone aggressive.”
If the Aggies want to mend
their wounds, they will have to
learn quickly how to beat the
zone. Otherw ise, they might have
better luck at the emergency
room of St. Joseph Hospital.
Blair looking for second
Big 12 win against Tech
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M women’s bas
ketball (8-14, 1-10 Big 12) will
face a stiff challenge Saturday -
not to find Valentine’s dates but
to host No. 7 Texas Tech (20-4,
6-4) in Reed Arena at 7 p.m.
The Aggies are hoping the
home crowd will help turn the
tide after they lost two games on
the road following their only
conference win at home, Feb. 4
to Oklahoma State.
“What a difference home
court makes,” said A&M head
coach Gary Blair.
The last time these teams met
was Jan. 28 in Lubbock. The
Aggies lost that meeting, 56-65,
but Tech has maintained its
prowess as sophomore guard
Chesley Dabbs has stepped up
her game, said Tech head coach
Marsha Sharp.
“Everything about Chesley is
confidence, and the more confi
dence she plays with, the better
player she is,” Sharp said.
Chesley had the go-ahead
basket with less than a minute
left against Baylor University
last Sunday in Waco, and that
has helped her gain the confi
dence she needs to step up her
offensive game. Sharp said.
Sharp said Chesley will
continue to be primarily a
defensive player.
Blair said Tech has several
great players besides Chesley.
“They have tremendous
depth,” Blair said.
While the Aggies have been
struggling in Big 12 play this sea
son, Tech has been struggling on
the road with only one road win
against Baylor by just three points.
Sharp said the win helped
give the team the confidence it
needs to overcome mental
blocks it faces on the road.
“That (win) really set the
tone for the team,” Sharp said. "I
thought it was a major hurdle we
finally jumped over on Sunday.”
The Aggies cleared another
hurdle last week with their first
Big 12 victory.
A single win wouldn’t give
the Aggies momentum, but his
team already had momentum
from how close it played against
high-ranked opponents.
“We’ve had momentum all
year because of how hard we
have played.” Blair said.
The Aggies will again be led
by senior guard Toccara
Williams, who set the Big 12
steals record on Feb. 7 against
the Oklahoma Sooners.
Williams said after the
OSU game that the win was a
major hurdle.
“Definitely a confidence
See Basketball on page 8
Is your Professor Using the
Classroom as a Political Soapbox?
This Is a Violation of Your
Academic Rights.
kording to the American Association Of University Professors, the use of classrooms
for political indoctrination is a violation of academic freedom.
Tim 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure declared:
"Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but
they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter
which has no relation to their subject." (This clause was reaffirmed in 1970.)
MSC Film Society presents...
bugh grant
tiam neeson
cohn firth
laura linney
emma thornpson
alan rickman
keira knightley
rowan atkinson
actually
Fri. Feb. 13
@ 7 & 9:45pm
in Rudder Theater
icic films.tamu.edu
v-A* 845-1515
If you are not taking a course whose subject is the war in Iraq, your professor
should not be making statements about the war in class. Or about George Bush, if
the class is not on contemporary American presidents, presidential administrations
or some similar subject.
Ife do not expect our doctors to impose their political opinions on us when we go to
them for treatment. We should likewise not be assaulted by the political prejudices
of professors when we pay them for an education.
If your professor is abusing his or her teaching privilege or is confused about the
professional obligations of an educator please contact us.
Students for Academic Freedom
Texas A&M Campus Coordinator: Mark McCaig
mccaig@tamu.edu
Sara Dogan
National Campus Director 202.408.0632
WWW.STUDENTSFORACADEMICFREEDOM.ORG
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