NEH
lALIt
Sports
The Battalion
Page 1B • Thursday, February 26, 2004
First win slips away as Aggies lose to Baylor
mertime proves too much for Aggies
BATON
nmte
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M sophomore
brward Antoine Wright
to do was hit one of two free
iwswith three seconds left in
[illation and the score tied 57-
|1 with the Baylor Bears.
Wright missed both and the
jamewent into overtime where
jyermanned Bears (8-18,
^Big 12) won 67-61.
thought (momentum
pg their way), but it never
Mhave been in overtime,”
A&M head coach Melvin
|is. “Players have got to
jiiialie plays.”
Baylor senior guard Matt
nan took over in overtime,
ing eight of Baylor’s 10
time points including a shot
(Id-beating jump shot with
1:35 left to play.
of the A&M coaches
ime it was a lucky shot,”
Span said. “I said ‘Sir, I
in't think I could ever make
in shot again.’ Sometimes it’s
tier to be lucky than good.”
Sayman finished the game
iJi 15 points and five rebounds.
Before the 2003-04 season
ip. it was supposed to be
ivlor that would have trouble
tinning a Big 12 conference
pne. After scandal rocked the
capus in the fall leaving the
Bars with just six scholarship
(flyers, new head coach Scott
Dp was given a team that
most believed couldn’t hang
with Big 12 ball clubs.
Install,it’s Texas A&M (7-17,
(Wytawinless in the Big 12.
a don’t have the atti-
tftfAegot this game, let’s
finish it out,”’ Watkins said. “In
this conference if you’re going to
win, you’ve got to get it done.”
After an atrociously sloppy
first half of play, in which
Baylor and A&M combined for
the same number of turnovers
as field goals (22), the Aggies
held a 29-27 lead. The A&M
lead increased to eight with
14:31 left on a jump shot by
Wright, but every time A&M
See Basketball on page 3B
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Watkins on his way out as A&M coach
lit
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* ;
TROY MILLER
JP Beato III • THE BATTALION |
A&M sophomore guard/forward Antoine Wright prepares to shoot one
of his two free throws with three seconds left against Baylor Wednesday.
Wright missed both to send the game into overtime. Baylor won 67-61.
Losing to
probation-
stricken
Baylor at the
tail-end of a
winless con-
f e r e n c e
campaign
doesn’t help
matters
when your
s i x - y e a r
winning percentage is .357.
For Texas A&M men’s bas
ketball head coach Melvin
Watkins, the final buzzer of his
era at A&M has already gone
off, according to sources with
in the Athletic Department.
Despite being one of the
most-liked figures in the
department, nothing less than a
Big 12 tournament champi
onship will change his situa
tion - too bad history is against
him as A&M is the only school
without a Big 12 tournament
victory since the conference
was formed in 1996.
Now A&M Athletic
Director Bill Byrne will have
his hardest, yet most important
decision to make.
The A&M Athletic
Department is losing millions of
dollars in potential revenue by
fielding a mediocre basketball
program, and it’s no secret that
Byrne wants that to change.
So who should replace
Watkins?
The answer to that question
isn’t easy as A&M is known as
a black hole for men’s basket
ball coaching careers.
After Shelby Metcalf, the
most successful coach in
A&M history, left the program
John C. Livas • THE BATTALION
A&M head coach Melvin Watkins draws up a play during a timeout in
the Aggies’ 67-61 loss to Baylor Wednesday.
during the 1989-90 season,
Kermit Davis Jr. entered the
lead role.
Davis lasted one' season
after going 8-21.
Then came the sideline
tirades of Tony Barone. His tie
throwing antics were amusing,
but that’s all that would make
Aggie fans smile as Barone had
just one winning season in
seven years in Aggieland.
Then came Watkins, the
coach from the University of
North Carolina-Charlotte who,
in two seasons as 49er head
coach, led his alma mater to
two straight 20-win campaigns
and two straight NCAA tour
nament berths.
At Charlotte, Watkins won,
and he did it by recruiting the
best classes Charlotte had
ever seen.
At A&M, the recruiting
See Watkins on page 3B
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