Jimcs50
01-10-2007, 02:35 PM
Law restores order
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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By John Werner
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Texas A&M knew exactly when to take the Law into its own hands.
Clinging to a two-point lead in the final minutes, senior guard Acie Law drove for two critical baskets and drilled three free throws to lift the No. 8 Aggies to a 61-51 win over Baylor before 9,104 fans Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.
Law’s 20-point performance enabled the Aggies to push their record to 14-2, their best start since 1959-60. A&M is 2-0 in the Big 12 for the first time in the league’s 11-year history.
Playing before the largest home crowd in coach Scott Drew’s four seasons, the Bears (10-5, 0-2) couldn’t string together enough key baskets down the stretch as they dropped their 25th straight game against a Top 25 team.
“There will be no bigger fan of whatever league Acie Law plays in next year than me,” Drew said. “I love him to death, but I’ve seen enough of him in the Big 12. Credit him for coming up big.”
Playing the entire 40 minutes, Law hit seven of 16 shots and didn’t commit a turnover. Most important, he hit the key shots when the Aggies needed them the most.
Kevin Rogers, who led the Bears with 19 points and nine rebounds, hit a short bank shot to cut the Aggies’ lead to 49-47 with six minutes remaining.
Law answered with a free throw before Baylor’s Tim Bush missed a short jumper with three minutes remaining. Law quickly pushed the ball downcourt and drove for a basket to give the Aggies a five-point lead.
After Baylor’s Tweety Carter missed a trey, Law drove the left baseline over Rogers to push A&M’s lead to 54-47 with 2:22 remaining. He helped seal A&M’s win with a pair of free throws with 1:07 to play.
“My teammates have confidence in me, and I feel I can make the plays in the final seconds,” Law said. “We were trying to get a ball screen and they started to cheat a little bit. So I started to go the other way away from the screen.”
Playing against the Big 12’s best defense, the Bears had trouble getting open looks. Baylor shot a season-low 33.3 percent as guards Aaron Bruce, Curtis Jerrells, Henry Dugat and Carter went a combined 7-for-29. Bruce missed his only three shots in 25 minutes and finished with two points.
“You don’t get many good looks against their defense and we couldn’t get into a rhythm,” Drew said. “We have enough guards that usually somebody is hot, but we didn’t have anybody hot tonight.”
The Bears opened up a 39-34 lead with 13 minutes remaining on Jerrell’s trey, but couldn’t find much offensive consistency the rest of the way.
“We got up and just got tentative and complacent,” Carter said. “Everybody in the Big 12 plays tough defense, and A&M did a good job of pressuring the ball tonight.”
After missing Saturday’s Big 12-opening loss to Oklahoma State due to knee tendinitis, Baylor center Mamadou Diene started against the Aggies but played just six minutes. Freshman center Josh Lomers struggled as he fouled out in six minutes with no points and no rebounds.
“When you play against the Aggies, you need a lot of bodies to bang against them,” Drew said. “Not having Mamadou hurt us because we were fatigued down the stretch. We gave up some easy buckets.”
A&M center Joseph Jones hit just two of seven field goals, but got to the free throw line 11 times and hit 10. The 6-9 junior center also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
“Joseph was throwing up vehemently at halftime,” said A&M coach Billy Gillispie. “He really had to be tough to produce like he did in the second half. The good thing about our team is that we have experienced players who are talented, and that’s a good combination.”
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Click-2-Listen
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By John Werner
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Texas A&M knew exactly when to take the Law into its own hands.
Clinging to a two-point lead in the final minutes, senior guard Acie Law drove for two critical baskets and drilled three free throws to lift the No. 8 Aggies to a 61-51 win over Baylor before 9,104 fans Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.
Law’s 20-point performance enabled the Aggies to push their record to 14-2, their best start since 1959-60. A&M is 2-0 in the Big 12 for the first time in the league’s 11-year history.
Playing before the largest home crowd in coach Scott Drew’s four seasons, the Bears (10-5, 0-2) couldn’t string together enough key baskets down the stretch as they dropped their 25th straight game against a Top 25 team.
“There will be no bigger fan of whatever league Acie Law plays in next year than me,” Drew said. “I love him to death, but I’ve seen enough of him in the Big 12. Credit him for coming up big.”
Playing the entire 40 minutes, Law hit seven of 16 shots and didn’t commit a turnover. Most important, he hit the key shots when the Aggies needed them the most.
Kevin Rogers, who led the Bears with 19 points and nine rebounds, hit a short bank shot to cut the Aggies’ lead to 49-47 with six minutes remaining.
Law answered with a free throw before Baylor’s Tim Bush missed a short jumper with three minutes remaining. Law quickly pushed the ball downcourt and drove for a basket to give the Aggies a five-point lead.
After Baylor’s Tweety Carter missed a trey, Law drove the left baseline over Rogers to push A&M’s lead to 54-47 with 2:22 remaining. He helped seal A&M’s win with a pair of free throws with 1:07 to play.
“My teammates have confidence in me, and I feel I can make the plays in the final seconds,” Law said. “We were trying to get a ball screen and they started to cheat a little bit. So I started to go the other way away from the screen.”
Playing against the Big 12’s best defense, the Bears had trouble getting open looks. Baylor shot a season-low 33.3 percent as guards Aaron Bruce, Curtis Jerrells, Henry Dugat and Carter went a combined 7-for-29. Bruce missed his only three shots in 25 minutes and finished with two points.
“You don’t get many good looks against their defense and we couldn’t get into a rhythm,” Drew said. “We have enough guards that usually somebody is hot, but we didn’t have anybody hot tonight.”
The Bears opened up a 39-34 lead with 13 minutes remaining on Jerrell’s trey, but couldn’t find much offensive consistency the rest of the way.
“We got up and just got tentative and complacent,” Carter said. “Everybody in the Big 12 plays tough defense, and A&M did a good job of pressuring the ball tonight.”
After missing Saturday’s Big 12-opening loss to Oklahoma State due to knee tendinitis, Baylor center Mamadou Diene started against the Aggies but played just six minutes. Freshman center Josh Lomers struggled as he fouled out in six minutes with no points and no rebounds.
“When you play against the Aggies, you need a lot of bodies to bang against them,” Drew said. “Not having Mamadou hurt us because we were fatigued down the stretch. We gave up some easy buckets.”
A&M center Joseph Jones hit just two of seven field goals, but got to the free throw line 11 times and hit 10. The 6-9 junior center also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
“Joseph was throwing up vehemently at halftime,” said A&M coach Billy Gillispie. “He really had to be tough to produce like he did in the second half. The good thing about our team is that we have experienced players who are talented, and that’s a good combination.”
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