quote:

---

Texas A&M 46, Texas 43

March 01, 2006

Acie Law made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Texas A&M a 46-43 victory over No. 6 Texas on Wednesday night, the Aggies' sixth straight win.

The Aggies got a chance for the upset when Texas' P.J. Tucker, apparently unaware of the time on the shot clock, dribbled around as it expired with 5.9 seconds left.

The Longhorns intentionally fouled Law and after a timeout, he got the inbounds pass and pulled up for a long 3 which swished as the buzzer sounded, sending a number of A&M fans onto the court.

It was the second straight year the Aggies (19-7, 9-6) beat the Longhorns (24-5, 12-3) at home. They beat then-No. 9 Texas 74-63 last year.

The Aggies improved their home record to 16-2 with a win that will undoubtedly bolster their NCAA tournament hopes and at least puts off Texas' chance to capture its first Big 12 title since 1999.

The Longhorns are tied for first with Kansas, which beat Colorado 75-54 on Wednesday.

Joseph Jones scored 14 points for the Aggies and Law had eight.

Tucker had 11 points to lead the Longhorns and Kenton Paulino added eight.

The Longhorns were held to their fewest points this season, scoring far less than their previous low of 58 against Villanova. They were uncharacteristically sloppy, missing easy shots and committing 18 turnovers.

Texas A&M led 41-39 with about 4 minutes left when Chris Walker got a steal and Law followed with a layup to give the Aggies their biggest lead of the game. The play sent the already raucous crowd into a deafening frenzy.

It was a defensive battle throughout with both teams going without a basket for about 5 minutes early in the second half. The drought was finally broken for the Longhorns when LaMarcus Aldridge made the second of two free throws with about 11 minutes left, giving Texas a 34-32 lead. Paulino added a layup to stretch the lead to 36-32.

It would be 2 more minutes before Texas A&M would score on Josh Carter's 3-pointer. A short jumper by Antanas Kavaliauskas with about 8 minutes remaining gave the Aggies their first lead of the second half, 37-36.

Texas was 5-of-16 from the field in the second half and the Aggies were 8-of-26.

The first half started the physical tone of the game and featured several spills on the court, 18 fouls and 21 free throws.

Postgame Quotes

TEXAS HEAD COACH RICK BARNES: "It's one of those days when you don't execute. We had opportunitites where we turned the ball over trying to do too much. Give them credit. They made plays when they needed to. We didn't execute on our last offensive possession. We wanted to get the ball to (LaMarcus) Aldridge down low or (Brad) Buckman in the corner, but PJ (Tucker) ened up with it up top. I can't explain to you what happened, and I don't think PJ could either. We wouldn't be here today without PJ Tucker. The NCAA will look top to bottom to choose the at large teams. I think the Big 12 always deserves 6 teams. Do I think A&M is good enough to be in the tournament? Absolutely. I also think Colorado is. Our league is better than people think."

TEXAS GUARD PJ TUCKER: "It was bad execution on that last play. I let my teammates down by not being the leader I was supposed to be."

TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY GILLISPIE: "I've never been involved in a game where every person brought that amount of energy on the floor on both sides. It was a great atmosphere. I take my hat off to both teams and applaud their effort. This Texas team is good enough to win a national championship and I won't be suprised at all if they do. You talk about effort, teamwork, and trying on both sides. There weren't any easy shots. Our guys were tired and they were dead. Joseph (Jones) told me at halftime that he had no energy, but he kept fighting. We used all of our energy on defense. When we came out for our last shot I didn't know if they would be in man or zone. We wanted to get the ball down low to Jones, but Acie (Law) had space and made a great shot. I haven't been here very long, but this has to be one of the best crowds ever. There must have been 5000 students here at 5 o'clock. I bet none of them went to class today and I bet none of them do tomorrow unless it's late. That's the way it should be. This is college basketball. We're not confused about what we are. We've won four games by a total of 12 points. We're a tough team that plays hard. We've had guys hit the shots of their lives. We have to go to practice tomorrow and get ready for our next biggest game. If we get an opportunity we'll do fine, but we have work to do. That's the way we're going to approach the NCAA tournament."

TEXAS A&M GUARD ACIE LAW: "On the last shot I just had great confidence in myself and my teammates had great confidence in me as well. Coach told me before the game that if was going to be my game. They had great defense on the last shot. Words can't describe the feeling of beating a top 10 rivalry team with a lot on the line. For them it was the Big 12 championship and for us it was the NCAA tournament. That's the first time I've ever seen Coach Gillispie speechless."

TEXAS A&M FORWARD CHRIS WALKER: "We knew it was going to be a war down low, but Coach always tells us if they hit us in the mouth first, hit back. My dream has always been to give my testimony in front of that big of a crowd. (Jesus) is where I get my salvation and strength from. Maybe I made this team for that moment right there."

Texas A&M Postgame Notes

* A&M is 9-6 in Big 12 play, its most Big 12 wins ever and its most conference wins since a 10-4 SWC mark in 1994. The Aggies will be the No. 4 seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship in Dallas. A&M will play the winner of the No. 5-No. 12 game next Friday at 2 p.m. Prior to this year, A&M's best Big 12 finish was seventh last season and in 2003.
* Texas came in ranked No. 6 and is the highest-ranked team A&M has ever beaten in College Station (Previous: Last year's 74-63 win against No. 9 Texas). The last time A&M beat a higher-ranked team was in 1982, when the Aggies beat the No. 5-ranked Longhorns in Austin, 71-69.
* A&M's last buzzer beater came earlier this year when Joseph Jones made a short jumper with 1.5 left to beat Oklahoma State, 46-44. The last time A&M won on a 3-pointer with no time left was in 1996-97, when Derrick Hart made a trey at the buzzer to beat Missouri-Kansas City in overtime, 74-73.
* Texas came in leading the nation in rebounding margin, but A&M posted a 33-32 edge on the boards. Earlier this year, OU came to read as the national leader and A&M posted a 31-29 edge in a 45-44 loss.
* Texas' 43 points were a season low (58 in a 58-55 win against Villanova). It was the Longhorns lowest point total since a 52-37 loss at TCU in 1987.
* A&M has won six straight since an 83-70 loss to Texas in Austin on Feb. 5. The last time A&M had a longer conference winning streak was in 1994, when it started 7-0.
* The this the second straight year A&M and Texas split the season series.
* Texas had 11 assists and 18 turnovers. Only two A&M opponents have had a positive ratio this year (KSU and ISU).

---