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Aggies overcome Sooners on road

By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Staff Writer

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Buy this photo AP Photo Texas A&M's Acie Law IV goes in all alone for a dunk to cap off the Aggies' 56-49 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday. Law and teammate Joseph Jones led all scorers with 21 points each.

NORMAN, Okla. - A little bit of something new and a whole lot of the same old thing led sixth-ranked Texas A&M to a 56-49 come-from-behind victory over the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The victory, coupled with Kansas' trouncing of Nebraska, kept A&M (22-4, 10-2 in Big 12) in a tie for first place in league play with the Jayhawks.

Oklahoma lost for the first time in six Big 12 home games and fell to 15-10 and 6-6.

Trailing 26-19 at halftime, A&M coach Billy Gillispie opened the second half with a different lineup, replacing starters Josh Carter and Dominique Kirk with Marlon Pompey and Donald Sloan.

Within 5 minutes, Sloan punctuated a fastbreak and a 12-4 run with a dunk on a pass from Acie Law IV. The Aggies never trailed again.

"I was trying something different," Gillispie said. "We weren't having a whole lot of success either offensively or defensively. It's one of the times when you gamble. That's not a lineup we've used all year."

As he's done many times this season, Law took over down the stretch - and this time he had plenty of help from 6-foot-9 junior Joseph Jones.

Despite missing three straight free throws late, Law scored 16 of the Aggies' final 23 points. He fell one basket shy of tying the entire Oklahoma team over the final 15 minutes.

"It's obvious we want to try and get it to Acie as much as possible," Gillispie said. "Acie was pretty special today."

Law added seven assists and seven rebounds.

"That's pretty nice against such a good team on the road," Gillispie said of Law's stat line.

Jones' numbers were just as impressive with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and a game-high nine rebounds. He had a run of seven points early in the game while the two teams traded baskets. The center also made two of the Aggies' three 3-pointers.

Jones' first 3-pointer came just before Sloan's dunk, and the second put A&M up 48-41 after the Sooners had closed to within four on a three-point play by Michael Neal.

"[A&M] had players step up and make plays," Oklahoma's first-year coach, Jeff Capel, said. "Joseph Jones made some big plays around the basket and hit a couple of 3s. They are a good basketball team. You can't expect to keep them down for long like we did in the first half."

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Buy this photo AP Photo Texas A&M's Joseph Jones (left) is fouled by Oklahoma guard Nate Carter as he goes up for a shot in the Aggies' 56-49 win Saturday in Norman, Okla. Jones scored 21 points.

Law made his final six free throw attempts and his right-handed dunk on a long inbounds pass from Carter quickly erased the Sooners' final hopes.

"Law is not a guy you guard with one guy," Capel said. "You have to have help because he's too good of a player to stop or contain. It's a real luxury as a coach when you have a guy like him, that is a closer, a guy you don't have call a play for at the end."

Law's biggest play came at 48-43 after his last missed free throw. The ball bounded back to the senior point guard, who grabbed it and turned it into two made free throws after being fouled by David Godbold.

"Not to take anything away from Oklahoma, but I think we wanted it more," Law said. "That's what we feel like. If we can get it close down to the last 4 or 5 minutes, then it's gut-check time, and we got the loose balls and rebounds and were fortunate enough to make the plays."

A&M made few plays in the first 20 minutes, when the Aggies were held to a season-low 19 points for a half.

Godbold, who had only three points when A&M beat the Sooners 70-61 last month at Reed Arena, made 2 of 3 from behind the arc and had half of the Sooners' first 16 points. The surprise starter finished with a career-best 20 points.

"We played a lot harder [in the second half]," Law said. "In the first half, they beat us to some loose balls, and it turned into some looks for them. In the second half, we made each basket tough on them."

The second half proved to be more physical as well, with the game being stopped twice because Jones got hit while in the lane and again later when Law appeared to hurt his leg.

"Every game in the Big 12 is a physical game inside the post," said Jones, who despite the pounding played 35 minutes, the most for him in seven games.

Oklahoma's Nate Carter was the only other player in double figures with 10. He scored 19 points the last time the two teams met. The left-handed junior made 1 of 2 free throws Saturday and had only five points until the final 2 minutes. In A&M's first meeting with OU, Carter made 13 free throws.

NOTES - It was A&M's first win in 13 games at Norman. The Aggies have won only three of 28 games against Oklahoma, with two of those coming this season. ... Jones, Law and Sloan combined to shoot 17 of 29. The rest of the team was 3 of 16. ... A&M outrebounded OU 34-31. It was only the fourth time the Sooners had been beaten on the boards this season.