Aggies cash in 2nd chances, end OU's streak

By Scott Wright

Published: February 3, 2008

To the Sooners, it must've felt like all of them came in the final two minutes.

"The ball just rolled our way,” Texas A&M sophomore Bryan Davis said, referring specifically to a loose ball that bounced to him under the basket for a three-point play that sealed the Aggie victory before 13,152 fans at Reed Arena.

But his comment could have easily represented the 72-second stretch in the last two minutes in which Texas A&M never left its end of the court.

"Those possessions are just about wanting it more” OU freshman Blake Griffin said after the Sooners (15-6, 3-3 Big 12 Conference) saw their three-game winning streak snapped. "Down the stretch, you could tell they wanted it more. That's why they came up with the ball at the end and that's why they kept getting second-chance points.”

The Aggies (18-4, 4-3) took possession of the ball with a 54-52 lead and 1:33 left in the game. By the time the Sooners got the ball back, they were down 58-52 with 21.1 seconds left.

In that crucial span, the Aggies missed a short jumper, but OU couldn't come up with the rebound. After a tie-ball kept possession with the Aggies, Griffin nearly stole the A&M in-bounds pass, but he was whistled for a foul that sent Joseph Jones to the line.

Jones, A&M's 6-foot-9 senior forward, missed the second free throw, but teammate Josh Carter tipped the rebound back to Jones. The Aggies went back inside, but the ball was knocked loose. It slipped through the hands of OU guard Austin Johnson, where Davis picked it up for the clinching three-point play.

"We just couldn't get those 50-50 balls,” OU senior David Godbold said. "They were outhustling us to ‘em and getting their hands on balls we couldn't get our hands on. That's the things you've got to focus on if you want to win close games.”

Texas A&M succeeded in its plan to limit Griffin, using constant double-teams to keep OU's 6-foot-10 freshman standout to six points — his lowest total since Nov. 29, excluding the Kansas game in which he injured his knee and played only five minutes — on 2-of-5 shooting and eight rebounds.

"That was pretty much the strategy the whole game,” Jones said. "He's a great player and you can't let him dictate the game. You want to try to take the ball out of his hands and make other players beat us.”

Junior forward Taylor Griffin played just 19 minutes and starting center Longar Longar played only 16, hampered by foul trouble and a nagging leg injury. Both players fouled out, which was a focus of A&M's halftime discussions.

"Their bigs were in foul trouble, so we wanted to get them out of there in the second half,” Davis said.

Godbold was the lone bright spot for OU. The senior guard hit six 3-pointers for a career-high 22 points, surpassing his previous best of 20 points against Texas A&M last season. No other OU player reached double-figures.

"We had some careless turnovers, trying to do too much one-on-one,” OU coach Jeff Capel said. "They made plays down the stretch, we didn't. That's why they won the game.”

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