The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
Buckman scores 18 as Men's Basketball overwhelms Texas A&M
02.16.2005 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Brad Buckman had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Texas used a smothering defense to overwhelm rival Texas A&M in a 73-40 rout Wednesday night.
The Longhorns, who had fallen out of the Top 25 this week for the first time in three seasons, avenged a loss to the Aggies a month ago when Texas (17-7, 6-5 Big 12) was ranked No. 10.
Acie Law scored nine to lead A&M (15-7, 4-7), which shot just 26 percent in its 20th consecutive Big 12 road loss. The Aggies went 13-of-50 from the field.
The last time these teams met, Aggie fans stormed the court after an 74-63 A&M victory in College Station. It was the biggest win in coach Billy Gillispie's first season.
There was no similar outburst in Austin. Longhorns fans headed for the exits long before this one was over.
Texas hit five of its first six shots, suffocated the Aggies with tight man-to-man defense and took control when Sydmill Harris hit the first of his two 3-pointers of the half four minutes in.
Trailing 14-6, the Aggies scored just 10 points the rest of the half while the Longhorns hassled A&M shooters on the perimeter and muscled them under the basket after freshman forward Joseph Jones went to the bench with two early fouls.
Kenny Taylor had 12 points in the half and Buckman closed it when he stole the ball at midcourt, split two defenders on the fast break for a reverse layup and converted the 3-point play when he was fouled. Texas led 37-16 at the break.
The Aggies, who lead the Big 12 in fewest points allowed at 61 points per game, didn't have the offense to catch up.
Law, who scored 24 against Texas a month ago, was just 2-of-9 shooting, and couldn't duplicate the performance that overshadowed Texas freshman point guard Daniel Gibson in the last meeting.
Gibson, who was cut over his right eye and suffered a slight concussion a month ago, had 13 points Wednesday night.
Texas just kept stretching the lead, opening the second with a 9-3 run when Harris and Gibson hit 3-pointers to make it 48-19.
Jones, the Aggies' best interior threat and only real hope to match Buckman, fouled out midway through the second and was never a factor with just six points on three shots.
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach, Rick Barnes
ON THE GAME: We have been able to practice and it is making a big difference. We had six really good days of practice. You need 10-15 minutes of high intensity in practice and it will pay off in the games. Our best games have been when we are aggressive on both sides of the court. I think we played outstanding defensively. There was a lot of great effort from different guys. The defense in the first half was huge. We moved the ball well and did a great job taking care of the ball and preventing turnovers.
ON BRAD BUCKMAN: He has done what we've been asking. For the past three years, he has kept his consistency. He has had some great games back to back. I feel nine shots in the game are still not enough for him. He is too unselfish. He has his best games when he gets on the free-throw line. We need him to do what he is doing for the rest of the season.
Daniel Gibson, Freshman Guard
ON THE WIN: It was a real sweet win. We took what happened there as a momentum booster and played as hard as we could.
ON MAN DEFENSE: Coming into the game, we knew we were going to start out in man, because that was something we have been working on in practice the last few days. Coach saw it working for us and decided to stick with it.
Kenny Taylor, Senior Guard
ON THE FIRST MEETING VS. A&M: We knew that we didn't play our best ball down there against A&M. We wanted to make it a point of emphasis to play a full game. We wanted to be there for each other and play team defense.
ON HIS HOT START: I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. I've been working on shooting off the dribble and sticking with it. Daniel did a great job getting me the ball and Brad did a great job getting the rebounds off my misses.
ON THE TOURNAMENT CHANCES: People want to count us out, but our teammates are all we have. We just have to take it one game at a time. The tournament hasn't started yet and no one will know who's in until the brackets come out.
Brad Buckman, Junior Forward
ON THE GAME: Playing zone and man to man is a good switch up. We have a good enough team to be in man. We have seven and eight guys that really want to get after it. We are pushing forward. We have been through a lot of adversity and we are coming together. We really love each other.
ON KENNY TAYLOR: I was really proud of Kenny tonight. He was getting lots of rebounds and made it easy for me. He is a different guy; he knows the game like no one else.
Texas A&M head coach, Billy Gillispie
ON THE GAME: They played really well and dominated the game in every way you can, on offense and defense. They finished all their plays. They were just tougher than us. We shot 13-50 tonight and you aren't going to do very well when you shoot 13-50.
ON BRAD BUCKMAN: He's been great all year, but he's really been fantastic since his minutes went up. He was Big 12 Player of the Week and that's what McDonald's All-Americans are supposed to do. I really enjoy watching him play. He's tough. He can score inside and out. He carries out responsibilities. He's really doing what his team needs him to do to win. The thing I really appreciate about Brad that often gets overlooked is his sportsmanship.
