The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
Men's Basketball rolls over Texas A&M, 77-50
02.18.2008 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas A&M players glared, scowled and tried to push Texas around. Nothing worked.
The team the Aggies routed on their home court last month was nowhere to be found. This time, D.J. Augustin and the Longhorns pushed back.
The result was a Texas blowout, 77-50 Monday night that kept the streaking No. 7 Longhorns rolling and tied for first in the Big 12. Texas' last loss was a humbling 17-point defeat in College Station on Jan. 30 when the Aggies (20-6, 6-5 Big 12) bullied their way through the Longhorns.
Texas (22-4, 9-2) hasn't lost since, knocking off six straight wins with Monday night's ranking among the most impressive.
"If we would have won by one, it would have been revenge," Texas' Damion James said. "But (27) sounds good."
Augustin was at his absolute best with 27 points and nine assists. He nearly outscored the Aggies by himself in the first half with 17 points as Texas took a 39-18 lead into halftime.
"He did everything for that team tonight, give him credit. He came out and played at a level no else played at," A&M's Josh Carter said. "It was embarrassing tonight. It was like a different team."
Texas opened the game with a 16-4 run behind Augustin and James and a front line that sent an early message that the Longhorns planned to match the Aggies' muscle for 40 minutes.
A&M looked surprised by the Longhorns' physical play under the basket -- Texas blocked 12 shots -- and a stifling defense that held the Aggies to 19 percent shooting in the first half and their lowest scoring output of the season.
James finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for Texas. Carter scored 11 points to lead A&M, which trailed by 20 points almost the entire second half.
From the start, the teams traded bruising screens, blocked shots, dunks and menacing stares between the big men in a physical contest typical of this heated rivalry.
Texas charged up the sellout crowd with its opening burst behind four 3-pointers and a pair of blocked shots. James, who was harshly criticized by Barnes after a poor effort in the first meeting, grabbed Texas' first two rebounds and hit the Longhorns' first 3-pointer of the game.
James and Augustin seemed to be everywhere in the first half.
In one sequence, Connor Atchley started a fast break with a steal and fed a quick outlet to Augustin before James finished it with two-handed dunk. A minute later, James blocked a shot from behind, then flew in to snag the rebound off the backboard to start another break.
Augustin made two 3-pointers, then fed a tricky pass in the lane for an easy layup. When he pulled up for a soft jumper in the lane over Bryan Davis Texas led 37-14.
"I just went out and was aggressive and it was falling tonight. I felt good shooting tonight," Augustin said.
Texas closed the half when Augustin split two defenders with a reverse dribble and tossed up a pass to James. Instead of a dunk that an Aggie defender leaped to block, James used the backboard for an easy layup and a 21-point halftime lead.
"We had no chance of guarding (Augustin) tonight. They wanted to pay us back and they did," A&M coach Mark Turgeon said.
Misfiring from the outside, the Aggies tried to use their muscle inside to start the second half. Three quick fouls and two more blocked shots, including one when Atchley stopped 7-footer DeAndre Jordan, left Turgeon rubbing his temples during the first timeout of the half.
If Texas was giving him a headache, it only got worse. Augustin hit another off-balance jumper and Justin Mason was left wide open for a 3-pointer that put Texas up 51-27.
Things were going so badly for A&M that when Jordan snagged a rebound deep in the lane and tried to tomahawk a dunk, he caught the front of the rim and ball went flying back up in the air. When Jordan finally got his dunk five minutes later, it came after Atchley fell down in the lane.
Texas hit nine 3-pointers while the Aggies were 1-of-14 from long range and went blow-for-blow with the Aggies inside as each team scored 28 points in the paint.
Texas completely shut down Aggies forward Joseph Jones who had put up some big numbers against the Longhorns in the past. Jones finished eight rebounds but had just three points and played only 21 minutes.
"We whipped them and they whipped us," Turgeon said. "It's even."
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas is 16-5 against Texas A&M in the Rick Barnes era.
- Texas leads the all-time series 130-83, including a 75-26 mark in Austin.
- Texas is 5-2 against the AP Top 25 this season.
- Texas is 13-2 at home in Big Monday contests. Nine of the 13 wins have come against Top 25 opponents.
- Texas is 135-18 (.882) at the Erwin Center during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 89 of its last 95 home games.
- Texas is 66-11 (.857) in Big 12 Conference home games under Rick Barnes.
- During its six-game winning streak, Texas has held its opponents to an average of 64.5 (387) points per game and 37.6 (139-370) percent on field goals.
- Texas is 85-8 (.914) against in-state foes during the Rick Barnes era.
- During the first half, Texas went on runs of 23-7 and 14-1.
- Texas matched a season high with 10 blocks by the 17:38 mark of the second half
- Texas recorded its fourth sellout crowd of the season (16,755)
- Texas' 12 blocks tie the team record in a Big 12 game and are one shy of the UT record
- The 27-point win is the largest margin of victory in the series since at 75-40 Texas win at home on Feb. 16, 2005.
- Texas A&M's one three-pointer made and .007 three-point percentage were Texas opponent season lows.
A.J. Abrams
- Passed Reggie Freeman (243/1994-97) for second on the UT career three-pointers made list with his 245th
- Led Texas in steals for the 15th time this season
Connor Atchley
- Recorded at least one block in his seventh consecutive game and at least three in four consecutive games
- With three blocks, has totaled 17 in the last eight games
D.J. Augustin
- Registered his 1,000th career point on a free throw with 3:02 remaining in the game. He is the second player this year (Abrams) and the 29th in UT history to reach the milestone.
- Scored a season high 27 points in Big 12 play
- Reached the 20-point mark for the 12th time this season and the 19th time in 61 career games
- Scored in double figures for the 23rd time this season and the 48th time in his career
- Made at least three 3-pointers for the fifth time this season and the eighth in his career
- Scored 17 points in the first half on 7-of-10 FG, including 3-of-5 on three pointers
- Scored just one point fewer in the first half than Texas A&M (18)
- Had five assists and no turnovers in the first half compared to one assist and seven turnovers for Texas A&M
- Led Texas in assists for the 22nd time this season
- Recorded at least nine assists for the sixth time this season and the 13th time in his career
- Has an assist to turnover ratio of 41-10 (4.1-1) in the last six games
Clint Chapman
- Matched his conference season high in rebounds with three in the first half
- Matched his season high in blocks with two
Damion James
- Blocked three or more shots for the third time this season and the ninth time in 61 career games
- Totaled three blocked shots in the first half
- Scored in double figures for 16th time this season and the 28th time in 61 career games
- Scored at least 15 points for the 11th time this season
- Made at least two three-pointers for the sixth time this season and in his career
- Recorded at least seven rebounds for the 21st consecutive game
- Led Texas in rebounding for the 23rd time this season
- Has recorded 46 (14/13/10/9) rebounds in the last four games
- Recorded four blocks for the third time this season and the fifth time in his career
Gary Johnson
- Registered at least seven rebounds for the fifth time this season in 13 games
Justin Mason
- Has totaled 25 rebounds in the past three games
- Has notched at least eight rebounds in three consecutive games
- Notched at least four rebounds in four of the last five games
- Recorded at least six rebounds for the seventh time this season and the 12th time in 61 career games
Dexter Pittman
- Matched his season high in blocks with two
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On D.J. Augustin's shooting: We tried to get him to just shoot it. I told him earlier that he was great on getting on Connor [Atchley] when Connor wasn't taking his shots and I told him that the same applies to him. I told him that he's great at getting to the basket and that's how teams are playing him right now. He would have to make some mid-range shots and let them adjust to that and then he can get back to getting to the rim some. He did a great job tonight coming off of the pick-and-rolls and he was terrific. I told the coaches before the game that he can keep shooting the way he has been shooting as long as we keep winning. He's been good throughout, but tonight he finally started making some shots.
On tonight's game: It was my fault for the first game over there. I put so much emphasis on guarding their guys down low that their guards lit us up for over 40 points. Our defense was really good and that's where we've improved. We also got great play from our bench tonight. I thought Clint [Chapman], Alexis [Wangmene], J.D. [Lewis] and Dexter [Pittman] carried themselves well, and they are really important to us. We still have a couple things to do to get better though.
On the difference in the past couple of weeks: We came together on the defensive end. We did shoot 46 percent tonight, but we have really improved on defense. That is the single biggest thing we've improved on over the past two weeks. We've put our emphasis there and that is where it has paid off.
D.J. Augustin, SOPHOMORE GUARD
On breaking out of his shooting slump: I was aggressive and the ball was falling tonight. I felt good shooting and my teammates did a great job of keeping A&M moving and knocking their shots also. In the past, the ball just wasn't falling, I wasn't getting into my shot and I wasn't following through so I tried to do that tonight. It's mental, you have to fight and not think about it, and instead go out there, shoot and be aggressive.
On Texas' big guys off the bench: It's been great. They bring a big response to the game and I feel that no one can stop Dexter (Pittman) down low. Gary (Johnson) does a great job. He can shoot the ball and take it down low. They help us a lot and we needed that. We have to go back in practice and keep getting better.
Damion James, SOPHOMORE FORWARD
On the difference between the last time the two teams met: We are a more defensive minded team and we let the offense take care of itself. We didn't really fight out there in College Station. We fought tonight, and we were able to win.
Connor Atchley, JUNIOR FORWARD
On defending Texas A&M's post players: We made it an effort of making sure that we denied them. It was a big team effort on defending their big players. The past couple of weeks, we've really been working on our defense and overall it is getting better.
On having multiple scoring threats on the team: It's real dangerous because you don't know who to guard. With D.J. (Augustin) coming off the screens you have to guard him, and with A.J. (Abrams) there's plenty of weapons so you have to pick which one to leave open.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
HEAD COACH MARK TURGEON
On their low post play: It was pretty evident that our guys were struggling down there. They are playing too fast. I have to get Joseph [Jones] going because he has to score for us. Bryan Davis is playing better over the last few games because he had been struggling in the past few.
On if he is concerned for the team: We have five games left and I am not too concerned. We've had a really good season up until the last two games. We blew one at home against Oklahoma State and give credit to them because they played well. We still have a lot of season left in these last few weeks.
JOSH CARTER, JUNIOR FORWARD
On D.J. Augustin: He did everything for their team tonight, and he's an impressive player. He did a great job tonight and we had no answer for him. You have to give him credit because he came out and played at a level nobody else played at. He struggled a little bit in College Station, but he did not tonight.
On the first half: They came out hot, and I think that rattled us a little bit. We weren't knocking down open shots that we usually hit, but give them credit for their defense because they made it hard for us, and that is what good teams do.
On the rivalry: They proved that they are the better team tonight. We were the better team at home and they were the better team tonight. For us, we have to find some answers and play better offensively and defensively. We didn't do well offensively or defensively tonight and we just have to play better.
