The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 10 Men's Basketball defeats No. 11 Texas A&M, 81-60
01.19.2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2011
Box Score | | Box Score 
| Notes | Quotes
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The Texas-Texas A&M rivalry has been known for gritty games in front of wild crowds.
Few expected the latest matchup to turn into such a laugher, not when these teams looked so evenly matched.
Jordan Hamilton scored 27 points the 10th-ranked Longhorns cruised past No. 11 Texas A&M 81-60 on Wednesday night, snapping the Aggies' 13-game winning streak with arguably their most complete victory of the season.
Freshman Tristan Thompson gave the Longhorns (15-3, 3-0 Big 12) a big boost with 18 points on dunks, jumpers and tough layups before limping off with a leg cramp with 4 minutes left.
"It was fun out there," Hamilton said.
The Longhorns made this one a rout with about 10 minutes left. Texas shot 58 percent from the field and the worst free throw shooting team in the Big 12 was 19 of 22 from the line.
The Aggies (16-2, 3-1) hadn't lost since Nov. 25, but haven't won in Austin in this rivalry since 2002.
"We got punked," Texas A&M's Nathan Walkup said. "We just came out soft."
The matchup produced the rowdiest crowd of the season so far at Texas in what most expected would be a scrappy, hard-fought game. Texas jumped out early and never gave the Aggies an opening to catch up.
Thompson scored eight of Texas' first 12 points, all of them coming on dunks and shots from just a couple of feet from the basket.
The Aggies were frustrated when they were hit with eight fouls in a 2-minute span early in the first half, leaving coach Mark Turgeon in a foot-stomping rage. Turgeon was hit with a technical and Texas made its first eight free throws for a 20-5 lead.
When the whistles finally stopped - or at least slowed down - Texas A&M used a 14-4 run to get within five. Texas closed the half with a 15-4 run, highlighted by Thompson's alley-oop dunk from J'Covan Brown and Hamilton's 3-pointer, for a 39-27 lead.
Khris Middleton was Texas A&M's only real scoring option of the half when he had 12 of his game-high 16 points for the Aggies.
The Longhorns quickly pushed their lead to 17 points in the opening minutes of the second half. Hamilton made a turnaround 3-pointer from the top of the arc and Thompson powered over David Loubeau for a tough layup that made it 48-31.
Nothing seemed to be going right for the Aggies, who struggled to make any kind of a run to close the gap. Ray Turner missed an easy dunk off an inbounds pass that might have sparked a rally but instead bounced all the way back out to the free throw line.
Thompson and Hamilton kept making plays on both ends of the court for Texas.
Thompson's soft jumpers, tough layups and four blocks kept Texas comfortably ahead before Hamilton delivered the knockout punch with a baseline jumper and another turnaround 3-pointer that put the Longhorns up 58-35.
"We were obviously very good tonight," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "It was a really nice team win for us against a great team."
By the time the Aggies showed some life offensively, the game was out of reach. Texas A&M made three 3-pointers in four possessions but Hamilton and Gary Johnson made five straight shots to squelch any chance of a rally.
"We were a half-step slow," Turgeon said. "We got our head down early. That's the first time we haven't competed to come back."
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas improved to 12-1 in the Rick Barnes era in home games against Texas A&M
- Texas owns a +16.4 edge in scoring margin in the 13 home games against Texas A&M in the Rick Barnes era, winning seven of the games by 20 or more points
- Texas started Big 12 Conference action with three consecutive wins by 20 or more points for the first time since the 2005-06 season
- Texas started 3-0 in Big 12 Conference play for the ninth time in 13 years under Rick Barnes
- Texas improved to 133-85 all-time against Texas A&M
- Texas improved to 177-23 (.885) at the Erwin Center in the Rick Barnes era, including 83-15 (.847) in Big 12 home games
- Texas posted its highest field goal percentage (.580) and free throw percentage (.864) of the season
- Texas improved to 106-15 (.876) against in-state foes in the Rick Barnes era, including 19-7 against Texas A&M
- Texas improved to 28-11 (.718) against AP Top 25 opponents under Rick Barnes at the Erwin Center
- Texas owned a rebounding edge for the 15th time in 18 games on the season
- Texas shot over .500 from the field for the sixth time this season
- Texas posted its second sellout of the season with a crowd of 16,734
J'Covan Brown
- Matched a career high with six assists, tying the mark he set on three occasions including twice this season
- Registered a season high with six rebounds, topping the four he had against Navy in the season opener
Jordan Hamilton
- Scored 20 or more points (27 points) for the ninth time this season and the 11th time in his career (52 games)
- Reached double digits in scoring for the 17th time this season and the 35th time in his career
- Matched a season high with 10 field goals, tying the mark he set on two prior occasions
Gary Johnson
- Reached double digits in scoring (14 points) for the 13th time this season and the 49th time in his career (106 games)
- Matched a season high with three assists, tying the mark he set on two prior occasions
Cory Joseph
- Owns a 4.14-to-1 (29-to-7) assist-to-turnover ratio over the last eight games
Tristan Thompson
- Reached double digits in scoring (18 points) for the 14th time this season
- Matched career high with eight field goals, tying the mark he set against Illinois in the third game of the season
- Moved into fifth place on UT's list for blocks in a freshman season with 37, passing LaSalle Thompson (36 - 1979-80)
Alexis Wangmene
- Registered a career high with six made free throws, topping the total of four he made on five prior occasions
TEXAS QUOTES
Head coach Rick Barnes
Opening Statement: We were obviously very good tonight. There's no question about it. I thought we really did our best from start to finish. I thought we were really good in the first four minutes of the game and the first four minutes of the second half. Execution was really good on the offensive end and defensively too. It was a really nice team win for us against a great team. I thought Mark (Turgeon) has done a tremendous job with this program. They wouldn't be where they are today if it weren't for him. But again we played very well on both sides of the ball.
On the impressive offensive production: We read the defense. That's what we teach them. Teams scout us. Texas A&M and Mark Turgeon's staff have been around for a while. They're going to try to take away what we do offensively. They play hard and if you're not willing to read and get separation it's not going to work. Early on we really tried to work inside. We didn't settle early. The only times I got a little disappointed was a few times when we took some quick shots. But what we did a great job tonight was we ran a great offense and did a good job of executing.
On Tristan Thompson's performance: Again, from day one we've said that we have to get the ball inside. We want to do that obviously. We've tried to take advantage of Jordan's size where he can get into the lane. Tristan has continued to work and get better. He made his presence felt on both ends of the court.
Freshman forward Tristan Thompson
On Texas' quick start: I think it was just my teammates finding me. Our key was to just push forward and get a transition going early in the game. I think it was working out for us. I just got to the post early and my teammates found me. That's what stood out from the start for us.
On Texas' game plan: Our game from the start is always just pushing the tempo and playing at our tempo, playing Texas style basketball. Get up and down real quick and not give the defender time to set up on us. That is what our game plan was and I think we carried it out really well.
Sophomore guard/forward Jordan Hamilton
On the win: It was fun out there tonight. I thought we played a good game and did everything coach said to do. We dominated them on defense and I think we can still do better on defense.
On Tristan Thompson's game: Tristan did a great job, not only on the offensive end but also on the defensive end. I think he dominated and he had some good blocks for us. He scored early for us when I couldn't make the shot, Tristan was there. He made good dunking, shots and layups. I think he did great tonight.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Turgeon
Opening statement: We got whipped; from the first possession to the last possession that was a whipping. I thought Texas was fantastic. Tristan Thompson and Jordan Hamilton were off the charts. It was a six-point game before half and Hamilton started doing his thing and I thought we never stopped them. I thought it felt like they scored every time they had the ball and that is not what we are about. They played in a comfort zone all night because we didn't put any pressure on them, they were fantastic. They made a lot of jump shots and they just whipped us.
On thinking whether he thought team was primed for the game: I was shocked. We practiced well and had a great shoot around. They looked a little nervous in the locker room and it was our first true road game but I am still shocked. We have enough experience and we just were not ready. I had to make a fool of my self to try and get us going and I don't like acting that way and that worked for about four minutes. I am shocked but you have to give Texas a lot of credit, they were good. I felt like they made every shot and every play they executed and they did a great job on the board and they had a great game plan and it worked and ours didn't.
On Thompson running so freely for Texas: I don't know and I will have to watch the film. We were not supposed to be leaving him we had a game plan to stay on top of him and a couple times it was penetration and another time it was bad defense. He was good he got the first couple down and got some confidence. He made some shots that I didn't think he could make like the pick and pop, free throws and it was their night. Good for him he was fantastic and I hope they got it all out on us in this one game.
On the whether Texas A&M was affected by the string of fouls early on: My team does not foul and you know that and tonight we fouled. We fouled the whole game tonight, we were a half step slow and I don't know we had a great practice yesterday and Monday. We were prepared but we got our heads down early and that is the first time we have done that and not competed to come back. We started both halves horribly. The fouls had something to do with it but not all of it; we have enough players we jus have to keep shoveling it in. A lot of our fouls were a half step slow and just not playing very smart.
Senior forward Nathan Walkup
On the Longhorn's start to the game: They just out-toughed us. Whether the officials call fouls or not they just out-toughed us tonight. They were more physical than we were tonight and that can't happen. The whole game is built on toughness and defense.
On how the atmosphere compares to previous Lone Star Showdowns: Well last year was a great game too. It didn't have anything to do with the crowd. We just came out soft. You can't play soft in the Big 12, especially against a top 15 team.
Sophomore forward Khris Middleton
On the Longhorn's defense: Well defensively they were very physical and took us out of our rhythm. They executed their game plan and the score shows it.
On Jordan Hamilton's performance: Yeah in the second half he just got going. He was coming off those screens well and catching the ball ready to make a play and he did.
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