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Texas A&M overtakes Oklahoma in second half

Feb 18, 2007 - 2:17 AM NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- Texas A&M's season of firsts continued at Oklahoma.

Acie Law IV and Joseph Jones scored 21 points apiece as the sixth-ranked Aggies completed a season sweep of Oklahoma with a 56-49 Big 12 Conference victory.

Texas A&M (22-4, 10-2 Big 12) won for the first time in school history at Oklahoma, snapping a string of 12 straight losses. Two weeks ago, the Aggies had posted their first victory at Kansas since the formation of the Big 12 Conference.

With its latest first, Texas A&M remained tied with Kansas atop the conference standings. The Jayhawks routed Nebraska, 92-39, also on Saturday.

"It was a great win for us," Aggies coach Billy Gillispie said. "They are as tough and as well coached and play together as well as anyone in our conference. There are a lot of really good teams in our conference, so that is saying a lot. This was a real big win for us on their court."

Law scored 17 points in the second half as Texas A&M erased a 26-19 halftime deficit, only the second time the Sooners (15-10, 6-6) have lost this season when trailing at intermission. The previous loss also came at the expense of the Aggies.

"I don't want to take anything away from Oklahoma but I think we wanted it more" Law said. "We thought that if we could get it close until the last four or five minutes then that is gut-check time and it comes down to who wants it most. We got the loose balls and the rebounds and we were fortunate enough to make plays we needed."

When the teams met on January 27, A&M trailed by a point at halftime en route to a 70-61 victory, ending a 14-game losing skid vs. Oklahoma.

The Aggies came out strong after the break in this one, taking a 31-30 lead on a dunk by freshman Donald Sloan with less than five minutes played.

Antanas Kavaliauskas put Texas A&M ahead for good, 39-38, on a reverse layup with 6:57 left to start an 8-0 run.

Oklahoma twice got within four points, the final time on a three-point play by David Godbold with 1:25 to play, but Law scored on a breakaway dunk and hit four straight free throws for a 56-46 advantage with 15 seconds left.

"They missed shots they were making in the first half," Gillispie said of the Sooners. "We were able to convert some baskets and get some momentum and get a good lead. Then, we have a pretty good player in the last four of five minutes to go in a game."

Law finished 7-of-15 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists as the Aggies bounced back from Tuesday's 77-75 home loss to Texas Tech. In the first meeting with Oklahoma, Law scored 19, including 12 in the last four minutes.

"My coaches and teammates have confidence in me," Law said. "When we get into tight situations my teammates come up to me and tell me that is it my time. I am confident in myself and when we get into tight situations I can make a play and put us in the right situation.

"Joe (Jones) can come through so it doesn't necessarily have to be me. I feel like when we come down the stretch I can put us in a position to win."

Jones made both his 3-point attempts and scored 12 points in the second half. He was 8-of-12 from the floor and grabbed nine boards.

"Every game is big for me," Jones said. "My team needs me on the floor and I want to be on the floor. I just tried to stay on the floor."

Godbold scored 20 points for the Sooners, who hit just five of their first 30 shots in the second half and finished at 34 percent (18-of-53), tying their season-low total set against Texas A&M in the first meeting.

"They had a lot of good guards, especially Acie Law, and they were good at trying to figure our game out," said Godbold, who was 5-of-7 from the arc. "They've scouted it out real well. I could see even when we called the play they would call it out and try to jump to where we're going. So they're pretty tough. Their coach is always on top of it."