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Augustin leads Texas to romp over Texas A&M

Feb 19, 2008 - 6:22 AM AUSTIN, Texas (Ticker) -- Texas owed Texas A&M one and D.J. Augustin repaid the Aggies in full.

Augustin keyed a hot start by the Longhorns and the Aggies never recovered as No. 7 Texas rolled to a 77-50 victory over 22nd-ranked Texas A&M on Monday in the Big 12 Conference.

Texas (22-4, 9-2 Big 12) has now won six consecutive games, all in conference. Its last loss was on January 30, when the Longhorns visited College Station and were bombed by the Aggies, 80-63.

"We came together on the defensive end," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "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."

This time it was the Longhorns who did the bombing, led by Augustin. Texas opened the game with a 16-4 run and went on runs of 23-7 and 14-1 to open a 39-18 lead at the half as Augustin scored 17 of his 27 points.

"I was aggressive and the ball was falling tonight," Augustin said. "I felt good shooting and my teammates did a great job of keeping A&M moving and knocking down their shots also."

Damion James added 15 points for the Longhorns, who also dominated on the defensive end, blocking 12 shots and holding the Aggies to 19 percent shooting (6-of-31) in the first half.

"We are a more defensive-minded team and we let the offense take care of itself," James said. "We didn't really fight out there in College Station. We fought tonight, and we were able to win."

The Aggies (20-6, 6-5) have been dominated by the Longhorns recently, losing 35 of the last 42 meetings. Texas also improved to 14-1 at home this season.

"It was pretty evident that our guys were struggling out there," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "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 was the only Texas A&M player in double figures with 11 points.

"They proved that they are the better team tonight," Carter said. "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."