By John Shinn
Oklahoma was hoping a big win over Texas A&M; would bolster its hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament. For a half, the fantasy looked like it would come true.
Shots fell while loose balls and rebounds found their way into Sooner hands. It was the fantasy OU had dreamt about heading into the game.
Reality, however, had something else in store: a 56-49 loss.
“When you’re playing a team as good as Texas A&M;, you have to take advantage of every opportunity you have,” OU coach Jeff Capel said. “You also have to minimize your mistakes.”
The Sooners did neither, allowing a seven-point halftime lead to evaporate in the first 5 minutes of the second half.
The final 20 minutes were like a condensed version of OU’s season. Shots that had to fall didn’t while defensive stops proved difficult.
Texas A&M; point guard Acie Law scored 21 points with 17 coming in the second half. Forward Joseph Jones added 21, too, keeping the Aggies (22-4, 10-2 Big 12) tied with Kansas atop the Big 12 standings.
“This game kind of came down to who wanted it the most,” Law said. “We got the loose balls, the rebounds and the plays we needed to win.”
They certainly did after the half.
The Sooners (15-10, 6-6) shuffled their starting lineup, inserting David Godbold and Chris Walker into the backcourt in place of Austin Johnson and Tony Crocker.
Godbold responded with a career-high 20 points and was 5-for-7 from 3-point range.
“We’re really happy with the way he fought,” Capel said. “He fought for the 37 minutes he was in there. He played with a passion that we haven’t seen in a while.”
The problem was no other Sooner could reach his level. Nate Carter finished with 10 points, but was largely ineffective. Longar Longar, coming off a 20-point effort at Iowa State, finished with four points, but none in the final 35 minutes.
“We didn’t really have a lot of movement on offense,” Carter said. “We were standing around and the ball was kind of dying in our hands. When the ball dies in our hands, it limits our opportunities to drive to the basket.”
OU overcame it in the first half with defense, holding the Aggies to 8-for-22 shooting.
But the second half was a different story. Law heated up and his alley-oop pass to Donald Sloan gave Texas A&M; a 31-30 lead with 15:27 to play.
OU tied it twice and even took a 38-37 lead on Godbold’s final 3-pointer with 9:48 left. The Sooners had four chances to extend their advantage but failed.
“We missed some shots in the second half when I thought we had some real good looks,” Capel said.
A&M; didn’t.
Antanas Kavaliauskas hit a layup with just under 7 minutes to go to give the Aggies a 39-38 lead and start an 8-0 run.
Law scored eight of his points in the last 5 minutes and pretty much took over the game.
“We were able to convert some baskets and get some momentum,” Texas A&M; coach Billy Gillispie said. “Then, we have a pretty good player in the last 4 or 5 minutes to go to.”
That was the difference Saturday and the difference between a team on the verge of winning the Big 12 and one facing steep odds to reach the NCAA Tournament.
The Sooners have four conference games remaining, beginning Tuesday night at Missouri. Winning them all may be about the only way to secure an at-large bid.
“We still have a lot fight in us,” Capel said.
