Just when all seems lost, Aggies show grit
Texas A&M looked beat when Khris Middleton re-injured his leg late in the first half. Oklahoma had built a 28-20 lead as the Aggies coughed up a turnover, missed four free throws and made only 1 of 5 field goals over a four-minute stretch. And Middleton hit the lone basket, leaving a lot of long faces in Reed Arena.
The Aggies' best player didn't come back, but A&M did, pulling out a gritty 81-75 overtime victory.
"It was a good team win," A&M first-year head coach Billy Kennedy said.
By far the best in his short tenure.
A&M played some of its best offense of the season with the game on the line, scoring on its last two possessions in regulation to force overtime. The Aggies then scored on all nine possessions in the extra five minutes.
"We competed on every possession, and that's how you have to do it to compete on this level," Kennedy said. "That's what I'm most proud of."
Saturday's all-around effort was a welcomed sight after A&M had lost six of its last eight games, scoring more than 58 points in only one of the losses, including an embarrassing 74-50 home loss to Iowa State two weeks ago.
"We felt like we kind of owed [the fans]," said junior shooting guard Elston Turner, who had a career-high 23 points.
Consider the debt paid in full as A&M had seven players shoot at least 50 percent from the floor. Senior point guard Dash Harris, senior forward David Loubeau and Turner combined to score 53 points by hitting 19 of 38 field goals, though the Aggies wouldn't have won without Naji Hibbert.
Hibbert played 22 minutes after Middleton's injury. The 6-foot-5 junior scored nine points during that time, hitting 3 of 5 shots, including 2 of 3 3-pointers. He also had three rebounds and three assists.
The Aggies got those kind of contributions from everybody, something they had to have because their already small margin of error got narrowed when Middleton left the game. A&M had won without Middleton when he missed seven games with a leg injury, but those victories came over Southern, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Alcorn State, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State -- not exactly Big 12 caliber.
That made Saturday's victory that much more impressive. Though coming off back-to-back victories over Kansas State and Texas Tech, Oklahoma is having growing pains under new coach Lon Kruger, who lamented his team's inability to do enough little things to win.
Instead, the Aggies did the little things.
A&M turned bad into good by scoring six points via offensive rebounds after missing free throws, including two baskets by sophomore post Keith Davis who went 2-for-2 shooting along with a game-high nine rebounds and no turnovers. If Davis doesn't get either of those offensive rebounds, A&M probably loses.
It didn't hurt that the 2,445 students in the crowd gave the Aggies help down the stretch. None of them would have blinked had the Aggies lost after Middleton got hurt, for it's been that kind of season. Kennedy was diagnosed with early stages of Parkinson's disease. Middleton had knee surgery. Sophomore forward Kourtney Roberson broke an ankle, and freshman guard Jamal Branch transferred to St. John's.
Saturday's injury seemed especially cruel because Middleton injured himself while fighting for the ball with teammate Ray Turner. And Middleton had just started to play well in the last three games, averaging 30.3 minutes and 14.6 points while shooting just under 50 percent from the field.
But instead of the season reaching a low, it took a step forward, which didn't seem possible with 4:55 left in the first half as Middleton was helped off the floor.