WACO -- Texas A&M's Donald Sloan and Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn put on quite a show with Dunn hitting a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch to lead the Bears a 70-66 victory Wednesday at the Ferrell Center in Big 12 men's basketball action.
Yet it was unheralded 7-foot center Josh Lomers who surprisingly hurt the Aggies.
Lomers had 10 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes. Those are modest numbers, but compared to previous efforts against the Aggies he was an All-American on Wednesday.
Lomers had scored a combined 10 points with nine rebounds in his previous seven games against the Aggies. He had committed 25 fouls and was a favorite target of the Reed Rowdies who would let Lomers know he always had more fouls than points. Lomers once picked up four fouls in five minutes against the Aggies.
Lomers fouled out for the fourth time against the Aggies but this time he left to cheers.
Lomers helped give Baylor a 42-35 rebounding edge. Baylor's more athletic inside players are 6-10 Anthony Jones, 6-10 Ekpe Udoh and 6-7 Quincy Acy, but the 280-pound Lomers had more rebounds than any of them.
Baylor's inside jumping jacks are the reason the Bears are sixth in the nation in rebounding margin. Jones, Udoh and Acy were held to a combined 11 rebounds the last time the two teams met as A&M grabbed a 78-71 victory. Bryan Davis, David Loubeau and Ray Turner controlled the paint as A&M had a 36-26 rebounding edge.
Lomers wasn't a factor. The lumbering senior had three points and two rebounds and didn't play after he was given a foul for excessive contact after he accidentally ran over Davis early in the second half.
This time, Lomers played with the game on the line and made two big plays. He and Loubeau were called for double fouls that was each players' fourth, which hurt A&M more. Lomers' last point came from the free-throw line with 4 minutes, 29 seconds left to make it 59-55.
"He really helped them," A&M head coach Mark Turgeon said. "I thought he was a difference-maker. He's a load, he wears on you. He did a great job being physical."
That's supposed to be A&M's method of operation.
The Aggies had outrebounded its last six opponents -- even top-ranked Kansas -- which is why A&M had won five of those games.
A&M was doing a good job inside early and had a 25-23 rebounding edge early in the second half when Baylor started getting the best of the play inside.
Baylor coach Scott Drew said the Aggies controlled the paint last time, which caused the Bears to be in foul trouble. This time it was Baylor doing the dirty work inside.
Lomers might have fouled out, but so did Loubeau who was limited to 22 points. The 6-8 sophomore has been playing well, but he had only four points and four rebounds. He was 2-of-8 shooting. Davis was only 3 of 7 from the field. Turner came off the bench for eight rebounds, but he was only 1 of 5 from the field.
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Lomers came into the interview room. Baylor beat writers said that happens about twice a season.
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There were several good signs for the Aggies. A&M shot only 36.2 percent from the field, took some bad shots and made some bad decisions, but was a shot away from overtime.
A&M shot well from the free-throw line (17 of 24) and leaned on its youngsters. Freshmen Khris Middleton, Turner and Naji Hibbert combined for 60 minutes. Unfortunately, they were 4-of-15 shooting with five turnovers, four of them by Middleton.
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Maybe A&M's worst play was by one of its typical smarter players, junior B.J. Holmes, who fouled Tweety Carter with 2 seconds left in the first half. A&M played great defense to force Carter to shoot a long 3-pointer. Carter made all free throws to give Baylor a 36-32 lead.
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Sloan had a great start with 13 points in the first 13:19. However with the rest of the team struggling to score, Baylor increased the defensive pressure on Sloan who also probably wore down because he did a good job on Dunn who also had a quick start.
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