The return of a fallen teammate inspired the Texas A&M men, while the Aggie women responded with a season-best effort against their rival in a solid Saturday for the A&M basketball programs.

Derrick Roland, who suffered a season-ending leg injury Dec. 22 at Washington, was at Reed Arena on Saturday. His presence inspired good friend Donald Sloan to score 26 points in a 64-53 victory over Nebraska. Sloan hit 13 of 14 free throws, keeping the Cornhuskers at bay down the stretch. Can you say leader?

Sloan didn't even have the day's best performance by an Aggie. Tanisha Smith was unstoppable in a 91-70 victory at Texas. She hit 11 of 15 shots, adding nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Can you say All-American?

The senior guards helped the Aggies open league play with a rare sweep. Oklahoma State was the only other Big 12 program to have its women and men win Saturday.

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It wasn't so much that the A&M women beat Texas. The Aggies dominated every phase in rolling to a 63-31 lead. Smith was phenomenal, but every Aggie starter was much better than the Longhorn player it faced.

The media who watch Texas on a daily basis were mesmerized -- and impressed -- by the Aggies.

"They play like boys," said one with a chuckle.

The 10th-ranked Aggies probably could have beaten a few men's teams. They shot the ball that well, and more importantly, were very physical.

"There's not nine teams better than they are," Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno said.

A&M's next road games are Oklahoma, Baylor and Nebraska. That's formidable competition, but if the Aggies play like they did against Texas, the venue won't matter.

There were plenty of long faces at the Erwin Center on Saturday night, including third-year Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors, who has yet to beat A&M. She was hired to bring the program back to prominence, but A&M has won eight of the last nine meetings with the Longhorns.

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The Texas A&M women and Nebraska women were the only Big 12 road teams to win among the league's 11 games.

Nebraska's 57-49 victory over Iowa State had to be bigger. Few teams go into Hilton Coliseum and win -- the Cyclones were 74-14 in Big 12 regular season games.

Nebraska (14-0) established itself as the best team in the North, which isn't as strong as the South. Nebraska should go at least 8-2 against North teams, which will make it tough for a South team to win the conference.

Texas will be at Nebraska on Tuesday.

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The A&M men will be underdogs this week at Kansas State on Tuesday and at Texas on Saturday.

"I'm looking forward to going up there [to K-State]," A&M senior forward Bryan Davis said. "We played a tough game against them last year here and we didn't come out with the victory. But I feel pretty confident going into both of those games."

K-State and Nebraska missed chances for road victories Saturday. Missouri rallied for a 74-68 win over K-State while Nebraska erased a five-point halftime deficit to take a one-point lead over A&M, but couldn't finish as they did two years ago in a 59-55 victory at Reed.

"They made plays and we didn't," Nebraska head coach Doc Sadler said. "Welcome to the road and welcome to the league."

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The A&M men have a favorable home schedule. The Aggies probably won't play a ranked team at Reed until Kansas on Feb. 15.

Oklahoma (Jan. 19), Colorado (Jan. 23) and Texas Tech (Jan. 30) are up next -- all winnable games. Surging Baylor (13-1) could crack the Top 25 this week or next week, but the Bears have to play Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State and Texas before coming to A&M on Feb. 6.

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It will be interesting to see if the Oklahoma and Texas Tech men bounce back from blowout losses.

Oklahoma (9-6) plays host to Oklahoma State on Big Monday and welcomes Missouri on Saturday before coming to A&M. Tech (12-3) will be home to Missouri on Wednesday before traveling to Kansas.

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The Baylor women may have lost more than just the opener in a 78-65 loss at Oklahoma State. The Lady Bears played without 5-foot-10 junior guard Melissa Jones.

"Melissa Jones has a stress reaction and we're being very cautious because we don't want to turn it in to a stress fracture," Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey said. "I'll sit her the entire Big 12 if I have to so I can have her for the playoffs."

Jones, the team's third-leading scorer, was leading Baylor in minutes played.

Baylor was picked to win the league and was 13-1 in nonconference (with the loss to Tennessee), but had a tough Saturday in Stillwater. Senior forward Morghan Medlock, the team's second-leading scorer, didn't have a basket.

Freshman sensation Brittney Griner had 16 points and 10 rebounds, but didn't block a shot for the first time in her collegiate career. The 6-8 freshman had 88 blocks in nonconference play.

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