Baylor's three busloads of fans were heard loud and clear as the Bears built a 24-12 lead in Saturday's game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena.
Even though the Aggies quieted the Baylor faithful by rebounding impressively for a 79-71 victory, coach Mark Turgeon doesn't want to see a blue sea of fans for the Feb. 15 Big Monday game against Kansas. The Jayhawks have a national following, and their fans in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston certainly will buy many of the 2,000 remaining tickets -- unless the Aggies act.
"I don't want any Jayhawks in this building," Turgeon said. "Let's get 'em bought tomorrow. I don't care how we do it. I don't want any Jayhawks in this building -- [there were] too many Baylor fans today. We got something special going, we gotta get all the tickets sold."
Turgeon, a former KU guard, was reminded that there will be at least one Jayhawk fan in the building.
"I won't be rooting for them," Turgeon said.
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It's remarkable how far the Baylor and A&M programs have come.
Six years ago the Bears were 7-17 overall and 2-10 in conference play when they came to A&M, which was 7-16 and 0-12. The crowd for that game was announced at 4,937, which means there probably were about 2,500.
A&M had a second straight crowd in excess of 13,000 fans Saturday, and with KU, Texas and Oklahoma State remaining, that streak should stretch to five.
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A&M guard B.J. Holmes hit a trio of clutch 3-pointers down the stretch Saturday, but his defensive effort on BU standout guard Tweety Carter was just as impressive.
Carter had seven assists and four steals -- both game-high efforts. But he was only 4-of-13 shooting, including 2 of 7 on 3-pointers.
"We did a nice job," Turgeon said. "He wasn't as aggressive as he normally is. Our ball screen defense was OK. B.J. did a good job on him."
Carter had 27 points in last week's overtime victory at Texas.
"Give a lot of credit to their defense," BU head coach Scott Drew said. "I know Tweety's calf was bothering him."
It appeared that the 5-foot-11 Holmes was bothering him more.
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A&M freshman Ray Turner, who couldn't practice early in the season while he waited for the NCAA to rule him academically eligible, had a solid 10 minutes against the Bears. He had seven points, five rebounds and blocked a shot.
"We don't win the game without him," Turgeon said.
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Plodding Baylor center Josh Lomers, always a target of jeers from Aggie fans, accidentally ran over A&M's Bryan Davis early in the second half after the Bears had rebounded an A&M miss. Lomers was given a foul for excessive contact after the officials reviewed the play on the monitor.
"Josh didn't mean to do anything," Drew said. "It's hard for him to jump over people -- he's vertically challenged. But it was a good call."
A&M made two free throws and got the ball, which was a big momentum swing.
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ESPN's Andy Katz named the Aggies his team of the week after ending Missouri's 32-game home winning streak and defeating Baylor.