Dallas – That thumping sound heard during the 74-70 victory by No. 8 Texas over Texas A&M on Saturday in a Big 12 Tournament semifinal must have been Atlantic Coast Conference coaches banging their heads against the nearest wall.
Longhorns junior P.J. Tucker hails from Raleigh, N.C., and had hoped to hear from one of the big-name ACC schools. But there were some questions about his academic background and his size. At 6-feet-5 and 225 pounds, he didn’t look like a conventional ACC forward.
The phone never rang. Big mistake.
Tucker, named last week by the Big 12 coaches as the league’s player of the year, proved to be an impossible matchup for Texas A&M (21-8), as he does for most opponents.
He led everybody with 26 points and 13 rebounds, and also chipped in four assists, two steals and a blocked shot while playing 39 of the 40 minutes.
“P.J. is special,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “He is tough because he can give it to you a lot of different ways.”
That includes defense. Although it did not show in the statistics, Tucker made the defensive stop of the game. After a timeout with 44.3 seconds remaining and Texas up 71-68, Barnes put Tucker on Aggies point guard Acie Law, who wanted to work for an open 3-pointer. But he couldn’t get rid of Tucker.
After a no-shot foul, Law tossed the ball to Joseph Jones. The 6-9 sophomore launched a 3-point attempt from the left corner with 12 seconds remaining. It bounced off the rim.
Jones entered the game having hit only 2-for-18 from beyond the arc this season.
“We wanted to take Acie Law out (of the play),” Tucker said.
Tucker also made the key pass, feeding Brad Buckman with a scoop pass in the paint for a layup that put Texas up 69-66 with 1:54 to go. Texas A&M never caught up and saw its eight-game winning streak snapped.
“(Tucker) is just a phenomenal talent,” Aggies coach Billy Gillispie said. “He had a dominant performance.”
Texas (27-5) set a school record for victories in a season and kept alive its hopes of earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
TEXAS A&M (21-8)
Law IV 6-15 4-4 16, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Kirk 2-7 0-0 6, Jones 6-17 2-2 14, Pompey 0-1 0-0 0, Bennett 0-0 0-0 0, White 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 8-12 3-5 25, Kavaliauskas 4-5 1-1 9. Totals 26-58 10-12 70.
TEXAS (27-5)
Gibson 3-7 3-3 11, Tucker 9-17 8-12 26, Paulino 6-9 0-1 15, Buckman 1-5 3-4 5, Aldridge 3-10 3-4 9, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Abrams 2-5 4-4 8, Atchley 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 21-28 74.
Halftime – Texas 43-30. 3-point goals – Texas A&M 8-23 (Carter 6-10, Kirk 2-7, Jones 0-1, Walker 0-1, Law IV 0-4); Texas 5-14 (Paulino 3-5, Gibson 2-4, Abrams 0-2, Buckman 0-3). Fouled out – Kirk. Rebounds – Texas A&M 28 (Carter 7), Texas 39 (Tucker 13). Assists – Texas A&M 19 (Law IV 7), Texas 15 (Tucker 4). Total fouls – Texas A&M 20, Texas 13.
A – 18,999.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
