Hot off a narrow 69-66 win over the then-No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks Feb. 3, the No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies downed the No. 25 Texas Longhorns 100-82 Monday to maintain their command over the Big 12 with a conference-best 8-1 record.
While many consider Longhorn freshman guard Kevin Durant to be the best player in the nation, his 28 points and 15 boards were not enough to net Texas a road victory over the Aggies, though the game did mark Durant's 14th double-double on the season, breaking the Longhorn team record. But it was keen play from Texas A&M senior guard Acie Law IV, who posted 21 points and 15 assists for the game, along with sophomore Josh Carter, who checked in with 24 points, that propelled the Aggies past the Longhorns.
Law also came up big for Texas A&M during the Kansas game, putting up 23 points and seven dimes, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 20 ticks remaining in the game to pull off the upset on the road.
Despite the loss, Durant continued his outstanding play as a freshman for the Longhorns. He is averaging a double-double for the season - 25.4 points, 11.6 rebounds - and is vying for National Player of the Year honors. Durant and the rest of the Longhorns look to rebound and end their two-game losing streak this weekend against Iowa State. Two days before the loss to Texas A&M, the Longhorns fell by one point, 73-72, to Kansas State at home, where Durant still recorded an impressive 32 points and nine boards.
The victory over Texas kept the Aggies undefeated at home this season and extended their home-court winning streak to 21 games, a streak that began last season.
Texas A&M currently sits on a 20-3 overall record and has won 13 of its last 14 games. With seven match-ups remaining, the Aggies still have a pair of road show-downs against ranked opponents on the schedule - Feb. 21 against No. 17 Oklahoma State, whom the Aggies trounced 67-49 Jan. 20, and another with Texas, this time in Austin, on Feb. 28.
Meanwhile, tonight will add another chapter to arguably the best rivalry in men's basketball as the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on their perennial arch-nemesis, the No. 16 Duke Blue Devils. Both teams are looking for a win after suffering losses to unranked ACC opponents.
The Tar Heels fell on the road to N.C. State 83-79 Feb. 3, while Duke dropped back-to-back games of two points or fewer in the last week. On Feb. 4, the Florida State Seminoles came up huge against Duke, winning 68-67 at Cameron Indoor, a court that rarely surrenders victories to the visiting team. Prior to that loss, Virginia edged the Blue Devils 68-66 in OT in Charlottesville, Va.
With Duke reeling from these two losses, North Carolina, led by sophomore Tyler Hansbrough, hopes to take advantage and secure a win on the Duke floor. Last season the Tar Heels achieved this feat, downing the Blue Devils 83-76 at Cameron, though Duke had already struck first at this point, having won at North Carolina 87-83 earlier that season.
North Carolina leads the all-time series 125-96 against Duke, but the Blue Devils have tallied wins in 16 of the last 20 meetings.
Later this weekend, the No. 1 Florida Gators will hit the road to take on the No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats in a battle between the SEC's top two teams. After a midseason hot streak of 11-consecutive wins, the Wildcats have stumbled recently, going 2-2 in their last four games with rough losses to unranked Vanderbilt and Georgia.
The Gators, on the other hand, have won 14-straight games, and barring an unforeseen upset by Georgia tonight, will be armed with 15-consecutive victories heading into Lexington, Ky. Florida is a perfect 8-0 in SEC play while the Wildcats are 6-2 in the conference.
