University of Missouri
Texas A&M
Missouri Takes Down Texas A&M, 74-50
1/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 16, 2002
By DAVID SCOTT
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Relegated to the bench, Wesley Stokes is doing his best to get off it.
Stokes, out of the starting lineup for the second straight game, scored 13 points to lead No. 21 Missouri to a 74-50 victory over Texas A&M on Wednesday night.
He had started every game this season until last weekend's win at Kansas State and has no interest in becoming the Tigers' full-time sixth man.
"I'm comfortable doing it, but I'm not looking to carve out no spot playing the sixth man because I'm looking to start," Stokes said. "I feel that I should be, but Coach is doing it for reasons and I'm going to wait my turn."
Missouri coach Quin Snyder made the change after Stokes, a sophomore point guard, had a series of subpar outings that started with a 1-of-6 shooting performance in Missouri's 83-65 loss to Iowa.
In his next six games, as Missouri tumbled from No. 2 to its current ranking of 21st, Stokes shot just 7-of-35 (20 percent). Against Texas A&M, he was 6-of-8.
In his place, senior Clarence Gilbert - a much better defender than Stokes - is running the Missouri offense.
"We're going to have some growing pains with Clarence at point, but he'll guard you," Snyder said. "He's maturing. He's not identifying his play by whether or not he's hitting his shots."
Stokes was one of four Missouri players to score in double figures as Kareem Rush had 15 points and Arthur Johnson and Gilbert each had 12. It was Tigers' sixth consecutive win over the Aggies.
Johnson recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 11 rebounds. The sophomore is averaging a double-double over his last seven games with 13.7 points and 11.2 rebounds.
"It's sweet," Johnson said. "That's what I'm pushing for out there. It's never easy, but it's fun to know how hard it was and come out with those kinds of numbers."
Stokes helped cap an early 20-6 run with seven points on three consecutive possessions, including a 3-pointer that gave the Tigers (13-4, 3-1 Big 12) a 21-8 lead.
Rush, a preseason All-American, had struggled through the end of Missouri's non-conference season. Since scoring just eight points against Nebraska in the Big 12 opener, Rush is averaging 21.3 points.
"With a couple of more conference wins we can get some momentum," Rush said. "We're going to have to keep pushing it and find out how good of a team we can be."
Nick Anderson had 13 points for Texas A&M (6-11, 0-3), while Keith Bean added 10. The Aggies have lost 10 of 11.
"Rush came out slow in the game and I think we contained Gilbert very well," Anderson said. "But it's just too hard to keep those guys down for the whole game."
Texas A&M closed to 50-42 midway thought the second half on two free throws by Bean. But Missouri responded with a 10-0 run, included a 3-pointer and three-point play from Rush, to take a 60-42 lead with 4:53 left.
"We fought back, but fatigue hit us," Texas A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "Then we fell back again and we didn't have enough to keep up."
Missouri led 30-19 at halftime despite scoring just two points over the final 6:30 of the period. The Tigers, 11-1 this season when leading at the break, took a 26-8 lead following the run that included Stokes' seven-point sprint.
"In the first half, we had a chance, if not to ice the game, then to blow it open," Snyder said. "Those are the times we're still find ourselves offensively. There's a little letdown there."
Texas A&M played without Daryl Mason and Michael Gardener, who were suspended indefinitely by coach Melvin Watkins on Monday. They had not played in the Aggies' last two games.
