LSU hands Texas A&M first loss

By The Associated Press     Dec 6, 2006

? Glen Davis walked toward the frenzied LSU student section, smiled wide, cocked one fist in the air and let the cheers rain down on him as the clock ticked down.

It was a big-game atmosphere against a fellow Top-10 team, and Davis had responded with a big-time performance.

“You never get to enjoy this kind of stuff when you’re old, so I’m just soaking it all up,” said the 6-foot-9, 295-pounder, who goes by the nickname “Big Baby.”

Using muscle under the hoop and finesse from the perimeter, Davis scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead No. 9 LSU to a 64-52 victory over sixth-ranked Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

“We didn’t have an answer,” Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie said. “He’s a good player.”

The first loss of the season for the Aggies (7-1) also came against their first ranked opponent. Texas A&M had won 14 regular-season games and had not lost at all since being eliminated by LSU in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

“They just whipped us,” Gillispie said. “They outhustled us. They got the loose balls, they were a step ahead of us in everything we did. Congratulations to them.”

Tasmin Mitchell added 15 points and nine rebounds for LSU (5-1), which led throughout the second half and outrebounded the Aggies, 35-24. Garrett Temple had 11 points for the Tigers.

Antanas Kavaliauskas led the Aggies with 18 points, while Joseph Jones added 12 before fouling out late in the game. Acie Law, who averaged 15 points coming in, was held to only four while guarded primarily by Temple.

With a pair of fadeaways and a jumper, Davis helped LSU pull away in the second half.

“It’s just a part of my game I’ve been working on,” Davis said of scoring from outside. “That’s why coach Brady has no problem with me shooting open shots from there, because he knows I can hit them.”

No. 22 Oklahoma State 72, No. 21 Syracuse 68

New York – Mario Boggan had 21 points and eight rebounds and No. 22 Oklahoma State remained unbeaten by holding off a furious rally by No. 21 Syracuse.

The Cowboys (10-0) kept Sean Sutton’s record as a head coach perfect despite blowing almost all of a 13-point lead over the final 3:45.

Syracuse freshman Paul Harris almost made his Madison Square Garden debut a memorable one as he led the comeback by the Orange (7-2), scoring nine of his 11 points over the final 3:45. JamesOn Curry of Oklahoma State had 20 points, including the three-pointer from the top of the key with 22 seconds left that ended Syracuse’s 12-0 run that had wiped out all but one point of a 67-54 lead. Demetris Nichols had 26 points for the Orange.

Kansas State 93, Cleveland State 60

Manhattan – Cartier Martin scored 21 points and four other players reached double figures as Kansas State broke a two-game losing streak. David Hoskins added 17 points for the Wildcats (5-3), who shot a

season-high 61.5 percent (32-for-52) from the field.

Akeem Wright scored 13 points, Jason Bennett added 11 and Lance Harris finished with 10 for Kansas State.

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