12/7/02
No.2 Texas 100, George Washington 92
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| Royal Ivey |
WASHINGTON (AP)
-- James Thomas scored a career-high 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds
and led two second-half runs as No. 2 Texas defeated George Washington
100-92 Saturday.
Texas, which trailed by eight points before halftime, advanced to Sunday's
championship game of the BB&T Classic. The Longhorns (5-0) will
face the winner of Saturday's second game between No. 9 Maryland and
Notre Dame.
Texas led 76-73 before Brian Boddicker scored on a tip-in and Thomas
followed with a three-point play to make it 81-73 with 3:52 remaining,
effectively ending the Colonials' upset bid.
Thomas, a 6-foot-8 junior, went 10-for-11 from the field and 6-for-8
at the line before fouling out with 14.8 seconds to go. His previous
career high was 20 points, set last season against Kansas State.
T.J. Ford scored 16 points and Brandon Mouton had 15 for the Longhorns,
who are off to their best start since going 14-0 to open the 1981-82
season.
Chris Monroe scored 26 points and T.J. Thompson added 24 for the Colonials
(3-2), who made a game of it by making 32 of 41 free throws.
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| Brandon Mouton |
Thomas scored six points as the Longhorns opened the
second half with a 16-7 run to take a 59-52 lead. The Colonials crept
within two points before Terrell Ross hit a 3-pointer and Sydmill Harris
sank a foul shot to make it 64-58.
But the pesky Colonials stayed close by being efficient at the line.
Despite going five minutes with only one basket, GW made nine free throws
to close to 68-65 with 7:27 left.
Thompson scored 13 points, and the Colonials forced 12 turnovers to
take a 45-43 halftime lead.
After Texas missed its first six shots, Thomas got the Longhorns started
with a putback to launch an 11-2 run, capped by reserve Brad Buckman's
five straight points.
GW responded with a 12-3 run to go up 24-21, and minutes later Thompson
scored six points during a 10-2 run that made it 36-28.
