Oklahoma looks to regroup against Aggies

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Oklahoma's basketball team returns home Tuesday night to play an opponent the Sooners have handled without much trouble recently, although coach Kelvin Sampson says his team better

Tuesday, January 9th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

"It's a game that given our situation, coming off a tough road loss, our kids better be ready to play," Sampson said.

The 22nd-ranked Sooners (11-2) opened Big 12 Conference play on Saturday with a 100-80 loss to Iowa State. Oklahoma led by as many as 12 late in the first half before the Cyclones used outstanding 3-point shooting to rally.

On Tuesday, the Sooners play host to Texas A&M (6-7, 0-1), a team they beat by 25 and 18 points a year ago. The Aggies are coming off a home loss to Kansas State in which they shot just 28 percent.

"It was one of those nights where across the board, the team couldn't get the ball in the hole," coach Melvin Watkins said.

"We've just got to refocus. I still think this is a fragile team that we have, and we're going to have some ups and downs."

Sampson has said some of the same things about his team, particularly forward Aaron McGhee. He said McGhee, a junior college transfer, benefited from going against Iowa State's veteran frontcourt.

"He's a first-year junior college kid. He ran into something Saturday that he's never seen, and that's a fifth-year senior,"

Sampson said.

"Aaron learned a lot, I think, from that game Saturday. While he's learning how to be a better player, the one thing he can bring to our table is he can make baskets."

Texas A&M is led by sophomore guard Bernard King, who at 6-foot-5 provides matchup problems for Oklahoma's guards. But Watkins said one weakness of his team is that there aren't many pure shooters.

"The way we have to play, because we don't have those great shooters on the wings, we have to be very aggressive and we have to get inside touches," he said. That didn't happen against Kansas State.

The Oklahoma game is the start of a difficult stretch for the Aggies. They travel to Colorado on Saturday, then play home against Texas before visiting Kansas and Oklahoma State.

"The first thing I can do, especially for this team, is take one game at a time and not look at that stretch," Watkins. "But it's coming. One thing about the Big 12, if you like competition, you're surely going to get it. We're going to get our plate full here coming up."