December 08, 2000
Game #7
Texas A&M Aggies (3-3)
vs.
#12 North Carolina Tar Heels (4-2)
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000 * 8:05 p.m. (CST)
Compaq Center (16,279 cap.)
Houston, Texas
Radio
Texas A&M Radio Network (Regional)
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Airtime: 7:40 p.m. (CST)
Television
FOX Sports Net (Regional)
Greg Lucas, Play-by-Play
Jim Haller, Commentary
Tickets
Toys for Tots College Basketball Challenge - $26.50
Price Includes:
Rice vs. Brigham Young, 5 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. North Carolina, 8 p.m.
Available Through:
Texas A&M Ticket Office (1-888-99-AGGIE)
Ticketmaster (979-268-0414)
TALE OF THE TAPE
Statistic A&M UNC
W-L Record 3-3 4-2
ESPN/USA Today -- #12
Associated Press -- #14
Sagarin Rating #216 #28
RPI #202 #56
Scoring 78.8 77.2
Opp. Scoring 75.8 71.0
Scoring Margin +3.0 +6.2
FG Pct. .455 .465
Opp. FG Pct. .420 .397
3-Pt. Pct. .318 .376
Opp. 3-Pt. Pct. .331 .306
3-Pt. FG 5.8 6.8
Opp. 3-Pt. FG 7.8 7.3
FT Pct. .709 .639
Opp FT Pct. .646 .693
Off. Reb. 14.8 13.5
Total Rebounds 42.7 39.2
Reb. Margin +8.0 +0.9
Assists 15.8 17.8
Turnovers 19.0 17.0
Blocks 2.2 7.0
Steals 5.5 7.7
Fouls 23.2 17.8
The Texas A&M Aggies (3-3) face their biggest challenge of the season on Saturday when they play the North Carolina Tar Heels (4-2) at 8:05 p.m.(CDT) in the nightcap of the Toys for Tots College Basketball Challenge at the Compaq Center (16,279 cap.) in Houston. Rice plays Brigham Young in the first game at 5 p.m. North Carolina, ranked No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and No. 14 by The Associated Press, is coming off a 67-45 home victory against Miami (Fla.) on Monday, while A&M beat Lamar, 83-60, on Tuesday.
About the Tar Heels
North Carolina returns four starters and nine lettermen from last year's NCAA Final Four team that finished 22-14 overall and tied for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 9-7. The Tar Heels finished the year ranked No. 11 in the final ESPN/USA Today poll. The Tar Heels are 4-2 this season, with losses to No. 3-ranked Michigan State on the road (77-64) and Kentucky at home (93-76). UNC has beaten Winthrop (66-61), Tulsa (91-81) and Miami (Fla.) (67-45) at home and Appalachian State (99-69) on the road. The Tar Heels are led by a trio of All-America candidates -- senior center Brendan Haywood (7-0), who is averaging 15.2 points and 7.2 rebounds; sophomore guard Joseph Forte (6-4) , who is adding 17.7 points per game; and junior forward Jason Capel (6-8), who is contributing 8.2 points per contest. Against Miami on Tuesday, Haywood become the first UNC player ever to post a triple double, finishing with 18 points, 14 rebounds and a school-record 10 blocked shots.
Series Record
The Aggies lead the series, 1-0. The lone meeting came in the second round of the 1980 NCAA Tournament, with the Aggies posting a 78-61 victory in double-overtime in Denton, Texas.
TEXAS A&M VS. UNC SERIES
Year Result Site
1979-80 A&M 78, UNC 61 Denton, Texas (NCAA Tournament Second-Round Game)
Watkins Quoteboard
"It's good for our program to play a nationally ranked team with such a tradition as North Carolina. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of what we're trying to build this program into. We want to be one of those teams, and the way you do that is to play them. North Carolina is a very good team. And we're not up to full speed. We don't have all of our bodies. They're awfully big inside and this would be a good game for Andy [Slocum], to have his body in there and bang them around a little bit. But, we don't have that so we can't worry about it. We've got to try to come up with a game plan that will suit our needs and the personnel that we have and give our best effort."
Probable Starters
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (3-3)
# Player Pos. Ht. Cl. ppg rpg
4 Jamaal Gilchrist G 6-0 So. 9.0 2.8a
32 Bernard King G 6-5 So. 17.0 4.2a
24 Carlton Brown F 6-6 Sr. 14.7 8.2
5 Nick Anderson F 6-6 Fr. 8.7 6.8
2 Keith Bean F 6-8 So. 7.8 4.2
TEXAS A&M INJURIES: TOMAS RESS, Sophomore Forward: Staph infection (doubtful); LARRY SCOTT, Sophomore Guard: Sprained ankle (doubtful); ANDY SLOCUM, Sophomore Center: Shoulder tendonitis (will not play)
NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (4-2)
# Player Pos. Ht. Cl. ppg rpg
31 Adam Boone G 6-2 Fr. 2.2 2.3a
40 Joseph Forte G 6-4 So. 17.7 4.2a
25 Jason Capel F 6-8 Jr. 8.2 4.5
42 Kris Lang F 6-11 Jr. 16.0 6.3
00 Brendan Haywood C 7-0 Sr. 15.2 7.8
Head Coaches
TEXAS A&M: Melvin Watkins (UNC Charlotte '77)
23-37, 3rd year at A&M
65-57, 5th year overall
0-0 vs. Matt Doherty
0-1 vs. North Carolina
NORTH CAROLINA: Matt Doherty (North Carolina '84)
4-2 in 1st year at UNC
26-17 in 2nd year overall
0-0 vs. Melvin Watkins
0-0 vs. Texas A&M
Lamar Recap
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP)--Bernard King scored 30 points and tied a school record with eight 3-pointers as Texas A&M beat Lamar 83-60 on Tuesday night. King hit three straight 3-pointers midway through the second half as the Aggies (3-3) stretched out to a 19-point lead over the Cardinals. He started off the second half with two 3-pointers in a row. Lewis Arline posted 12 points and 16 rebounds for Lamar (1-3). Jared Lane, Ron Austin and Tyler Hackstadt each scored eight points. Carlton Brown had a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds while Nick Anderson added 14 points for the Aggies. King had six three-pointers in the second half, tying a Big 12 Conference record for a single half. Last season, King scored 31 points, including 26 in the second half, but the Aggies fell to Lamar, 76-69, in overtime in Beaumont. King nailed seven three-pointers (six in the second half) of that game.
Coach Melvin Watkins Comments: "It was good to see Bernard have a game like that. He's worked hard on it to get out of that slump. He makes a lot of other things happen on the floor. It does open some things up. We like to get more inside touches. When he's hitting like that, you have to extend your defense. (On Carlton Brown) He's being a senior. He's playing with a lot of confidence right now. The rebounding thing uu I hope he keeps it going. He is an X-factor for this team. That was a happy locker room in there. The guys felt good about their play."
1980 North Carolina Game
DENTON, Texas (March 9, 1980)-- Texas A&M captured a double-overtime 78-61 victory against No. 15-ranked North Carolina in a second-round 1980 NCAA Tournament game. The Aggies used a 13-0 run early in the second half to build a 46-36 lead, which it eventually extended to 51-38 with seven minutes left in regulation. But the Tar Heels came back with a 11 straight points and tied the score at 53-53 with 1:49 left. Neither team could score in the final minute, sending the game to overtime. UNC went into its famed "Four Corners" offense in the first overtime and neither team score a single point, resulting in a second overtime. A&M's David Britton got things going by sinking a jumper, then Tyrone Ladsen extended the lead to 57-53 with a pair of free throws. That forced UNC into a fouling mode, as A&M went on to collect 19 of its 25 points in the overtime from the line. The 25 points in one overtime, along with the 17-point winning margin, still stand as NCAA Tournament records.
Bouncing Back
After falling to Birmingham Southern, 74-54, on Nov. 26 in what coach Melvin Watkins said was the "most embarrassing" loss of his career, Watkins called a 5:30 a.m. practice the next morning. The entire team showed up, but rather than practice, spent two hours watching and dissecting the game film. The Aggies responded with a 79-46 victory against Morris Brown, the largest margin of victory in Watkins' five years as a college head coach. Then, after a hard-fought 107-106 overtime road loss to Virginia Commonwealth, the Aggies returned home for an impressive 83-60 win against Lamar on Tuesday.
Watkins vs. UNC
Third-year Texas A&M head coach Melvin Watkins grew up in Reidsville, N.C., a short distance from the North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, where he led his school team to a state championship in 1973. He went on to play at North Carolina Charlotte, leading the 49ers to the 1977 NCAA Final Four. He coached at UNCC for more than 20 years, including two years as head coach in 1996-97 and 1997-98. In his last game as UNCC's coach, Watkins almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the NCAA Tournament, pushing No. 1-ranked North Carolina to overtime before falling, 93-83. That game marked the first-ever meeting between the schools. Third-year A&M assistant coach Bobby Kummer also served on Watkins' staff at UNCC.
Mr. Bean vs. North Carolina
Sophomore Keith Bean, a transfer from North Carolina State who sat out last season, played against North Carolina as a freshman for the Wolfpack in 1998-99. Bean scored six points with two rebounds in 14 minutes, including a three-pointer, in a 62-53 loss in Chapel Hill. Bean did not play in the teams' first meeting in Raleigh. At A&M, Bean has started all six games, averaging 7.8 points and 4.2 rebounds. Bean emerged in the second half of the Virginia Commonwealth game, finishing with a career-high 17 points, making 5-of-9 from the field and 7-of-7 from the line. In the last three games, Bean has averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while making 11-of-21 from the field (.524) and 7-of-10 from the line (.700) in just 21.7 minutes per game.
King Rises Again
Sophomore guard Bernard King, the 2000 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and a preseason All-Big 12 selection, leads the team in scoring with a 17.0 average and has overcome a severe early-season shooting slump. Through the first four games, King had made just 2-of-20 three-pointers (.100), but in the last two games has connected on 12-of-23 (.522), averaging 26.0 points in those two contests. Against Lamar, King scored a season-high 30 points in just 27 minutes (his fourth career 30+ game) and tied the school record with eight three-pointers (11 att.). His six treys in the second half tied the Big 12 record. King also leads the team in assists (5.0). Since the Aggies' wake-up call against Birmingham Southern on Nov. 26 (a 74-54 loss), King has averaged 22.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 4.0 three-point field goals per game.
Leatherman Warms Up
Junior guard Andy Leatherman, a former walk-on who was put on scholarship this season, scored a career-high 16 points against Birmingham Southern, then followed with a team-high 15 points against Morris Brown. In the last four games, he has averaged 10.5 points while making 9-of-24from three-point range (37.5 percent). His nine treys this year already surpasses his season total in 23 games last year (8-43, .186). He scored just three points against Lamar, bust handed out a career-high six assists. For the season. Leatherman is averaging 7.3 points and 3.3 assists per game.
St. Nick Gets Jolly
Freshman Nick Anderson, one of the most heralded Texas A&M basketball recruits in many years, ranks third on the team in rebounding with a 6.8 average, leads in blocked shots at 1.2, and ranks fourth in scoring at 8.7. A 2000 Parade High School All-American, Anderson has started in all six games and posted four double-figures scoring games. Against Virginia Commonwealth, Anderson posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He followed with a career-high 14 points and six boards against Lamar. Anderson was the preseason choice for Big 12 Freshman of the Year by the league's coaches and media.
Brown Asserts Himself
Forward Carlton Brown is off to a spectacular senior season, leading the team in rebounding (8.2), field goal percentage (.620) and free throw percentage (.806) and ranking second in scoring (14.7). As a junior college transfer last season, Brown averaged just 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Against Virginia Commonwealth, Brown scored a season-high 20 points with a career-high 18 rebounds, tying for the 13th most in school history (and the most by an Aggie in six years). He followed with 19 points and 13 boards against Lamar, his second straight double-double. He has started in all six games, scoring in double figures five times. In the last two games, Brown has averaged 19.5 points and 15.5 rebounds while making 66.7 percent from the field.
Jack Comes Back
After receiving an additional year of eligibility from the NCAA last spring, senior forward Aaron Jack, an honorable mention All-Big 12 pick last season, saw his extra year jeopardized when he sustained a concussion in practice on Oct. 18. Jack suffered three concussions as a freshman at Penn State in 1995-96, then transferred to A&M. Jack returned to practice on a limited basis in early November, then returned full time the day before the opener at George Washington. He has played in all six games, averaging 7.2 points and 7.0 rebounds while making 57.1 percent from the field. He has grabbed at least eight rebounds in four straight games, averaging 8.3 rebounds and 7.3 points in that span. Jack has played in 82 games as a collegian, including four as a freshman at Penn State in 1995-96.
Jamaal Enthralls
Sophomore point guard Jamaal Gilchrist, who started all 28 games last season as a true freshman, is averaging 9.0 points and 2.8 assists while making 80.5 percent from the free throw line (33-41). Gilchrist scored 12 points in each of the first two games, then against Virginia Commonwealth, he scored a season-high 15 points, making 11-of-12 from the free throw line, including two with 2.9 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Cleaning the Glass
After being out-rebounded, 36-33, in the opener against George Washington, A&M has out-boarded five straight opponents by an average margin of +10.2. The +17 margin against Virginia Commonwealth (54-37) was A&M's best in three years. The Aggies have grabbed 50 or more rebounds in two straight games. A&M grabbed just six offensive rebounds in the opener, but in the five games since has averaged 16.6 offensive boards per game. Meanwhile, after GW posted 15 offensive rebounds in the opener, the Aggies have allowed their opponents just 12.6 offensive boards in the last five games.
Slocum Out
Sophomore center Andy Slocum, who started in 14 games as a freshman, will likely miss the entire season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery for tendonitis in his left shoulder last week. Slocum injured the shoulder while lifting weights last summer and was limited in fall practice as a result. Coach Melvin Watkins said Slocum likely will redshirt this season. As a freshman, Slocum averaged 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Scott Injured
Sophomore guard Larry Scott suffered a severely sprained left ankle in practice on Nov. 28. He missed the Virginia Commonwealth and Lamar games and is listed as doubtful for the North Carolina game. Scott is averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Ress Returns
Sophomore forward Tomas Ress, who was hospitalized for more than a week in late October with a staph infection, returned to practice on Nov. 28 and played briefly against Morris Brown and Virginia Commonwealth. He quickly nailed his first three-point attempt of the season after entering the MBC game. However, he may have tried to come back too quickly and did not play against Lamar. He is listed as doubtful for the North Carolina game. As his physical conditioning catches up, Ress will likely see increased playing time. As a freshman, Ress started in 12 games and averaged 4.6 points, including a career-high 22 points against Missouri.
Improved Charity
When Melvin Watkins arrived as A&M's head coach in 1998, one of the Aggies greatest weaknesses was their free throw shooting. In 1997-98, the Aggies set a school record for the worst free throw percentage in school history, making just 57.9 percent to finish last in the Big 12. In 1998-99, the Aggies improved to 68.9 percent, third in the conference, and last year made 67.0 percent to rank seventh in the league. Through five games this season, the Aggies are making 70.9 percent. Watkins' two teams at North Carolina Charlotte each led Conference USA in free throw percentage.