December 16, 2001
The Texas A&M Aggies (5-3) will try to end a two-game losing streak when they play the Southwest Missouri State Bears (3-4) in the first round of the Las Vegas Classic on Monday at 7:05 p.m. (CST) at the Hammons Student Center (8,846 cap.) in Springfield, Mo. All the first round games of the Las Vegas Classic, which has a pool-play format, are being played at campus sites. The final three tournament games will be played Thursday through Saturday in Las Vegas. The Aggies will meet Illinois-Chicago on Thursday at noon and Purdue on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's opponent will be determined by the results of the first three rounds. Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Richmond and Louisiana-Monroe are on the other wide of the eight-team bracket. The Aggies are coming off a disappointing 90-56 loss to Tulsa on Friday in Houston while the Bears have been idle since a 72-71 loss at home to Texas-San Antonio on Dec. 8. The Aggies are 1-0 in true road games this season while SMS is 3-1 at home.
Las Vegas Classic
Bracket 1: Texas A&M, SW Missouri State, Purdue, Illinois-Chicago
Bracket 2: Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Louisiana-Monroe, Richmond
First Round, Dec. 15 (campus sites)
Miss. State 104, La.-Monroe 67
First Round, Dec. 17 (campus sites)
Richmond at Cincinnati, 7 p.m.
Illinois-Chcago at Purdue, 7 p.m.
Texas A&M at SW Missouri St., 7 p.m.
Second Round, Dec. 20
Texas A&M vs. Ill.-Chicago, Noon
Miss. St. vs. Richmond, 2:30
Cincinnati vs. La.-Monroe, 5 p.m.
Purdue vs. SW Missouri State, 7:30
Third Round, Dec. 21
SW Missouri St. vs. Ill.-Chicago, 2:30
Purdue vs. Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m.
Richmond vs. La.-Monroe, Noon
Cincinnati vs. Mississippi St., 5 p.m.
Championship Round, Dec. 22
Fourth place-team in each bracket
Third-place team in each bracket
Second-place team in each bracket
First-place team in each bracket
*Dec. 20-22 games played at Valley High School in Las Vegas
About SMS
The Bears return four starters and nine lettermen from last year's team that finished 13-16 overall and tied for seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference at 8-10. SMS is led by senior forward Scott Brakebill (6-8), who is averaging 16.6 points, and senior center Mike Wallace (6-5), who is averagiung 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds and was the 2001 Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year. Junior guard Terrance McGee (6-) adds 13.6 points and 4.0 assists.
The Series
Texas A&M and Southwest Missouri State have never played before. The Aggies are 4-8 against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The last time A&M played a MVC team was at the 1996 Sierra Medical Center SunClassic in El Paso, where Northern Iowa posted an 82-70 victory in the consolation finals. A&M's last win against a MVC team was against Drake by a score of 69-63 in the consolation finals of the Century Cellunet Classic in Shreveport, La.
The Coaches
TEXAS A&M: MELVIN WATKINS (UNC Charlotte '77)
35-58, 4th year at A&M
77-78, 6th year overall
0-1 vs. Barry Hinson
0-0 vs. SMS
SMS: BARRY HINSON (Oklahoma State '73)
39-31, 3rd year at SMS
75-54, 5th year overall
1-0 vs. Melvin Watkins
1-0 vs. Texas A&M
Probable Starters
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (5-3)
# Player Pos. Ht. Cl. ppg rpg
5 Nick Anderson F 6-6 So. 11.5 5.5
3 Jesse King F 6-7 So. 9.2 4.2
50 Andy Slocum C 7-0 So. 5.9 3.5
1 Michael Gardener G 5-11 So. 6.1 2.6a
32 Bernard King G 6-5 Jr. 18.7 5.7a
A&M INJURY REPORT: Brian Brookhart, back strain (probable); Keith Bean, left foot contusion (probable); Bernard King, strained groin (probable); Andy Leatherman, sprained knee (will not play); Daryl Mason, back spasms (probable).
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE BEARS (3-4)
# Player Pos. Ht. Cl. ppg rpg
35 Travis Walk F 6-6 Jr. 3.1 3.3
30 Scott Brakebill F 6-8 Sr. 16.6 6.9
40 Mike Wallace C 6-5 Sr. 14.9 11.1
11 Roberts Yanders G 5-11 Sr. 12.9 3.1a
15 Terrance McGee G 6-0 Jr. 13.6 4.0a
Watkins Quoteboard
TALE OF THE TAPE
SMS A&M
Record 3-4 5-3
Conference 0-0 0-0
Sagarin Rating 214 169
RPI 256 108
W-L Streak L1 L2
FG Pct. .454 .439
Opp. FG Pct. .458 .448
3-Pt. FG Pct. .345 .326
Opp. 3-Pt. Pct. .400 .331
3-Pt FG Avg. 5.9 5.8
3-Pt Att. Avg. 17.0 17.6
FT Pct. .732 .603
Opp. FT Pct. .669 .710
Rebound Avg. 38.3 37.9
Off. Reb. Avg. 14.3 14.8
Reb. Margin +8.4 +2.9
Turnovers Avg. 14.1 18.1
Opp. Turnovers 15.4 18.8
Assists Avg. 14.4 17.0
Blocks Avg. 3.1 3.9
Steals Avg. 6.9 8.4
Scoring Avg. 75.1 71.2
Opp. Scoring 71.3 68.9
Scoring Margin +3.8 +2.3
"Southwest Missouri State traditionally has been a tough place for teams to play. Two of their losses have been in overtime, so their record is a little deceiving. They are a hard-nosed and well-coached team that can shoot and rebound. We have to play much better than we did against Tulsa on Friday. The key for us is to simple play hard. When we play hard, we can be a decent team. When we don't, we can be one of the worst teams in the country. We have to have effort. We're glad to get Jesse King back after he missed the Tulsa game to attend his grandfather's funeral in Detroit. He is an integral part of our rotation."
Hinson vs. A&M
Southwest Missouri State Coach Barry Hinson, in his third year, previously served as head coach at Oral Roberts for two seasons, where he posted a n 89-86 overtime win against Melvin Watkins' first A&M team in Tulsa in 1998-99. Hinson was an assistant at Oral Roberts from 1993-97. A&M beat ORU, 79-66, in 1993-94 (for the 100th victory in school history) and posted a close 60-58 victory in Tulsa in 1994-95.
What Home?
After playing six of their first seven games at home, the Aggies are in the midst of an eight-game road swing, the Aggies' longest road stretch sincve they played eight straight away from home in the 1989-90 season. The Aggies do not play another home game until a Jan. 8 date against Texas Tech.
Travel Plans
After spending two nights in Houston for the Tulsa game, the Aggies flew to Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday and bussed to Springfield, Mo., for Monday's first-round Las Vegas Classic game against SMS. On Tuesday, A&M will fly from Springfield to Las Vegas, Nev., where they will play the remaining three tournament games on Dec. 20-22. The team will return to College Station on Dec. 23. After a short break for Christmas, the Aggies fly to Chapel Hill, N.C., on Dec. 28, where they will play North Carolina on Dec. 30. A&M plays its final non-conference game against Centenary on Jan. 3 in Shreveport, La.
Tulsa Recap
HOUSTON (AP)--Greg Harrington scored eight of his 10 points during a 19-3 scoring run in the closing minutes of the first half to spark the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to a 90-56 victory over Texas A&M Friday night. Kevin Johnson led Tulsa (6-1) with 22 points, followed by Dante Swanson and Jason Parker with 11 each. Texas A&M (5-3) was led by Bernard King with 22 points. Consecutive baskets by Parker gave Tulsa a 22-16 lead with 10:23 left in the first half. Tulsa led 28-21 before a pair of baskets by Andy Slocum cut the Texas A&M deficit to 28-25 with 6:41 left in the first half. Tulsa then outscored the Aggies 19-3 in the final 5:17 of the first half to take a 47-28 advantage. The Aggies were never closer than 19 again. The Golden Hurricane held the Aggies scoreless in the final four minutes of the first half. Tulsa continued its domination in the second half, taking advantage of 20 turnovers by Texas A&M.