November 09, 2002
The Texas A&M men's basketball team opens its two-game exhibition schedule against the Ukraine's MBC Nicolaev on Monday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Aggie Athletes Involved, a service organization made up of A&M athletes, will have a donation station near the East Entrance of Reed Arena as part of its "Coats for Kids" drive. Fans who donate coats, blankets, sweat shirts or sweaters will be give a free mezzanine, balcony or gallery ticket (based on availability). Donations will be accepted from 5:30 p.m. until tipoff.
The Aggies are led by three-time All-Big 12 guard Bernard King, who is chasing the A&M and Big 12 records for career points. The game also will mark the unoffical debut of the Aggies' newcomers, led by forward Antoine Wright, the consensus preseason pick for Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
"We're excited about playing someone besides ourselves," A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "We've had good practices and our kids are anxious to get the season started."
The Aggies play their final exhibition on Nov. 19 against the EA Sports All-Stars before opening the regular season on Nov. 24 against Texas Southern. Both of those games will tipoff at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
MBC Nicolaev was 0-2 on its American tour going into Saturday's game at Texas-El Paso. The Ukrainians fell to Temple, 73-53, last Monday and dropped an 83-63 decision to Delaware on Wednesday.
A club team made up of some of the best players in the Ukraine, MBC Nicolaev started in 1972 and has finished in the top four in the Ukraine for five straight years. Okleksandr Rayevskyy and Evgen Podorvannyy are members of the Ukrainian National Team and Olexiy Onufriyev and Vitaliy Boyko play for the Ukrainian Young Men's National Team.