December 06, 2002
Game #6: Texas A&M AGGIES (4-1) at Prairie View A&M PANTHERS (1-1)
Saturday, Dec. 7, 2002
3:30 p.m. (Central)
Nicks Building (5,000 cap.)
Prairie View, Texas
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
Airtime: 3:15 p.m. (Central)
ONLINE: www.AggieAthletics.com
TELEVISION: None
The Texas A&M Aggies (4-1) go for their fourth straight win when they play the Prairie View A&M Panthers (1-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the William J. "Billy" Nicks Building (5,000 cap.) in Prairie View, Texas. Tickets can be purchased at the door ($15 for floor seats and $10 general admission). The Aggies have won three straight and are coming off an 83-66 win against Tennessee at home on Wednesday. Prairie View is coming off a hard-fought 75-63 loss at No. 8-ranked Oklahoma last Saturday after opening their season with a 78-75 win at home against Houston. A&M is 0-1 in true road games this season while Prairie View is 1-0 at home. A&M is 4-0 all-time against the Panthers, with all four games being played in College Station. The teams last met in 1991-92, with A&M posting an 83-56 victory.
About the Panthers
Prairie View A&M returns three starters and eight lettermen from last season's team, which finished 10-20 overall and 8-10 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Panthers are in their first season under head coach Jerome Francis, Jr., and are led by senior point guard Gregory Burks (5-10), a preseason candidate for SWAC Player of the Year who is averaging 15.0 points per game after averaging 17.6 as a junior. Junior forward Malachi Thurston (6-6), a junior college transfer, is adding 14.5 points, while mammoth senior center Roderick Riley (6-11, 327 lbs.) is averaging 9.0 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds. Through two games, the Panthers are connecting on a blazing 55.6 percent from the field, including 42.3 percent from three-point range, while allowing their opponents just 38.9 percent shooting accuracy.
Series
Texas A&M leads the series, 4-0, but has never played in Prairie View. The teams last met in the 1991-92 season opener, with the Aggies posting an 83-56 win in Tony Barone's first game as head coach. The series began in the 1978-79 season, when A&M beat the Panthers, 113-63. The Aggies are 10-1 all time against members of the SWAC, including a 70-55 win at home against Texas Southern on Nov. 24.
TEXAS A&M vs. PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (A&M leads, 4-0) Year Result Site 1978-79 A&M 113, PV 63 C. Station 1983-84 A&M 89, PV 58 C. Station 1985-86 A&M 88, PV 60 C. Station 1991-92 A&M 83, PV 56 C. Station
The Coaches
- TEXAS A&M: MELVIN WATKINS (UNC Charlotte '77)
- 43-78, 5th year at A&M
- 85-98, 7th year overall
- 0-0 vs. Jerome Francis, Jr.
- 0-0 vs. Prairie View A&M
PRAIRIE VIEW: JEROME FRANCIS, JR. (Ohio State '91)
- 1-1, 1st year at PV A&M
- 1-1, 1st year overall
- 0-0 vs. Melvin Watkins
- 0-0 vs. Texas A&M
Tentative Starters
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (4-1) No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG 2 Keith Bean F 6-8 Sr. 7.4 6.6 3 Jesse King F 6-7 Jr. 7.2 4.2 21 Antoine Wright G 6-7 Fr. 18.0 7.6 32 Bernard King G 6-5 Sr. 16.8 6.6a 10 Leandro Garcia-Morales G 6-2 Jr. 5.2 4.2a PRAIRIE VIEW A&M PANTHERS (1-1) No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG 34 Roderick Riley C 6-11 Jr. 9.0 6.5 1 Malachi Thurston F 6-6 Jr. 14.5 4.5 11 Kevin Cooper G 6-3 Jr. 9.5 2.5a 20 Blannon Campbell G 6-0 Sr. 9.5 3.5a 3 Gregory Burks G 5-10 Sr. 15.0 5.0
Watkins Quoteboard:
"Since Prairie View is in the A&M system, I'm sure there will be a lot of emotions in this game. Coach Francis is a friend of mine and has his team playing well. They are off to a good start this season. For us to go in there and get a win, we have to execute both offensively and defensively. You're always concerned about a game like this coming off a couple of big wins, but we've addressed those concerns in practice and made sure we're prepared to go in and get the win."
TALE OF THE TAPE (2002-03 STAT COMPARISON) PV A&M Record 1-1 4-1 Conference 0-0 0-0 Sagarin Rtg. 233 118 RPI 203 92 W-L Streak L1 W3 FG Pct. .556 .452 Opp. FG Pct. .389 .388 3-Pt. FG Pct. .423 .412 Opp. 3-Pt. Pct. .338 .336 3-Pt. FG Avg. 5.5 8.0 3-Pt. Att. Avg. 13.0 19.4 FT Pct. .606 .720 Opp. FT Pct. .650 .634 Rebound Avg. 26.5 39.6 Off. Reb. Avg. 4.0 11.0 Reb. Margin -16.5 +0.6 Turnovers Avg. 11.0 16.4 Opp. Turnovers 12.0 16.0 Assists Avg. 12.0 18.8 Blocks Avg. 1.0 1.6 Steals Avg. 6.5 5.6 Scoring Avg. 70.5 75.0 Opp. Scoring 75.0 68.2 Scoring Margin -4.5 +6.8
Tennessee Recap
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Kevin Turner scored all of his 16 points in the second half, including four straight 3-pointers in the final 3:05, to lead A&M to an 83-66 win over Tennessee on Wednesday. Bernard King added 19 points and a career-high 11 assists to lead the Aggies (4-1) and hit a final three-pointer with three seconds remaining to cap off a 14-point second half. Tennessee (2-1) trailed by as many as 15, but cut the lead to 63-62 with 5:26 remaining. Ron Slay scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half to bring the Vols back into the game before the Aggies' barrage of 3-pointers. Slay also had 12 rebounds. A&M scored on its last six possessions, hitting five three-pointers in the final three minutes. A&M never trailed and took a 12 point lead three times in the opening half. The Aggies led 39-27 at halftime.
Dynamic Duo
The scoring combination of senior Bernard King and freshman Antoine Wright is shaping up to be one of the most prolific in school history. Through five games, King is averaging 16.8 points and Wright is adding 18.0. The only other time in school history that two players have each averaged more than 16.0 points for a season was in 1975-76, when Sonny Parker (20.7) and Barry Davis (16.2) turned the trick. That team won the Southwest Conference title.
Hail The King
Senior guard Bernard King, a preseason candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year, has led the team in scoring three times this season, including a season-high 26 points against LSU and 19 points against Tennessee. King is on track to become the career scoring leader in Big 12 and Texas A&M history. King now has 1,615 points (17.3 average), ranking fourth in Big 12 annals and second on the A&M chart. King needs 164 points to pass Vernon Smith (1977-81) as A&M's leader and needs 216 to pass Iowa State's Marcus Fizer (1997-00) as the Big 12 leader. King also has compiled 433 assists and 413 rebounds and is attempting to become only the eighth Division I player to reach 2,000 points, 500 assists and 500 rebounds in a career. King's 433 assists rank eighth all-time in the Big 12 and fourth at A&M. Last season, he was the only player in the country to average at least 17.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. King is rated as the 21st best NBA prospect in the Class of 2003 by NBADraft.net. Against Tennessee, he added a career-high 11 assists and six rebounds to his 19 points, his eighth career double-double.
Diaper Dandy
Freshman forward Antoine Wright, the consensus pick as the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, is also a member of Dick Vitale's prestigious "Diaper Dandies," a list of the nation's top 16 freshmen as selected by the ESPN analyst. Wright was rated as the top shooting guard and the No. 4 overall prospect in the country by ESPN.com last year. Wright, rated as the 10th best NBA prospect in the Class of 2006 by NBA Draft.net, also was a member of the USA Junior World Championship Team last summer. He is averaging a team-best 18.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and has made a blazing 17-of-36 (.472) from three-point range. Wright has posted three 20-point efforts in five games, scoring a career high 25 against Miami, adding 22 in the win against LSU and finishing with 21 against Oakland. The consensus preseason pick as Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Wright was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Monday. He is the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top 15 in the league in seven statistical categories. The last freshman to lead A&M in scoring was Bernard King in 1999-00 with a 16.9 average, which set the A&M and Big 12 records for a freshman.
Gen. Bradley
Senior guard Bradley Jackson, who started in 19 games at point guard last season, has prospered off the bench this season. He scored 10 points with four assists and two steals against Oakland. His two free throws with 14 seconds left iced the game for the Aggies.
Efficient Offense
The Aggies handed out 24 assists with just eight turnovers against Tennessee, a 3-to-1 assists to turnovers ratio. That's the best ratio in Melvin Watkins' five years at A&M and the best by an A&M team since it had a school-record 34 assists with just 11 turnovers in a 102-61 win against Missouri-Kansas City in the second game of the 1997-98 season, a span of 145 games.
Tough on Boards
The Aggies out-rebounded their first four opponents this season before being beaten on the boards by Tennessee. A&M has posted an average rebounding margin of +0.6. The Aggies out-rebounded their opponents in 20 of 31 games last season.
Turnover Woes
The Aggies were averaging 18.5 turnovers going into the Tennessee game, most in the Big 12, and ranked 11th in the league in turnover margin at -1.5. But the Aggies had just eight turnovers against the Vols, their fewest since they had just five against Princeton on Dec. 27, 1996 in El Paso.
Mr. Bean
Senior forward Keith Bean scored 11 points with a career-high 13 rebounds against Miami. Bean had a pair of double doubles last year and had a trio of 12-rebound games. He just missed another double-double on Monday against Oakland, scoring eight points with 10 rebounds. A career 56 percent free throw shooter coming into the season, Bean has made 11-of-13 (.846) from the line through five games. Bean also has connected on 61.9 percent from the field after making 62.1 percent last season. His career field goal percentage of 54.3 percent ranks sixth in school history.
Another Watkins
Freshman guard Marcus Watkins, son of A&M head coach Melvin Watkins, has quickly made an impact on the Aggies. He scored nine points and added four rebounds in just 13 minutes against Texas Southern, then followed with six points against Miami. For the season, he is averaging 3.0 points and has made 62.5 percent from the field (5-8) and 83.3 percent from the line (5-6). As a senior last season at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, the younger Watkins earned first-team all-state honors after averaging 31.1 points per game, which included a pair of 50-point efforts. The 6-4 Watkins played post in high school but hopes to make a smooth transition to guard in college, just like his father did more than a quarter century ago at North Carolina Charlotte. Coach Watkins was a prep All-American as a center at Reidsville (N.C.) High School, but became a point guard at UNCC. he started his final two years, leading the 49ers to the NIT finals in 1976 and the NCAA Final Four in 1977, where they lost to eventual champion Marquette.
Another King
Junior forward Jesse King, perhaps the team's best athlete, had a slow start this season while coming back from off-season knee surgery. However, against Oakland on Monday, King scored 12 points and tied his career-high with nine rebounds, making 6-of-8 from the field. Four of King's six baskets came on spectacular slam dunks in the second half. King is averaging 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds and is making a team-best 68.0 percent from the field.
Pride of Uruguay
Junior guard Leandro Garcia-Morales, a member of the 2001 Uruguay National Team, has started in all five games at point guard. He is averaging 5.2 points and ranks second on the team in assists with 4.2 per game. He scored 10 points in the win against LSU, had a career-best seven assists in the opener against Texas Southern and added six assists against Tennessee. As a sophomore last season at Miami-Dade Community College, Garcia-Morales was the only JUCO player in the country to rank in the top 10 nationally in scoring, assists and steals. The Sporting News ranked him as the top under 6-5 passer in the JUCO ranks last season.
Turner Burner
Junior guard Kevin Turner, rated as one of the top 10 JUCO guards in the country last year by Lindy's, has quickly become a mainstay in the rotation and was th hero of the Tennessee game. Turner scored a career-high 16 points against the Vols, making 4-of-6 from three-point range. UT had trimmed a big A&M lead to 63-62 with 3:06 left, but Turner buried four straight three-pointers in the next 81 seconds to pace an 83-66 victory. Turner is averaging 9.0 points per game and has made 50.0 percent (9-18) from three-point range while playing just 17.6 minutes per game. Turner scored nine points against Miami, then added eight in the win against LSU, making both of his three-point attempts.
Helping Hand
While the Aggies have struggled with turnovers, they have made up for it somewhat with assists, ranking second in the Big 12 with an average of 18.8 per game. The A&M record is 18.1 set in 1993-94, when David Edwards ranked second nationally with a school-record 8.8 average. A&M ranks fifth in the league in assists-to-turnovers ratio at 0.87. Senior Bernard King ranks fourth in assists (20th nationally) at 6.6 while Leandro Garcia-Morales ranks 10th at 4.2.
On the Line
The Aggies are making 72.0 percent from the free throw line, a marked improvement over last season's 65.2 percent. The last time A&M made better than 70.0 percent from the line for a season was in 1988-89, when the Aggies connected on 70.9 percent. The last time A&M made better than 72.0 percent was in 1975-76 (72.8).
Bombs Away
A&M leads the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage at 41.2 percent after ranking last in the league last year at 32.5 percent. The Aggies rank second in the Big 12 with an average of 8.0 three-pointers made per game, well ahead of last year's norm of 5.8. A&M ranks No. 16 nationally in both percentage and three-pointers made. A&M tied a school record with 179 treys last season. Antoine Wright (3.4), Bernard King (1.8) and Kevin Turner (1.8) are each averaging at least one three-pointer made per game, each ranking in the top 10 in the Big 12. Wright ranks No. 17 nationally in three-pointers made per game.
About Slocum
Junior center Andy Slocum, who missed eight Big 12 games last year after suffering a broken left hand against Texas Tech, broke his right hand in a pickup basketball game in the summer. The hand healed, but Slocum then suffered a back injury prior to the start of fall practice. Slocum is expected to return to action by the start of Big 12 Conference play in early January. He missed the entire 2000-01 season after having shoulder surgery. Slocum averaged 8.5 rebounds and 7.3 points in eight Big 12 games last year, including a 22-point, 14-rebound performance at Oklahoma.
Start 'Em Up
Six players return in 2002-03 who started at least 65 percent of the games in which they played last season * senior guard Bernard King (24 starts), junior forward Nick Anderson (24 starts), senior center/forward Keith Bean (22 starts), senior point guard Bradley Jackson (20 starts), junior forward Jesse King (17 starts) and junior center Andy Slocum (15 starts). Of the 14 players on the active roster, 10 have experience as a starter.