Men's BasketballDecember 25, 2002

GAMES 9,10: Texas A&M (6-2) at Cable Car Classic

December 25, 2002Game #9: Texas A&M AGGIES (6-2) vs. Princeton TIGERS (3-5) Friday, Dec. 27, 2002 8:30 p.m. (Pacific) Leavey Center (4,500 cap.) Santa Clara, Calif. RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network Dav

December 25, 2002

Game #9: Texas A&M AGGIES (6-2) vs. Princeton TIGERS (3-5)

Friday, Dec. 27, 2002
8:30 p.m. (Pacific)
Leavey Center (4,500 cap.)
Santa Clara, Calif.

RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, play-by-play
Colin Killian, commentary
Airtime: 8:15 p.m. (Pacific)
ONLINE: www.AggieAthletics.com

TELEVISION: HDTV (High Definition Television)
John Schrader, play-by-play
Dave Bollwinkel, commentary

The Texas A&M Aggies (6-2) play the Princeton Tigers (3-5) in the first round of the 36th Cable Car Classic on Friday at 8:30 p.m. (Pacific)/10:30 p.m. (Central) at the Leavey Center (4,500 cap.) in Santa Clara, Calif. The game will be televised by High Definition Television (HDTV). For a listing of locations the game can be seen in Texas, go to http://www.hd.net/cgi-bin/listplaces.pl. The Aggies are coming off a big 107-66 victory at home against Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday, while the Tigers are coming off a hard-fought 57-54 loss to Texas on Sunday in Austin. The other first-round game at the Cable Car Classic will pit host Santa Clara (6-3) against Mississippi Valley State (1-6) at 6 p.m. (Pacific)/8 p.m. (Central). A win against Princeton would make A&M 7-2 for the first time since Melvin Watkins' first year as head coach in 1998-99. Two wins in the Cable Car Classic would make A&M 8-2 for the first time since 1986-87. The Aggies are 1-0 in neutral site games this season and are 1-1 in road games. Princeton is also 1-0 at neutral sites this season and is 2-3 in road games. A&M's last tournament title came in the 1989 Golden Panthers Classic in Miami, Fla.

About Princeton

The Tigers return 10 lettermen and two starters from last year's team that finished 16-12 and tied for first in the Ivy League. Princeton is 0-2 against Big 12 teams this year, falling in road games at Oklahoma (82-63) and Texas (57-54). In their fourth year under coach John Thompson III, the Tigers are led by junior guard Spencer Gloger (6-7), who is averaging 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds and has made 38.9 percent from three-point range. junior forward Andre Logan (6-7) adds 12.0 points and sophomore guard Will Venable (6-2) contributes 10.9. The Tigers' top rebounder is sophomore forward Judson Wallace (6-8), who averages 7.1 rebounds along with 8.8 points.

Series vs. Cable Car Classic Field

The Aggies are 0-2 against Princeton with both games in tournament play. The Tigers posted a 71-66 triple overtime win against A&M in the 1994 Sugar Bowl Classic and a 46-38 win in the 1996 SunClassic in El Paso. A&M is 3-3 against members of the Ivy League. The Aggies are 0-2 against Santa Clara and have never played Mississippi Valley. A&M is 5-7 against West Coast Conference teams and is 11-1 against the Southwestern athletic Conference.

 TEXAS A&M vs. PRINCETON (Princeton leads, 2-0) Year Result Site 1996-97 PU 46, A&M 38 El Paso 1994-95 PU 71, A&M 66 (3ot) New Orleans vs. SANTA CLARA (Santa Clara leads, 2-0) Year Result Site 1999-00 SC 60, A&M 48 Santa Clara 1959-60 SC 66, A&M 55 Los Angeles vs. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY (0-0) Year Result Site First Meeting

Coaches

TEXAS A&M:

PRINCETON:

SANTA CLARA:

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE:

Tentative Starters

 TEXAS A&M AGGIES (6-2) No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG 2 Keith Bean F 6-8 Sr. 7.5 5.5 3 Jesse King III F 6-7 Jr. 7.5 4.4 21 Antoine Wright G 6-7 Fr. 17.4 7.9 32 Bernard King G 6-5 Sr. 16.4 6.0a 10 Leandro Garcia-Morales G 6-2 Jr. 4.4 4.1a

Watkins Quoteboard

"The Louisiana-Monroe game was a good win for us. For us to do what we want to do this year, we needed to go out and really get after it. Defense was a stress point last week in practice. We were glad to get Andy Slocum in the game. The doctor released him on Friday and he had some good practices. We have to gradually work him into game shape. We have had enough close contests this year. We have already been challenged. We worked on some things in practice and and tried to bring it to the game floor. We tell our guys "you have to be ready to compete every day in practice", but we had gotten away from that a little bit so we had to get back to that. The Cable Car Classic is always a great event. We played out there three years ago and before that when I was at Charlotte. Princeton is a very difficult team to play. We saw how they played the other night against Texas, which is one of the top teams in our league. The fact they played that way in Austin makes it even more impressive. We know we will have our hands full. Santa Clara also has a very good team. Our goal is to win the tournament, but we know we'll have to play our best basketball to accomplish that goal."

 TALE OF THE TAPE (2002-03 STAT COMPARISON) A&M PU SC MV Record 6-2 3-5 6-3 1-6 Conference 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Sagarin Rtg. 81 137 195 293 RPI --- --- --- --- W-L Streak W1 L3 W3 L2 FG Pct. .470 .448 .419 .399 Opp. FG Pct. .401 .443 .401 3-Pt. FG Pct. .394 .345 .365 .364 Opp. 3-Pt. Pct. .312 .390 .292 3-Pt. FG Avg. 7.9 8.4 6.9 10.1 3-Pt. Att. Avg. 20.0 24.3 18.9 27.9 FT Pct. .657 .681 .667 .714 Opp. FT Pct. .600 .710 .699 Rebound Avg. 40.0 31.6 40.0 34.6 Off. Reb. Avg. 11.0 9.6 14.0 15.6 Reb. Margin -1.0 -0.5 +5.1 Turnovers Avg. 16.0 13.3 15.7 14.4 Opp. Turnovers 17.1 12.3 13.3 Assists Avg. 19.8 14.4 13.0 13.3 Blocks Avg. 1.9 2.1 2.7 1.9 Steals Avg. 7.0 5.0 6.8 9.1 Scoring Avg. 80.0 65.2 69.1 76.3 Opp. Scoring 70.6 67.0 65.9 Scoring Margin +9.4 -1.8 +3.2

Tourney Time

The Cable Car Classic will be the 103rd in-season tournament in which Texas A&M has participated. Last season, A&M played in the Las Vegas Classic. A&M is making its second appearance in the Cable Car Classic. In 1999, A&M fell to Santa Clara, 60-48, in the opening round, then edged LaSalle in the consolation game, 70-69. A&M has won 17 tournament titles, including the 1978 Golden Gate Invitational in San Francisco, which included wins against UNLV (101-99) and San Francisco (68-65). A&M's last in-season tournament title was the 1989 Golden Panthers Classic in Miami, Fla.

Memory Lane

Four members of the current A&M team -- Bernard King, Brian Brookhart, Tomas Ress and Andy Slocum -- played in the 1999 Cable Car Classic. King started both games, scoring 14 points against Santa Clara and adding 21 points and 10 rebounds against LaSalle, including the game-winning three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer. Brookhart did not play in either game and ress and Slocum saw only spot action. A&M coach Melvin Watkins was an assistant coach at UNC Charlotte when the 49ers won the 1993 Cable Car Classic title with a 60-58 win against Santa Clara. A&M assistant coach Bobby Kummer was a player on that UNCC team.

Homecoming

Four A&M players are from California -- starters Keith Bean (Fontana) and Antoine Wright (San Bernardino) and key reserves Kevin Turner (Diamond Bar) and Bradley Jackson (Inglewood). Three of A&M's top four scorers are Californians (Wright, Turner and Bean) while Jackson ranks third on the team in assists (3.3) and leads the team in free throw shooting (.857).

Louisiana-Monroe Recap

COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Bernard King scored 17 points and took the bench with 15 minutes remaining as Texas A&M rolled past Louisiana-Monroe 107-66 Sunday afternoon. A&M (6-2) used a 3-pointer by Kevin Turner with three minutes remaining to become the first team to score 100 points in the five years A&M has played at Reed Arena. Turner finished with 15 points. Louisiana Monroe (2-5) was led by Larry Parker and Kirby Lemons with 14 points each. A&M took a 60-27 halftime lead after shooting 74 percent from the floor. Antoine Wright and King each scored 12 points in the first half. King helped A&M work out to a 40-point lead as the Aggies went on a 10-0 run early in the second half. A&M's starters took the bench with more than 14 minutes remaining and never returned. The Aggies finished shooting 65 percent from the floor. The Aggies' 107 points was their most since the 1989-90 season.

Who's Hot?

Kevin Turner has averaged 13.5 points in the last four games, making 13-of-27 from three-point range (.481). Turner made four straight three-pointers in 81 seconds to ice the win against Tennessee.
Antoine Wright has had three double-doubles in hislast ofur games, averaging 15.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in that span. Wright has scored in double figures in seven games.
Bernard King has averaged 16.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists in the last four games.
Marcus Watkins scored a career-high 12 points against Louisiana-Monroe, making 3-of-5 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.

Quick Notes

An early candidate for National Freshman of the Year, forward Antoine Wright has twice been named Big 12 Rookie of the Week. Wright leads the team in scoring, rebounding, steals, blocks, three-point field goals and minutes played. He's on pace to break Big 12 and A&M freshman records for each of those categories.
A&M made 64.9 percent from the field against Louisiana-Monroe, the fourth best percentage in school history and the best since a record .727 performance against Stephen F. Austin in 1988-89.
After leading at halftime just four times last season (with a 2-2 record when they did), the Aggies have led at halftime in six of eight games this season. A&M is 6-0 when leading at halftime.
Bernard King needs 117 points to become A&M's career scoring leader and needs 169 to break the Big 12 mark.
King leads the Aggies with five three-point plays this season (FG+FT).
The Aggies have out-rebounded five of seven opponents this season.
The Aggies are 6-0 when shooting at least 43.2 percent from the field.
Jesse King III leads the team in dunks with six, including four in the seocnd half against Oakland.
A&M is 6-0 when it controls the opening tip.
The Aggies have averaged 28.6 bench points this season, including a school-record 67 against Louisiana-Monroe. The old record was 59 against Maryland-Eastern Shore in 1997-98.
The A&M frontcourt has averaged 39.4 points per game while the backcourt has contributed 35.3 points per contest.
Ten A&M players have started at least eight games in their college careers.
A&M has had more assists than turnovers in six of eight games, something the Aggies accomplished just 12 times in 31 games last season.

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 eight games, King is averaging 16.4 points and Wright is adding 17.4. "King and Wright are great players," Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said after the Aggies' 83-66 victory. 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.

 A&M'S BEST 1-2 PUNCHES (Two players averaging 15.0 min.) Rk. (Combined PPG), Player (PPG), Year 1. (38.1), Joe Wilbert (22.9), Tony McGinnis (15.2), 1993-94 2. (36.9), Sonny Parker (20.7), Barry Davis (16.2), 1975-76 3. (33.8), Antoine Wright (17.4), Bernard King (16.4), 2002-03 4. (33.1) Billy Bob Barnett (17.4), Ronnie Peret (15.7), 1968-69

Hail The King

Senior guard Bernard King, a preseason candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year, has led the team in scoring four 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 1,662 points (17.3 average), ranking third in Big 12 annals and second on the A&M chart. King needs 117 points to pass Vernon Smith (1977-81) as A&M's leader and needs 169 to pass Iowa State's Marcus Fizer (1997-00) as the Big 12 leader. King also has compiled 448 assists and 421 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 448 assists rank sixth 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.

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 against Oakland, scoring eight points with 10 rebounds. Bean has connected on a team-best 64.7 percent from the field after making 62.1 percent last season. His career field goal percentage of 54.8 percent ranks sixth in school history.

Diaper Dandy

Freshman forward Antoine Wright, the consensus pick as the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year and an early candidate for National Freshman of the Year honors, 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 17.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, despite playing just 17 minutes in the blowout of ULM, and has made an impressive 22-of-51 (.431) from three-point range. Wright has posted four 20-point efforts, scoring a career high 25 against Miami, adding 22 in the win against LSU and finishing with 21 against Oakland and Prairie View A&M. Wright has twice been named Big 12 Rookie of the Week and is the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top 12 in the league in six statistical categories. He ranks second in the Big 12 in three-point field goals (2.8) and leads the league in defensive rebounding (7.0).

 DIAPER DANDY PRODUCTION INDEX (Index = combined scoring, rebounding and assists averages) '02 '03 Rk. Index Player, School PPG RPG APG W-L W-L 1. 37.8 Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse 24.7 10.1 3.0 23-13 6-1 2. 27.9 Craig Smith, Boston College 19.0 8.0 0.9 20-12 6-2 3. 27.8 Antoine Wright, Texas A&M 17.4 7.9 2.5 9-22 6-2 4. 27.3 Chris Bosh, Georgia Tech 14.8 10.4 2.1 15-16 5-3 5. 26.5 Bracey Wright, Indiana 18.6 5.3 2.6 25-12 8-1 6. 26.1 Rashad McCants, N.Carolina 19.1 5.2 1.8 8-20 7-2 7. 25.7 Ike Diogu, Arizona State 18.2 6.6 0.9 14-15 7-3 8. 25.1 Matt Walsh, Florida 16.4 5.1 3.6 22-9 8-2 9. 24.1 Dee Brown, Illinois 14.5 4.5 5.1 26-9 8-0 10. 23.0 Sean May, N. Carolina 13.3 8.6 1.1 8-20 7-2 11. 21.4 Torin Francis, Notre Dame 11.1 9.5 0.8 22-11 10-1 12. 20.6 Gerry McNamara, Sryacuse 14.3 1.4 4.9 23-13 6-1 13. 20.4 Raymond Felton, N. Carolina 9.3 4.0 7.1 8-20 7-2 14. 20.4 Daniel Horton, Michigan 13.7 3.1 3.6 11-18 3-6 15. 18.5 Hassan Adams, Arizona 13.3 4.2 1.0 24-10 5-1 Stats and records through games of Sunday, Dec. 22

Game Turner

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 the 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 ranks third on the team with 10.4 points per game and has made a team-best 46.2 percent (18-39) from three-point range while playing just 19.4 minutes per game. Turner is averaging 13.5 points in the last four games and has been the team's top scorer off the bench in six of A&M's eight games.

Helping Hand

While the Aggies have struggled at times with turnovers, they have made up for it with assists, ranking second in the Big 12 with an average of 19.8 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 fourth in the league in assists-to-turnovers ratio at 1.23. Senior Bernard King ranks fourth in assists at 6.0 while Leandro Garcia-Morales ranks 11th at 4.1.

On the Line

The Aggies were making a cozy 72.0 percent from the line through the first five games, 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). But in the last three games, the Aggies have made just 60.6 percent (60-99), dropping their season percentage to just .657.

Bombs Away

A&M ranks third in the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage at 39.4 percent after ranking last in the league last year at 32.5 percent. The Aggies rank third in the Big 12 with an average of 7.9 three-pointers made per game, well ahead of last year's norm of 5.8. A&M tied a school record with 179 treys last season. Antoine Wright (2.8), Bernard King (1.6) and Kevin Turner (2.3) are each averaging at least one trey 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 missed the first seven games, but returned to action against Louisiana-Monroe, scoring six points with three boards in just four minutes of work. 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.

Another Watkins

Freshman guard Marcus Watkins, son of A&M head coach Melvin Watkins, has quickly made an impact on the Aggies. He scored a career-hgih 12 points in just 16 minutes against Louisiana-Monroe and earlier this season had nine points against Texas Southern. For the season, he is averaging 3.6 points and has made 56.3 percent from the field (9-16) and 78.6 percent from the line (11-14). 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.

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 4.4 points and ranks second on the team in assists with 4.1 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.

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 and his two free throws with 14 seconds left iced the game for the Aggies. He added a pair of free throws with nine seconds left in the second overtime against Prairie View A&M to ice that win, finishing with eight points and five assists and making 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Jackson is averaging 3.8 points and ranks third on the team with an average of 3.4 assists.

Board Stiff

After out-rebounding five of its first six opponents, A&M has been out-boarded in three of its last four games. The Aggies have posted an average rebounding margin of -1.0, thanks largely to being beaten on the boards by UTSA, 52-37. The Aggies out-rebounded their opponents in 20 of 31 games last season.

Turnover Woes

The Aggies are averaging 16.0 turnovers per game, seventh most in the Big 12, and rank ninth in turnover margin at +1.1. But the Aggies had just eight turnovers against Tennessee, their fewest since they had just five against Princeton on Dec. 27, 1996 in El Paso.

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. A&M has had more assists than turnovers in six of eight games, something they accomplished just 12 times in 31 games last year. The Aggies had 28 assists (13 turnovers) against Louisiana-Monroe, the most assists by the Aggies since they had 28 against Missouri in 1998-99.

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 Dec. 2, 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 followed with 11 points against UTSA. King is averaging 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds and is making 64.3 percent from the field.

Watkins' Grads

Since becoming Texas A&M's head basketball coach in 1998, Melvin Watkins has posted an enviable graduation rate, with 11 of his 13 players who have completed their eligibility at A&M receiving their degrees (84.6 percent). The two non-graduates are playing professional basketball overseas. Of the seven players who did not remain at A&M, three have graduated and the other four are still in school. Among current players, Brian Brookhart graduated in August and is now in graduate school, while Keith Bean is on track for a May graduation and Bradley Jackson, Tomas Ress and Andy Slocum are expected to graduate next August.

A&M's Best

Texas A&M will honor its five basketball All-Americans at the Jan. 11 Big 12 Conference opener against Oklahoma State at Reed Arena. The four surviving players are expected to be in attendance: Walter Davis (1951), Carroll Broussard (1961, 1962), Bennie Lenox (1963) and John Beasley (1966). A&M's first All-American, Jewell McDowell (1950) is deceased. A former Olympic gold medalist and world-record holder in the high jump, Davis was named the top two-sport track athlete in history by USA Track & Field several years ago. He played five seasons in the NBA. Broussard is A&M's only two-time All-American , while Lenox scored a SWC record 53 points against Wyoming and led the Aggies to the 1964 NCAA Tournament. Beasley owns A&M records for season and career scoring and rebounding averages and played seven seasons in the ABA, earning MVP honors in the 1969 ABA All-Star Game.