November 25, 2003
The Texas A&M men's basketball team plays host to the Alabama A&M Bulldogs on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
The Aggies (1-0) beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 82-53, in their season opener at home on Monday, while the Bulldogs (0-1) dropped their season opener at Jacksonville State on Friday, 74-68. Texas A&M and Alabama A&M have never played, but A&M is 12-1 against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Alabama A&M finished 8-19 last season, its worst record in Vann Pettaway's 17 years as head coach. Senior forward Otis Walker (6-6) and sophomore guard Obie Trotter (6-2) led the Bulldogs in their opener with 13 points each, while junior guard Rickey Ricketts (6-2) added 11 points.
In Monday's win against Pine Bluff, the Aggies were paced by senior guard Kevin Turner, who dropped in a career-high five three-pointers and finished with 17 points. Senior forward Jesse King added 13 points and a career-best 11 rebounds, while senior guard Leandro Garcia-Morales chipped in 10 points and had four steals.
A&M recorded 24 assists with only 12 turnovers, led by the performance of junior point guard Bobby Leach, who had nine assists and only one turnover in 19 minutes of play. Freshman point guard Acie Law dished out four assists with no turnovers.
"Our point guards got into the offense and recognized things on defense," A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "They controlled the game for us. I know we're going to get some good play out of those two. Overall, we're still learning things about ourselves."
The Prairie View A&M Band will perform for the second straight game.
The game will be broadcast on radio by the Texas A&M Sports Network (KAGG-FM, 96.1 in the Brazos Valley) and can also be heard via the internet (www.AggieAthletics.com) with Dave South on play-by-play and Al Pulliam on commentary.
Tickets are $6 for gallery section seats, $10 for balcony seats, $12 for mezzanine seats and $15 for courtside seats (if available). Tickets can be purchased through the A&M Athletic Ticket Office (979-845-2311) or the Reed Arena Ticket Office (979-862-7333).
A&M continues its three-game season-opening homestand on Saturday against another SWAC team, Prairie View A&M, on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Reed Arena.
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TENTATIVE STARTERS
Texas A&M Aggies (1-0)
G-#30 Bobby Leach 6-0 Jr-Tr 4.0 ppg/9.0 apg
G-#10 Leandro Garcia-Morales 6-1 Sr-1L 10.0 ppg/3.0 apg
F-#21 Antoine Wright 6-7 So-1L 7.0 ppg/1.0 rpg
F-#3 Jesse King III 6-7 Sr-3L 13.0 ppg/11.0 rpg
C-#50 Andy Slocum 7-0 Sr-3L 4.0 ppg/7.0 rpg
Alabama A&M Bulldogs (0-1)
G-#12 Obie Trotter 6-1 So. 13.0 ppg/6.0 rpg
G-#20 Rickey Ricketts 6-2 Jr. 11.0 ppg/2.0 rpg
F-#33 Terry Horton 6-3 Sr. 8.0 ppg/5.0 rpg
F-#00 Otis Walker 6-6 Sr. 13.0 ppg/8.0 rpg
F-#40 Andre Matthews 6-7 Jr. 7.0 ppg/2.0 rpg