December 26, 2003
GAME #9
Texas A&M Aggies
(5-3, 0-0 Big 12 Conference)
vs.
Houston Cougars
(4-3, 0-0 Conference USA)
7:35 p.m. (CST)
Saturday, Dec. 27, 2003
Hofheinz Pavilion (8,479 cap.)
Houston, Texas
RADIO:
Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
Airtime: 6:40 p.m. (CST)
ONLINE: www.AggieAthletics.com
Station Freq. Market
KIXL-AM 970 Austin
KAGG-FM 96.1 College Station
KWHI-AM 1280 Brenham
KGAS-AM 1590 Carthage
KCOM-AM 1550 Comanche
KBHT-FM 93.5 Crockett
KFXR-AM 1190 Dallas
KULP-AM 1390 El Campo
KCTI-AM 1450 Gonzales
KTHP-FM 103.9 Hemphill
KPRC-AM 950 Houston
KRBA-AM 1340 Lufkin
KMHT-AM 1450 Marshall
KMOO-FM 99.9 Mineola
KSST-AM 1230 Sulphur Springs
KKTK-AM 1400 Texarkana
TELEVISION:
None
In a renewal of an old Southwest Conference rivalry, the Texas A&M Aggies (5-3) play the Houston Cougars (4-3) on Saturday at 7:35 p.m. (CST) at Hofheinz Pavilion (12,500 cap.) in Houston. The Cougars posted a 79-75 victory in College Station the last time the teams met in 1996, the final season of the SWC. A&M joined the Big 12 Conference in 1996-97 and Houston joined Conference USA. The Aggies have won two straight and are coming off a 103-101 double-overtime win against Grambling State at home on Sunday. The Cougars have won three straight and are coming off a 71-65 overtime win against Chicago State at home on Tuesday. Houston is 4-2 at home this season and has won four straight home games, while the Aggies are 1-2 in road games. UH leads the series, 52-29, with a 32-7 lead in games played in Houston and an 18-5 mark at Hofheinz Pavilion.
About Houston
The Cougars return four starters and seven lettermen from last year's team, which finished 8-20 overall and placed 11th in Conference USA with a 6-10 mark. Houston is in its fourth season under head coach Ray McCallum. The Cougars lost three of their first four games, falling to East Tennessee State (65-51) and Rice (62-52) at home, Texas-El Paso (88-61) on the road, and beating Lamar (68-62) at home. They since have won three straight, all at home, beating Bethune Cookman (56-45), Washington (79-64) and Chicago State (71-65). Houston is led by junior guard Andre Owens (6'4"), the team's lone player averaging in double figures at 17.3 points per game. Senior center Anwar Ferguson (7'0") averages 8.1 points, a team-best 7.4 rebounds and ranks third nationally with 4.6 blocked shots per game. Senior guard Marcus Oliver (6'3"), who missed last season with a knee injury, adds 9.3 points while freshman guard Lanny Smith (6'3") contributes 7.3 points and a team-best 3.4 assists. As a team, UH is averaging just 62.6 points per game but is allowing its opponents just 64.4 points on 41.3 percent field goal accuracy.
The A&M-UH Series
Houston leads the series, 52-29, with a 32-7 edge in games played in Houston and an 18-5 advantage in games played at Hofheinz Pavilion. The Cougars have won three straight in the series including a 79-75 win in College Station the last time the teams met in 1996. The last time they played in Houston, the Cougars prevailed in overtime, 78-67, at Hofheinz Pavilion in 1996. A&M's last win in the series was by a score of 73-68 in College Station in 1995, while the Aggies' last win in Houston came in 1994 (67-60).
TEXAS A&M vs. Houston
Since 1993
Year Winner Site
1995-96 Houston, 79-75 College Station
Houston, 78-67 (OT) Houston
1994-95 Houston, 86-80 Houston
A&M, 73-68 College Station
1993-94 A&M, 93-87 College Station
A&M, 67-60 Houston
1992-93 Houston, 84-68 Dallas
Houston, 78-51 Houston
Houston, 81-69 College Station
The Coaches
TEXAS A&M
Melvin Watkins (UNC Charlotte '77)
58-94 at A&M (6th year)
100-114 overall (8th year)
3-0 vs. Houston
0-0 vs. Ray McCallum
HOUSTON
Ray McCallum (Ball State '83)
39-58 at UH (4th year)
165-134 overall (11th year)
0-0 vs. Texas A&M
0-0 vs. Melvin Watkins
Sidebars
A&M coach Melvin Watkins was 3-0 against Houston as head coach at North Carolina Charlotte from 1996-98, including a 102-77 win at Hofheinz Pavilion in 1997...Watkins' 49ers twice beat Houston in Charlotte by scores of 78-68 in 1997 and 105-75 in 1998 ...Since the Aggies last played at Hofheinz Pavilion in 1996, they have played four neutral site games in Houston, beating Rice (56-53) at the Compaq Center in 1999, falling to North Carolina (82-60) at the Compaq Center in 2000, losing to Tulsa (90-56) at the Compaq Center in 2001 and beating LSU (79-77) last year at Reliant Stadium...A&M senior guard Dylan Leal led Houston Stratford High School to three district titles and two regional semifinals...A&M freshman forward Marlon Pompey played one season at Westbury Christian in Houston...A&M basketball trainer Shone Gipson is a 1999 graduate of Houston, where he worked as a student trainer...A&M basketball strength coach Vern Banks completed graduate course work at Houston in 1986..UH Assistant Athletic Director for Ticket Operations Sean Connor was the assistant ticket manager at A&M from 1999-2003, where he handled men's basketball ticket operations.
Tentative Starters
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (5-3)
No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
50 Andy Slocum C 7-0 Sr. 9.3 8.4
3 Jesse King III F 6-7 Sr. 12.3 6.4
21 Antoine Wright F/G 6-7 So. 13.6 3.6
10 Leandro Garcia-Morales G 6-1 Sr. 4.7 3.0a
1 Acie Law IV G 6-3 Fr. 10.0 4.3a
Off the Bench
No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
22 Kevin Turner G 6-2 Sr. 9.6 2.0
32 Marcus Watkins G 6-4 So. 5.6 2.3
30 Bobby Leach G 6-0 Jr. 5.3 3.9a
5 Nick Anderson F 6-6 Sr. 4.9 4.0
11 Luis Clemente F 6-8 So. 4.4 2.5
23 Keith Blanks F 6-5 Fr. 3.7 1.1
42 Marlon Pompey F 6-8 Fr. 2.8 1.0
12 Dylan Leal G 6-4 Sr. 1.0 0.2
33 Justin Loewe G 6-4 Fr. 0.7 0.3
Tale of the Tape
A&M UH
Record 5-3 4-3
Conference 0-0 0-0
Ratings Pct. Index (RPI) -- --
Streak W2 W3
Field Goal Pct. .436 .420
Opponent FG Pct. .476 .413
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .390 .300
Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .389 .339
3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 6.9 5.1
3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 17.6 17.1
Free Throw Pct. .664 .604
Opponent FT Pct. .675 .660
Rebound Avg. 39.1 35.6
Offensive Reb. Avg. 15.9 12.4
Rebounding Margin +1.1 -0.7
Turnovers Avg. 13.4 15.3
Opp. Turnovers Avg. 17.3 16.0
Assists Avg. 18.5 10.6
Blocks Avg. 1.5 6.9
Steals Avg. 7.8 5.7
Scoring Avg. 82.1 62.6
Opponent Scoring 78.4 64.4
Scoring Margin +3.8 -1.9
Watkins Quoteboard
"Against Grambling, it was like we took the holidays off before they got here. We played good defense against UTSA, then against Grambling we were a totally different team. We just don't get it yet. I knew Antoine would have a breakout night and hopefully he can maintain it. I got on them pretty hard in the locker room after the game and they needed it. We gave up too many drives to the basket, then didn't step over (to help). We've got to learn to maintain our focus on both ends of the court. Houston is playing well right now, especially on the defensive end. They have won three straight games, which has given them some confidence and they have an athletic team that can cause us plenty of problems."
Grambling Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Antoine Wright scored a career-high 32 points to lead Texas A&M to a 103-101 victory over Grambling State in double overtime Sunday night. The biggest of Wright's shots didn't even go in the basket. With six seconds left and Grambling (2-7) up 101-100, the Tigers were called for goaltending and a foul against the sophomore forward. Wright drained the ensuing free throw for a three-point play and sealed A&M's overtime win. Grambling's Paul Haynes, who finished with 22 points, and A&M's Acie Law exchanged baskets in the final stretch of the second half. Each had six points in the final three minutes of regulation to leave the game tied at 81-81. Law hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining for a 90-87 lead in the first overtime, only to watch Ron Ellis answer with his own 3-pointer with two seconds left, tying the game at 90 at the end of the first overtime. Brion Rush led Grambling with 24 points. A&M (5-3) continued to struggle defensively, giving up 56 percent shooting to the Tigers. Law scored 16 points after halftime and restored leads for the Aggies on five occasions late in the game.
Quickie Notes
*A&M is averaging 33.1 bench points per game.
*Marcus Watkins has been the Aggies' top scorer off the bench a team-high three times.
*Of the 230 field goals the Aggies have made this season, 148 (64.3 percent) have been assisted.
*Jesse King ranks second in the Big 12 in three-point percentage at .556.
*Antoine Wright broke out of his early-season slump with a career-high 32 points against Grambling, making 5-of-10 three-pointers. Wright leads all Big 12 freshmen and sophomores in scoring (13.6).
*A&M freshman point guard Acie Law earned his first career start against Grambling and responded with 18 points and a career-high nine assists.
*Leandro Garcia-Morales leads the Big 12 in assists-to-turnovers ratio (21-to-4).
*As a team, the Aggies rank second the Big 12and 14th nationally in assists (18.5) and lead the league in assists-to-turnovers ratio (1.38), despite ranking last in the league in field goal percentage at .436.
*The Aggies have averaged just 13.6 turnovers per game, second fewest in the Big 12.
*The Aggies rank second in the Big 12 in three-point percentage (.390) and in three-pointers made per game (6.9).
*Kevin Turner's career three-point percentage of .436 ranks as the best in school history and is the third best in Big 12 annals.Turner ranks third in the league this season in three-point percentage (.548).
*A&M ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring defense (78.4), field goal percentage defense (.476) and blocked shots (1.5).
*A&M is averaging 15.9 offensive rebounds per game, third most in the Big 12, but are averaging just 16.6 second-chance points.
*The Aggies have forced an average of 17.2 turnovers per game, seventh most in the Big 12, but are averaging just 21.9 points off turnovers.
*The Aggies rank No. 22 nationally in scoring offense (82.1), but rank No. 303 of 326 Division I teams in scoring defense (78.4).