Aggies Look to Bounce Back Against Grizzlies
Dec 04, 2003 | Men's Basketball
December 04, 2003
GAME #5
Texas A&M Aggies
(3-1, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies
(2-5, 0-0 MCC)
5 p.m. (CST)/6 p.m. (EST)
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2003
Athletics Center O'rena (4,005 cap.)
Detroit, Mich.
RADIO:
Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
Airtime: 5:40 p.m. (CST)
ONLINE: www.AggieAthletics.com
TELEVISION:
None
The Texas A&M Aggies (3-1) play their second straight road game when they meet the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (2-5) on Saturday at 5 p.m. (CST)/6 p.m. (EST) at Athletics Center O'rena (4,005 cap.) in Detroit, Mich. The Aggies are coming off a 108-84 loss at Tennessee on Tuesday, while the Grizzlies lost to Dayton, 76-60, on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. A&M beat Oakland, 71-65, last year in College Station in the first-ever meeting between the schools. The Aggies are 34-13 all-time against members of the Mid-Continent Conference.A&M has never played in the state of Michigan. A&M is 0-1 on the road this season while Grizzlies are 0-1 at home.
About Oakland
Oakland is the preseason favorite to win the Mid-Continent Conference by almost every major preseason publication. The Golden Grizzlies return all five starters from last year's team that finished 17-11 overall and tied for second in the MCC with a 10-4 mark. The Grizzlies are off to a 2-5 start, but may have played the toughest schedule in the country to this point, with road losses to Xavier (76-66), Michigan (84-58), Cincinnati (89-60) and Detroit (76-60) and a loss to Missouri (90-85) in their only home game of the year. Oakland was within a point of the Tigers with one minute left to play despite the absence of high-scoring guard Mike Helms, who fouled out with eight minutes left. The Grizzlies backcourt trio of Helms, a 6-0 senior, and juniors Rawle (pronounced rawl) Marshall (6-7) and Cortney Scott (6-6) is considered one of the best in the Midwest. Helms is the reigning MCC player of the year and is the top returning scoring in the country after ranking third overall last season (26.9). Helms is averaging 20.2 this year. Marshall ranked sixth in the nation last year in steals and had a school record 10 against the Aggies in College Station. He leads the team in scoring this year at 21.7 while Scott adds 10.7 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds. Rounding out the starting lineup is senior forward Kelly Williams (6-5), who averages 4.7 points, and junior center Jordan Sabourin, a 7-footer who adds 1.2 points and 1.5 rebounds.
Series
A&M leads the series, 1-0, after winning the initial meeting last year in College Station, 71-65. The Aggies are 34-13 against members of the Mid-Continent Conference. The Aggies are 3-3 against teams from Michigan, but have never played a game in the state of Michigan.
TEXAS A&M vs. OAKLAND
(A&M leads, 1-0)
Year Winner Site
2002-03 A&M, 71-65 College Station
THE COACHES
TEXAS A&M
Melvin Watkins (UNC Charlotte '77)
56-92 at A&M (6th year)
98-112 overall (8th year)
1-0 vs. Oakland
1-0 vs. Greg Kampe
Oakland
Greg Kampe (Bowling Green '78)
325-224 at Oakland (20th year)
325-224 overall (20th year)
0-1 vs. Texas A&M
0-1 vs. Melvin Watkins
Homecoming For King, Kummer
The Oakland game marks a homecoming for A&M senior forward Jesse King, who is off to a fast start this season, leading the team in scoring (14.0) and ranking third nationally in three-point accuracy (7-of-9, .778). King played high school basketball at Pershing High School in Detroit, where he was teammates with Missouri center Arthur Johnson. He earned all-state and all-city honors as a senior, averaging 18.4 points, 18.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. King was rated among the top 10 prep players in Michigan by Midwest Hoops, which compared him to another formerr Pershing standout, Steve Smith. King helped the team to four straight conference championships and a 22-3 record as a senior...the game also will be a homecoming for longtime assistant coach Bobby Kummer, who played high school basketball at Catholic Central in Detroit and graduated in 1992. Kummer went on to play for Coach Melvin Watkins at North Carolina Charlotte before joining Watkins coaching staff at UNCC in 1996. Kummer came with Watkins to A&M when Watkins accepted the head coaching position in 1998.
Tentative Starters
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (3-1)
No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
50 Andy Slocum C 7-0 Sr. 8.8 8.0
3 Jesse King III F 6-7 Sr. 14.0 6.8
21 Antoine Wright F/G 6-7 So. 13.3 3.5
10 Leandro Garcia-Morales G 6-1 Sr. 7.5 4.3a
30 Bobby Leach G 6-0 Jr. 5.0 5.8a
Off the Bench
No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
22 Kevin Turner G 6-2 Sr. 12.0 3.0
1 Acie Law IV G 6-3 Fr. 9.0 4.3a
32 Marcus Watkins G 6-4 So. 6.8 1.8
11 Luis Clemente F 6-8 So. 6.5 3.0
5 Nick Anderson F 6-6 Sr. 5.0 5.8
23 Keith Blanks F 6-5 Fr. 4.0 2.0
42 Marlon Pompey F 6-8 Fr. 2.0 1.0
12 Dylan Leal G 6-4 Sr. 1.5 0.3
33 Justin Loewe G 6-4 Fr. 1.0 0.5
Watkins Quoteboard
"Oakland is a very dangerous team, particularly at home. They can really get on runs and their two wings are a pair of the best scorers in the country. They played us tough at our place last year and we know they are looking forward to getting us on their home court. They played Missouri a heck of a game in their only home game so far and probably should have won that game. They were in it to the end. We scheduled this game to give Jesse (King) an opportunity to play in front of his family and friends in Detroit. He's got a sore back, but hopefully he'll be ready to play on Saturday. His being out hurt our rotation against Tennessee. I'm disappointed we didn't play better but we'll fix our mistakes and get back on track."
TALE OF THE TAPE
A&M OU
Record 3-1 2-5
Conference 0-0 0-0
Ratings Pct. Index (RPI) -- --
Streak L1 L5
Field Goal Pct. .453 .385
Opponent FG Pct. .452 .462
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .434 .264
Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .333 .337
3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 8.3 5.3
3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 19.0 20.0
Free Throw Pct. .657 .688
Opponent FT Pct. .667 .691
Rebound Avg. 41.8 34.9
Offensive Reb. Avg. 18.3 14.4
Rebounding Margin +2.8 -10.1
Turnovers Avg. 12.3 14.3
Opp. Turnovers Avg. 17.0 18.3
Assists Avg. 22.3 11.7
Blocks Avg. 1.8 5.0
Steals Avg. 7.5 10.3
Scoring Avg. 88.5 71.6
Opponent Scoring 76.2 78.4
Scoring Margin +12.3 -6.9
Last Year's Game
COLLEGE STATION (Dec. 2, 2002) -- Bernard King converted on a 3-point play with 31.2 seconds to play, breaking a tie game and lifting Texas A&M to a 71-65 victory over Oakland at Reed Arena. Following an Aggie timeout, King drove through the paint and banked a shot off the glass and in as he took the foul. The senior connected on the ensuing free throw to put A&M up 67-64. The Grizzlies' Mike Helms cut the Aggie lead to two 7 seconds later but missed the second of two free throws and the Aggies (3-1) got the board. A pair of Bradley Jackson free throws and an exclamation-point dunk by Jesse King III sealed the win. Freshman Antoine Wright led Texas A&M with 21 points to go along with six assists and seven rebounds. Jesse King III scored 12 and Jackson added 10. Helms led all scorers with 31 points while teammates John Floyd and Rawle Marshall added 11 and 10, respectively. The Aggies went on a 9-0 run late in the first half to extend their lead to as much as 10, but the Grizzlies (2-2) scored the final six points of the frame and trailed by six heading at halftime.
Tennessee Recap
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Scooter McFadgon scored 23 points and Brandon Crump added 18 Tuesday night to lead Tennessee to a 108-84 win over Texas A&M. The Volunteers (3-0) never trailed in the second half in a rematch of last year's meeting the Aggies (3-1) won 83-66 using 3-pointers to stymie a late Tennessee run. C.J. Watson scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, and Stanley Asumnu added 12 points for Tennessee, which hasn't opened the season with three straight wins since 2000-01. Texas A&M, playing its first road game of the season, was led by Acie Law's 19 points. Keith Blanks had 12 and Kevin Turner added 10. Crump scored three baskets during a 13-2 run at the beginning of the second half that Tennessee used to take a 58-46 lead and control of the game. Turner hit a 3 and Nick Anderson scored off a rebound for Texas A&M to stop the Vols' hot streak. The Aggies got as close as seven again, the last with 12:22 left, before Tennessee started an 11-1 run. Freshman guard Dane Bradshaw was instrumental during the spurt on consecutive plays when he scored on a layup, took a charge, made two free throws and stole the ball and passed it to Jemere Hendrix for a basket. Crump's flat-footed rebound basket that followed gave Tennessee a 74-57 lead with 9:31 to go. Texas A&M tried to rally, stopping the run with Antoine Wright's 3 to cut it to 14, but that was as close as the Aggies would get the rest of the way. The Vols continued to pull away and got ahead by 21 with 6:30 minutes left. Several Texas A&M players got into foul trouble early in the second half. Two fouled out, and Tennessee took advantage by shooting 25-of-34 from the foul line. The Vols also had seven turnovers to the Aggies' 18. In the first half, the Aggies led by three with a minute to go, but Crump scored and Justin Albrecht tapped in John Winchester's miss at the buzzer to give Tennessee a 45-44 lead at halftime. Texas A&M led by as many as seven early, but Tennessee used an 11-4 run to go ahead with 13:05 remaining.
The New King?
A&M's leading scorer the last four years was guard Bernard King, who finished his eligibility as the Big 12's career scoring leader. The surname remains at the top of the A&M scoring chart this season, but it belongs to senior forward Jesse King, who has compiled a 14.0 scoring average and scored in double figures in the first three games before missing most of the Tennessee game with a back injury. King also ranks second on the team in rebounding with a 6.8 average. He opened the year with 13 points and a career-high 11 boards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (his first career double-double), and followed with a career-high 23 points and eight boards against Alabama A&M. Then, against Prairie View A&M he got into quick foul trouble and was scoreless in the first half, but bounced back with 15 second-half points. King scored five points in the first five minutes against Tennessee before leaving the game with a back injury. King ranks third nationally in three-point percentage, making 77.8 percent (7-of-9), which leads the Big 12. King also is making 71.4 percent from the line (15-21) after entering the season as a career 51 percent foul shooter.
The Wright Way
The 2003 Big 12 freshman of the year and a candidate for All-America honors as just a sophomore, Antoine Wright got off to a tough start, making just 1-of-9 three-pointers in the first two games and averaging just 10.5 points. But Wright broke his slump in a big way against Prairie View A&M, making 5-of-6 three-pointers and finishing with 23 points, just two shy of matching his career high. He again struggled at Tennessee, making just 3-of-13 overall and 1-of-7 from three-point range.
Big Andy
Senior center Andy Slocum is rapidly emerging as a dominating force in the paint. Against Prairie View A&M, a team that featured a 6-11, 327-pound center, Slocum dropped in 21 points and posted a career-high 16 rebounds, the most by an Aggie in three years. Through four games, Slocum is averaging 8.8 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds.
Leach & Law
A&M's achilles' heel in recent years has been inconsistent play at point guard, but coach Melvin Watkins appears to have addressed that problem with the addition of junior Bobby Leach and freshman Acie Law, who have combined for 36 assists and just eight turnovers through the first four games. Leach is averaging 5.0 points and 5.8 assists, while Law is adding 9.0 points and 4.3 assists. Law missed the Prairie View game with an ankle injury, but bounced back to score a team-high 19 points at Tennessee.
Go Leandro
Last season as a junior, Leandro Garcia-Morales was forced to play primarily at point guard because of the team's depth problems. The addition of Bobby Leach and Acie Law has allowed Garcia-Morales to move back to his more natural shooting guard position and the senior has prospered. He is averaging 7.5 points and is second on the team with 4.3 assists per game. Garcia-Morales ranks among the Big 12 leaders in assists-to-turnovers ratio at 17-to-3 and also ranks among the steals leaders with an average of 2.8.
Efficient Aggies
The Aggies have been highly efficient on offense in the first four games, averaging 22.3 assists and just 12.3 turnovers per game. The also have posted an impressive turnover margin of+4.8 per game. A&M ranks fourth nationally in assists and are 22ndf nationally in fewest turnovers.
Filling it Up
The Aggies are averaging a whopping 88.5 points per game, second in the Big 12 and 11th nationally. A&M has posted an averaging scoring margin of +12.3.
Hot Shooting
While the Aggies are making just a lukewarm 45.3 percent from the field, they are connecting on a blazing 43.4 percent from three-point range, ranking them 19th nationally. A&M is making an average of 8.3 three-pointers per game, well ahead of last year's school record of 7.0. Seven different Aggies have made at least one three-pointer with four averaging at least 1.5 per game.
Burner Turner
Junior guard Kevin Turner missed the Prairie View game with a sprained ankle and was expected to miss the Tennessee game, but came off the bench to scored 10 points and make both of his three-poiinters against the Volunteers. For the season, Turner is averaging 12.0 points and has made 8-of-13 from three-point range (.615), ranking him 39th nationally in three-point accuracy. His .426 career percentage at A&M (52-of-122) ranks as the best in school history and ranks sixth in Big 12 history.
Accurate Watkins
Sophomore guard Marcus Watkins leads the Aggies in field goal percentage at .684. Watkins scored a career-high 13 points in the win against Alabama A&M, making 6-of-8 shots. After wearing No. 23 last year, Watkins has switched to the No. 32 jersey vacated by Bernard King. No. 32 was Melvin Watkins' number at UNC Charlotte in the mid-1970s. UNCC retired the number in 1977.
A&M Statistical Leaders
Points King 14.0
Wright 13.3
Rebounds Slocum 8.0
King 6.8
O-Rebounds Slocum 3.8
Anderson 3.8
D-Rebounds King 4.5
Slocum 4.3
Assists Leach 5.8
Garcia-Morales/Law 4.3
Steals Garcia-Morales 2.8
Law 2.0
Blocks Blanks 0.7
Slocum 0.5
Minutes Wright 26.0
Garcia-Morales 21.0
3-Pt. FG Turner 2.7
King/Wright 1.8
FG Pct. Watkins .684
King .515
3-Pt. Pct. King .778
Turner .615
FT Pct. Clemente 1.000
Law .833
