March 09, 2004
2004 PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
Texas A&M Aggies
7-20 overall
0-16 Big 12 (12th)
Thursday-Sunday
(March 11-14)
American Airlines Center (19,200 cap.)
Dallas, Texas
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 11
Game 1: Kansas St. (#9) vs. Iowa St. (#8), 2 p.m.
Game 2: Nebraska (#10) vs. Oklahoma (#7), 6 p.m.
Game 3: A&M (#11) vs. Missouri (#6), 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 12
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Okla. St. (#1), Noon
Game 5: Tech (#5) vs. Colorado (#4), 2:20 p.m.
Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. Texas (#2), 6 p.m.
Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Kansas (#3), 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 13
Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game 9: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 3:20 p.m.
Sunday, March 14
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 2 p.m.
RADIO:
Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
Airtime: 20 min. prior to game
ONLINE: www.AggieAthletics.com
TELEVISION:
ESPN2
Game 3: Texas A&M vs. Missouri
Ron Franklin, play-by-play
Jon Sundvold, analyst
Game 10 is on ESPN
All others on ESPN Regional
(check local listings)
Hoping to end a 16-game losing skid, the No. 11-seeded Texas A&M Aggies (7-20, 0-16 in Big 12) will be looking for their first Big 12 Tournament win when they play the No. 6-seeded Missouri Tigers (15-12, 9-7 in Big 12) in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. (CST) at the American Airlines Center (19,200 cap.) in Dallas. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The winner will play No. 3-seeded Kansas (20-7, 12-4) on Friday at 8:30 p.m. A&M lost to Missouri, 82-77, on Jan. 10 in Columbia, Mo., to start its losing streak. Kansas defeated the Aggies, 71-65, on Jan. 17 in College Station. A&M beat Missouri, 73-71, last year in College Station but is 0-9 against the Jayhawks. A&M has not won a Big 12 Tournament game, going 0-7 since the event started in 1997. In fact, A&M's last postseason conference tournament win came in the semifinals of the 1994 Southwest Conference Classic at Reunion Arena in Dallas, when the Aggies defeated Texas Tech, 89-85. Since then, A&M has lost 10 straight tournament games, starting with the 1994 title game (an 87-62 loss to Texas), followed by first-round losses in the SWC Classic in 1995 and 1996. The Aggies have not played on a neutral court this season and are 2-11 in true road games. A&M is 0-1 against Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament (a 77-62 loss in 2001) and has not played Kansas.
A&M's Conference Tournament History
In the old Southwest Conference, A&M won tournament titles in 1980 and 1987 and was runner-up in 1976, 1986 and 1994. A&M had an all-time record of 16-19 at the SWC Classic, but is 0-7 in the Big 12 Tournament, making the Aggies 16-26 overall in conference postseason tournaments. The 1987 Aggies won the SWC Classic as the No. 8 seed in the eight-team event to advance to the NCAA Tournament, A&M's last appearance. A&M has been seeded higher than 10th at the Big 12 tournament just once as they entered last year's tournament as the No. 8 seed but lost to Iowa State, 97-70.
Quick Notes
*Sophomore Antoine Wright has averaged 13.4 points and made 37 percent from three-point range in the last seven games, scoring in double figures all but once. Wright has been named to the NABC All-District Team for the second straight year.
*Senior center Andy Slocum has had eight double-doubles, second most in the Big 12, and ranks second in the Big 12 in rebounding in league play (9.1). Slocum has been named honorable mention All-Big 12 (AP) and also was placed on the Big 12 All-Improved Team by league media.
*Senior forward Jesse King has scored in double figures in a team-high 19 games and ranks second on the team in scoring for the season (11.8) and in league play (10.9). King is making 79.0 percent from the free throw line after entering the season as a career 51 percent free throw shooter.
*The Aggies are tied for eighth nationally in offensive rebounding (15.4), second most in the Big 12. In league play, A&M leads the conference in offensive boards (15.3).
*The Aggies have posted a rebounding margin of +5.9 in the last 18 games. The Aggies have been out-rebounded just six times, but have been out-boarded in four of the last six games.
*A&M ranks second the Big 12 in rebounding margin in conference play (+3.9).
*The Aggies rank fourth in the Big 12 in assists (15.1), but are tied for last in league play in turnovers margin (-3.6).
*A&M is 1-15 when it commits 15 or more turnovers and it is 2-15 when it allows 14 or more points off turnovers.
*A&M ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring defense (76.5) and field goal percentage defense (.484), and are 11th in three-point percentage defense (.388).
*12 of A&M's 16 league games were within five points at halftime, with A&M leading five times.
*A&M had a second-half lead in nine Big 12 games.
*Senior Nick Anderson has been named to the 2004 Big 12 All-Academic Team. He missed 19 games as a junior under Big 12 academic suspension.
A&M AT THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
A&M played seven different opponents in the first seven Big 12 Tournaments...Missouri represents the first repeat opponent after beating the Aggies, 77-62, in Kansas City in 2001...in seven previous Big 12 Tournament games, the Aggies have played four North Division schools and three from the South Division...Last year, No. 8-seed A&M played No. 9 seed Iowa State, the only time A&M has played a Big 12 Tournament game as the higher-seeded team.
TEXAS A&M at BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
(0-7 record)
Year Result
2003 #9 Iowa State 97, #8 A&M 70
2002 #5 Texas Tech 80, #12 A&M 71
2001 #6 Missouri 77, #11 A&M 62
2000 #7 Colorado 79, #10 A&M 53
1999 #7 Kansas St. 87, #10 A&M 76
1998 #5 Baylor 66, #12 A&M 63
1997 #6 Oklahoma 67, #11 A&M 58
A&M VS. THE FIELD
vs. Baylor
Overall: A&M leads, 118-71
Neutral: A&M leads, 3-2
vs. Colorado
Overall: Colorado leads, 9-1
Neutral: Colorado leads, 2-0
vs. Iowa State
Overall: Iowa State leads, 7-2
Neutral: Iowa State leads, 1-0
vs. Kansas
Overall: Kansas leads, 9-0
Neutral: Kansas leads, 1-0
vs. Kansas State
Overall: Kansas St. leads, 10-3
Neutral: Kansas St. leads, 3-0
vs. Missouri
Overall: Missouri leads, 10-2
Neutral: Missouri leads, 2-0
vs. Nebraska
Overall: Nebraska leads, 9-3
Neutral: Nebraska leads, 1-0
vs. Oklahoma
Overall: Oklahoma leads, 20-1
Neutral: Oklahoma leads, 3-0
vs. Oklahoma State
Overall: Okla. St. leads, 23-8
Neutral: Okla. St. leads, 4-2
vs. Texas
Overall: Texas leads, 125-79
Neutral: Tied, 4-4
vs. Texas Tech
Overall: Tech leads, 59-50
Neutral: Tied, 5-5
TENTATIVE STARTERS
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (7-20, 0-16)
No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
50 Andy Slocum C 7-0 Sr. 8.1 9.0
3 Jesse King F 6-7 Sr. 11.8 5.6
21 Antoine Wright F/G 6-7 So. 13.2 4.0
10 Leandro Garcia-Morales G 6-1 Sr. 6.6 2.2
1 Acie Law G 6-3 Fr. 7.4 3.9a
Off the Bench
No. Player P Ht. Cl. PPG RPG
22 Kevin Turner G 6-2 Sr. 8.0 1.7
5 Nick Anderson F 6-6 Sr. 5.4 3.7
23 Keith Blanks F 6-5 Fr. 4.4 1.5
30 Bobby Leach G 6-0 Jr. 3.5 2.9a
11 Luis Clemente F 6-8 So. 2.8 1.8
32 Marcus Watkins G 6-4 So. 2.4 1.9
42 Marlon Pompey F 6-8 Fr. 1.7 0.7
12 Dylan Leal G 6-4 Sr. 0.8 0.1
33 Justin Loewe G 6-4 Fr. 0.5 0.3
WATKINS QUOTEBOARD
"We just have to get back some pride in what we are doing and our spirits need to be lifted a little. Those are the kind of things we are talking about this week. If you look at our seniors, the last few games have been very difficult for some of those guys to come out with energy. We have to lean on those guys to come back and play to the best of their ability. We have another basketball game and when you have another opportunity, you should always give it your best shot. We are going to give it our best shot. I have to make the kids believe that we can win this tournament. Some strange things have happened before. Missouri has its motivation and we have to have something that is going to motivate us. We have to take it one shot at a time and just remember that anything can happen. We just have to throw the ball up and go out there and play. If we give our best effort and everyone is on the same page, it could happen. Missouri is playing a lot better than they were when we played back in January. Sometimes it just takes a while to work some things through and apparently they have worked through some of that. We feel like we are going to see their best. They have some very talented individuals and when they are on top of their game, they are some of the best players in the conference. You get a kid like Arthur Johnson on top of his game and he is going to be hard to deal with. Ricky Paulding is another example. Those type of kids are the kind that can win championships for you. I am not saying they are going to, but they have a good chance at it. We have a big body in Andy Slocum and we are going to have to lean on him. We have to try to make the shots that Johnson was scoring against Kansas a little more difficult for him. He is a load. It is hard to try to stop him with just one person. We may have to double team him and we may have to play some zone just to mix it up a little bit. It comes down to players stepping up and doing what they have got to do on the defensive end. The teams with better defense tend to be the ones still standing at the end. We didn't win a conference game and that does not sit well with me, so I know it does not sit well with the administration. You have to hope that you can get kids to see this as a new season. We played some good basketball earlier this season and we hope we can get back to doing that. The difficult part of this is being able to set this record aside and go back out there and play with the type of energy we need to play with. (On handling this season with calm demeanor) That is just my nature. You have to go back to my background to understand that. when you get into this profession, like other professions, you give it your best shot. I promised myself that I would not beat myself up over this because I know how hard we have worked and how hard my staff has worked. We have worked hard to get things in order to make this a winning program. When you take all that into consideration and you see what your kids are going through, you realize that you can't be hurting too much because you need to deal with the hurt on the kids' faces. I have to come in and be the positive one and ask 'what did we learn and what are we taking from this?" and let them know this experience will help them later on down the road. It has been a tough year, no doubt about it. I am never going to get too high and I am never going to get too low -- that is just the way I choose to live my life. If you go in and give things your best shot, then you have nothing to hang your head about. I am as disappointed as anyone about not winning a conference game, but I know we have had games won that we just didn't pull out in the end. You just look and say, "What else could we do?" I don't know that we could have done things any differently. We had games that I thought we were right there to win them, but we didn't get it done. What happens is the pressure of winning that first game seems to mount, so you put extra pressure on yourself to try to get a win. What we try to do is not put that pressure on ourselves. We are just going to go in and play and enjoy this experience. That is part of what college athletics is all about, getting an education and enjoying the experience. That is going to be our mindset against Missouri. The odds may be against us, but we have to go play it and give it our best shot. Our underclassmen have done a good job without naming names. My seniors have let down some and that is disappointing, but I understand. Some of the kids gave so much early on that it is hard for them now to give that, but I am still going to expect them to give it. I have shuffled some things up the last couple of games. I am going to go into practice this week and see who will give us what we need in practice. I've told the kids 'if you give us what we need in practice, then you deserve to play. If you don't give it in practice, you are going to lose some minutes in the game.' That is the way we approach it."
SIDEBARS
A&M coach Melvin Watkins has beaten every Big 12 school except Kansas at least once..Watkins has beaten four ranked teams while at A&M...before he arrived, A&M had not beaten a ranked opponent since 1987...A&M senior forward Jesse King and Missouri senior center Arthur Johnson were prep teammates at Detroit's Pershing High School and remain best friends...A&M senior guard Leandro Garcia-Morales was a starter for the Uruguay National team last summer at the Pan American Games...Uruguay lost a tight 74-72 game to the U.S. team that included Missouri's Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson and Texas' Brandon Mouton...A&M freshman guard Acie Law is a Dallas native and prepped at Kimball High School, leading the team to the state class 5A finals as a junior...his team lost the title on a half-court shot at the final buzzer...A&M landed high-scoring guard Kenneth White of Dallas Molina High School in the November early signing period.
Slumping Aggies
Despite not winning, the Aggies were highly competitive in the first 10 Big 12 games, out-rebounding all 10 opponents (+8.1 margin) and losing by an average of just 7.3 points per game. All 10 of those games were decided by 12 points or fewer with five decided by six points or less. The Aggies averaged 71.4 points per game in that span. However, the close losses took their toll down the stretch. In the last six games, A&M's average losing margin has been 17.2 points per game, with four of those games decided by 16 points or more. A&M averaged just 58.2 points while making just 38.4 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from three-point range. Defensively, the story is the same as the Aggies have allowed their last six foes to make 53.1 percent from the field. The Aggies also have lost their dominance on the boards, being out-rebounded in four of the last six games and having an average margin of -3.0 in that period.
Earlier This Year vs. Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Arthur Johnson had 19 points, 12 rebounds and a key blocked shot to lead Missouri to an 82-77 win over Texas A&M on Saturday. Rickey Paulding added 16 points for Missouri, which was ranked as high as No. 3 early in the season. A&M trailed 71-58 with 4:46 to go, but the Aggies closed with a late run. Acie Law's 3-pointer got the Aggies within 76-71 with 1:04 left, and Jesse King's layup cut the margin to 77-73 with 42 seconds remaining. Missouri made five-of-six free throws after that and the Aggies could get no close than four points. Kevin Turner led A&M with 14 points, making 4-of-7 three-pointers. Antoine Wright and King added 12 points each, Andy Slocum had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Leandro Garcia-Morales finished with 10 points. A&M took a 42-41 lead on Turner's 3-point shot with 16:12 left in the game, but Missouri responded with a 20-6 run for a 61-48 lead with 8˝ minutes remaining. A&M had six turnovers in that run. The Aggies missed six of their first seven shots in the game and trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, but rallied with a 13-1 run that put them ahead 30-28 with 1:45 left.
Earlier This Year vs. Kansas
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Keith Langford scored 21 points and No. 12 Kansas held off Texas A&M 71-65, extending its winning streak to a season-high five games. Aaron Miles had 11 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for the Jayhawks, who had to scramble even after taking a 61-48 lead with 4:17 to play. Texas A&M's Antoine Wright led a 17-10 charge, scoring 11 of his 25 points over the final 1:51. Wright also grabbed 12 rebounds. Andy Slocum dominated inside for A&M with a game-high 14 rebounds. Langford shot 7-of-8 from the field and made both of his 3-point attempts. The Aggies went cold early in the second half and Kansas moved to a 51-39 lead behind nine straight points from J.R. Giddens, who made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. The Aggies led most of the first half until the Jayhawks rallied behind Langford in the closing minutes for a 31-29 halftime lead. Kansas trailed 20-15, but Langford scored 10 points over the final 4:22 of the first half. Jesse King, A&M's second-leading scorer, sat out with a bruised toe.