December 03, 2004
GAME #5
Texas A&M AGGIES
(4-0, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
Prairie View A&M PANTHERS
(0-4, 0-0 SWAC)
7:30 p.m. (central)
Saturday, Dec. 4, 2004
Reed Arena (12,500 cap.)
College Station, Texas
RADIO:
Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
Airtime: 7:15 p.m. (CST)
ONLINE: www.AggieAthletics.com
TELEVISION:
None
Postgame Satellite Highlight Feed
9:45-10 p.m. (Central)
Galaxy 3, Transponder 7
TICKETS:
Available at door
($12, $10, $6)
PROMOTION:
The men's and women's basketball programs will collect toys prior to many of the home games in December. Fans who donate a "new or gently-used" toy will receive free admission to any of the games designated as "Toy Drive" games. Those games are:
* 12/1 ? men vs. Oakland ? 7 p.m.
* 12/4 ? women vs. Texas State ? 2 p.m.
* 12/4 ? men vs. Prairie View A&M ? 7:30 p.m.
* 12/11 ? men vs. Alabama A&M ? 2 p.m.
* 12/12 ? women vs. McNeese State ? 2:30 p.m.
* 12/15 ? men vs. Louisiana Monroe ? 7 p.m.
* 12/19 ? women vs. Northwestern State ? 2:30 p.m.
* 12/19 ? men vs. Chicago State ? 7 p.m.
All donations will benefit 98.3 KORA's "Radio Mash" (which runs from Dec.
2-6) and "Toys for Tots." Donations will be accepted by members of the Dance Team and the Aggie Angels starting when doors open 1 1/2 hours prior to tipoff and will continue until game time. Representatives of the men's and women's basketball programs will drop off toys Monday morning at 7:45 a.m. at the site of KORA's Radio Mash (corner of Highway 6 and Harvey Road in the Post Oak Mall parking lot).
Riding a four-game winning streak, the Texas A&M Aggies (4-0, 0-0 in Big 12) face the Prairie View A&M Panthers (0-4, 0-0 in the Southwestern Athletic
Conference) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (central) at Reed Arena (12,500 cap.) in College Station. The Aggies are 4-0, their best start since the 1980-81 team began the year with a 7-0 mark and was ranked No. 11 nationally. A&M is coming off an impressive 81-63 win against Oakland at home on Wednesday, while Prairie View lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 65-48, at home on Thursday. A win would hand first-year coach Billy Gillispie the best coaching start in Aggieland since D.X. Bible began his A&M career with a 6-0 mark in 1920-21. The Aggies are 4-0 at home this season, while the Panthers are 0-3 in road games. A&M leads the series, 6-0, including an 88-79 victory last year at Reed Arena.
About Prairie View A&M
The Panthers return only two lettermen, both starters, from last year's team that finished 7-20 overall and placed ninth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 7-11 mark. Prairie View A&M is in its third season under coach Jerome Francis. The Panthers opened the season with three straight road losses to Wisconsin-Milwaukee (117-55), South Florida (63-47) and Tulane (84-63) before falling at home to A&M-Corpus Christi (65-48). The Panthers' balanced scoring attack is led by sophomore guard Philip Scott (6'3"), who is averaging 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jared Ellison (5'10") and junior forward Marlon Bussey (6'4") each add 7.3 points, while junior guard Oscar Thompson (6'3") contributes 6.3 points and has made 5-of-6 (.833) three-pointers. Five other Panthers average between 3.0 and 4.0 points per game while 12 average at least 10 minutes per contest. As a team, Prairie View is averaging just 53.3 points per game while allowing 82.3. The Panthers are making just 31.5 percent from the field while giving up 53.1 percent and are being out-rebounded by an average of 9.5 per contest.
The Series
Texas A&M leads the series, 6-0, including a 5-0 mark in games played in College Station and a 1-0 record at Reed Arena. The Aggies won last year in College Station, 88-79. Two years ago, the Panthers took the game to overtime in Prairie View before the Aggies prevailed, 83-78. Texas A&M is 20-1 against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
TEXAS A&M vs. PRAIRIE VIEW
(A&M leads, 6-0)
Year Winner Site
1978-79 Texas A&M, 113-63 College Station
1983-84 Texas A&M, 89-58 College Station
1985-86 Texas A&M, 88-60 College Station
1991-92 Texas A&M, 83-56 College Station
2002-03 Texas A&M, 83-78 (ot) Prairie View
2003-04 Texas A&M, 88-79 College Station
The Coaches
TEXAS A&M
Billy Gillispie (Texas State ?83)
4-0 at A&M (1st year)
34-32 overall (3rd year)
0-0 vs. Prairie View A&M
0-0 vs. Jerome Francis
PRAIRIE VIEW
Jerome Francis (Ohio State ?91)
24-36 at PV (3rd year)
24-36 overall (3rd year)
0-2 vs. Texas A&M
0-0 vs. Billy Gillispie
Sidebars
Prairie View is the first of three SWAC teams the Aggies will play in their next five games...Alabama A&M visits Reed Arena next Saturday, while Grambling State comes in on Dec. 22...the leading scorers from each team (Texas A&M's Antoine Wright and Prairie View's Philip Scott) are both from San Bernardino, Calif.
Tentative Starters
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (4-0, 0-0)
No. Player Ht. Cl. PPG RPG Other
30 Joseph Jones 6'9" Fr. 11.8 8.5 1.2 blk
4 Edjuan Green 6'7" Jr. 4.7 4.3 55% FG
21 Antoine Wright 6'7" Jr. 17.8 8.5 58% FG
22 Dominique Kirk 6'3" Fr. 9.0 2.0 3.2 ast
1 Acie Law 6'3" So. 12.0 3.7 6.5 ast
Off the Bench
No. Player Ht. Cl. PPG RPG Other
42 Marlon Pompey 6'8" So. 7.0 3.5 85% FG
15 Bobby Leach 6'0" Sr. 6.0 2.0 3.0 ast
2 Marcus McIntosh 6'0" So. 4.0 1.3 1.0 ast
10 Chris Walker 6'5" Jr. 4.0 1.5 1.0 ast
5 Kenneth White 6'1" Fr. 3.0 0.8
33 Justin Loewe 6'4" So. 2.3 0.3
23 Brian Gahan 6'4" Sr. 2.0 2.7 1.0 ast
11 Luis Clemente 6'8" Jr. 1.8 1.0 75% FT
24 Stephen Davenport 6'3" Fr. 0.8 0.3 --
40 Slade Weishuhn 6'9" Fr. -- -- --
Gillispie Quoteboard
"I was really surprised by the margin against Oakland. To be honest, I was just hoping we'd have a chance to win the game. I thought it would be a very difficult game for us to win at this point. We're getting pretty good defensively, understanding where we should be and at least understanding our mistakes. We're understanding a little about what we need to do to compete. We're inexperienced, we're young and we don't have enough guys right now, but every guy we put out there I think knows where to be on defense. If we continue to guard and take people out of their stuff, then we have a chance to win. We were able to make the open shots because we moved the ball so well, but we've still got to get better in every aspect." Tale of the Tape
Tale of the Tape
(2004-05 stat comparison)
A&M PV
Record 4-0 0-4
Conference 0-0 0-0
Ratings Pct. Index (RPI) 193 241
Streak W4 L4
Field Goal Pct. .536 .315
Opponent FG Pct. .300 .531
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .417 .282
Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .271 .361
3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 7.5 5.0
3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 18.0 17.8
Free Throw Pct. .705 .592
Opponent FT Pct. .606 .630
Rebound Avg. 40.8 34.3
Offensive Reb. Avg. 12.3 14.3
Rebounding Margin +11.5 -10.5
Turnovers Avg. 17.8 18.5
Opp. Turnovers Avg. 21.2 14.8
Assists Avg. 20.0 7.0
Blocks Avg. 4.5 1.0
Steals Avg. 9.8 5.3
Scoring Avg. 83.8 53.3
Opponent Scoring 50.8 82.3
Scoring Margin +33.0 -29.0
Oakland Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Antoine Wright scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds to lead Texas A&M to an 81-63 win over Oakland University on Wednesday night. Joseph Jones and Dominique Kirk both scored in double-digits for Texas A&M (4-0) for the second consecutive game. Jones had 14 points and seven rebounds and Kirk added 12. Rawle Marshall scored 22 and Cortney Scott added 12 to lead Oakland (0-4). The Aggies shot 64 percent from the floor and led by as many as 26 in the second half. Of A&M's 32 field goals, 28 were assisted. Oakland made just 38.0 percent from the field. With the win, A&M head coach Billy Gillispie became the first A&M coach since H.R. McQuillan in 1935 to begin his career at A&M with a 4-0 mark. The victory avenged a 90-58 A&M loss to the Golden Grizzlies last season in Rochester, Mich.
Last Year vs. Prairie View
COLLEGE STATION (AP, NOV. 29, 2003) -- Antoine Wright scored 23 points, including five 3-pointers and a key dunk with just over a minute left, as Texas A&M beat Prairie View A&M 88-79. Texas A&M (3-0) led for most of the game but Prairie View (0-3) kept it close, pulling to within 81-75 with just more than a minute left. A&M's Bobby Leach stole the ball and threw it down the court to Wright, whose dunk put the Aggies up 83-75 with 1:01 left. The play elicited an outburst from the Panthers' bench and a technical foul helped A&M seal the game. Andy Slocum had 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Aggies. Jesse King, A&M's leading scorer and rebounder, had all 15 points and six of his seven rebounds after halftime. Kevin Cooper led Prairie View with 25 points and Roderick Riley added 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Panthers took a 21-15 lead midway through the first half, but Wright answered with a trio of 3-pointers in the next three minutes to put A&M up 38-28. He hit his first five 3-pointers and finished 5-of-6. Texas A&M lead, 51-41, at halftime.
Historic Debut
Billy Gillispie's 4-0 start is the best by a first-year A&M coach since H.R. McQuillan started 4-0 in 1935-36. A win against Prairie View A&M would hand Gillispie the best start since D.X. Bible went 7-0 in 1920-21. The record for a first-year coach at A&M is 11-0 by Tubby Graves in 1915-16.
A&M's Best Coaching Debuts
Coach Start
1. Tubby Graves (1915-16) 11-0
2. D.X. Bible (1920-21) 6-0
3. Billy Gillispie (2004-05) 3-0
H.R. McQuillan (1935-36) 4-0
Quick Start
The Aggies 4-0 start is their best since an identical start in 2001-02. A win against Prairie View A&M would mark the Aggies' best start since the 1980-81 team got off to a 7-0 start and was ranked No. 11 nationally. The best start in school history was recorded by the 1919-20 team, which finished 19-0.
A&M's Best Starts
Year Start
1. 1919-20 19-0
2. 1915-16 11-0
3. 1918-19 10-0
1959-60 10-0
5. 1928-29 7-0
1980-81 7-0
7. 1920-21 6-0
1930-31 6-0
9. 1921-22 5-0
1965-66 5-0
1977-78 5-0
Quick Notes
*A win against Prairie View A&M would hand the Aggies a 5-0 start for the first time since 1980-81. *A win also would give coach Billy Gillispie a 5-0 start, the best by a first-year A&M coach since D.X. Bible started 6-0 in 1920-21. *Junior Antoine Wright, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, has posted back-to-back double-doubles. Wright ranks sixth in the Big 12 in scoring (17.8) and is tied for fifth in rebounding (8.5). *Freshman Joseph Jones has had two double-doubles in his first four games and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in rebounding (8.5). *Sophomore Acie Law is second in the Big 12 in assists with a 6.5 average. He handed out a career-high 11 assists against UTPB. *Sophomore Marlon Pompey has made 11-of-13 from the field (.846) this season and has made 20-of-24 in his career (.833). *Senior Bobby Leach leads the Big 12 in three-point percentage, making 5-of-6 (.833). He made 5-of-16 (.313) last season. *A&M leads the Big 12 in scoring defense (50.8) and field goal percentage defense (.300). UTPB's 20.8 percent was the lowest by an opponent in A&M history. *A&M ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring margin (+33.0) and is third in scoring (83.8). *A&M leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage (.536) and is third in three-point percentage (.417). The Aggies rank second in assists (20.0). *A&M is forcing an average of 21.8 turnovers per game, most in the Big 12. *Against Oakland, 28 of the Aggies' 32 field goals were assisted. For the season, 67.2 percent of A&M's field goals have been assisted. *In the last two games, the Aggies have made 21-of-44 (.477) three-pointers. *Freshman Dominique Kirk has scored in double figures in three straight games, making 7-of-14 three-pointers (.500). *A&M ranks in the top half of every major Big 12 statistical category.