December 14, 2004
GAME #7
Texas A&M AGGIES
(6-0, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
Louisiana-Monroe INDIANS
(4-2, 0-0 SLC)
7 p.m. (central)
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004
Reed Arena (12,500 cap.)
College Station, Texas
RADIO:
Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
Airtime: 6:45 p.m. (central)
ONLINE: www.AggieAthletics.com
TELEVISION:
None
Postgame Satellite Highlight Feed
9:45-10 p.m. (Central)
Galaxy 3, Transponder 7
TICKETS:
Available
$12, $10, $6
PROMOTIONS:
*"Holiday Hoops 2-for-1"
Fans can purchase two tickets for the price of one for any men's or women's game through Jan. 5.
*"Toy Drive"
Fan who donate a "new or gently-used" toy will receive free admission.
Donations will benefit "Toys for Tots" and will be accepted by members of
the Dance Team and the Aggie Angels starting when doors open (1 1/2 hours
prior to tipoff) until game time.
Riding their longest winning streak in 19 years, the Texas A&M Aggies (6-0, 0-0 in Big 12) play the Louisiana-Monroe Indians (4-2, 0-0 in the Southland Conference) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (central) at Reed Arena (12,500 cap.) in College Station. The Aggies are 6-0, their best start since the 1980-81 team began the year with a 7-0 mark and was ranked No. 11 nationally. It's Texas A&M's longest winning streak since the 1985-86 team won six straight. The Aggies are coming off their closest game of the season, a 71-68 win against Alabama A&M at home on Saturday. Louisiana-Monroe is coming off an 84-82 loss on Saturday at Centenary, which has won 20 straight home games. First-year coach Billy Gillispie is off to the best coaching start in Aggieland since D.X. Bible began his career with a 6-0 mark in 1920-21. The Aggies are 6-0 at home this season, while the Indians are 1-2 in true road games. Texas A&M leads the series, 2-1, posting a 75-67 win last year in Monroe, La., and a 107-66 victory two years ago at Reed Arena.
About Louisiana-Monroe
The Indians return only five lettermen and one starter from last year's team that finished 12-19 overall and tied for fifth in the Southland Conference with an 8-8 mark. Louisiana-Monroe is in its 24th season under coach Mike Vining, who needs two more victories to reach 400 in his career. Among the Indians' four victories is a 75-61 win at Baylor on Nov. 24. ULM has a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging in double figures, led by junior forward Adrian Harper (6'5"), who is averaging 11.5 points and 5.2 rebounds. Junior forward Gary Robinson (6'7") is adding 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds, junior forward Daryl Mason (6'6") is averaging 10.7 points, senior forward DeAndre Alexander (6'4") is scoring 10.5 per game along with a team-high 8.5 rebounds, and senior guard Aaron Branch (6'2") is contributing 10.0 points while making 50.0 percent from three-point range. As a team, the Indians are averaging 75.8 points while making 48 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 75 percent from the free throw line.
The Series
Texas A&M leads the series, 2-1, with a 1-0 record in games played in College Station. The Aggies won last year in Monroe, La., 75-67, and posted a 107-66 victory at Reed Arena in 2002-03. The Aggies are 105-36 against current members of the Southland Conference.
TEXAS A&M vs. LA.-MONROE
(Texas A&M leads, 2-1)
Year Winner Site
2001-02 ULM, 76-61 Las Vegas
2002-03 A&M, 107-66 College Station
2003-04 A&M, 75-67 Monroe, La.
The Coaches
TEXAS A&M
Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
6-0 at A&M (1st year)
36-32 overall (3rd year)
0-0 vs. Louisiana Monroe
0-0 vs. Mike Vining
LA.-MONROE
Mike Vining (La.-Monroe '67)
398-285 at ULM (24th year)
398-285 overall (24th year)
1-2 vs. Texas A&M
0-0 vs. Billy Gillispie
Sidebars
Louisiana-Monroe junior forward Daryl Mason played part of his freshman year at Texas A&M in 2001-02 before leaving the team at mid-season...Mason played in 13 games, starting in four, and averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds...he scored a career-high 14 points with five rebounds in a loss at North Carolina...Mason led Bryan High School, located just five miles from Reed Arena, to the class 5A state champion ship game in 2001...ULM assistant coach Chris Oney also played his freshman year at A&M in 1994-95.
Tentative Starters
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (6-0, 0-0)
No. Player Ht. Cl. PPG RPG Other
30 Joseph Jones 6'9" Fr. 11.0 8.7 1.3 blk
4 Edjuan Green 6'7" Jr. 6.6 4.4 70% FG
21 Antoine Wright 6'7" Jr. 16.0 6.8 56% FG
22 Dominique Kirk 6'3" Fr. 9.8 3.3 3.5 ast
1 Acie Law 6'3" So. 10.8 2.7 5.7 ast
Off the Bench
No. Player Ht. Cl. PPG RPG Other
42 Marlon Pompey 6'8" So. 6.2 4.3 62% FG
10 Chris Walker 6'5" Jr. 5.3 2.2 77% FG
15 Bobby Leach 6'0" Sr. 4.3 1.0 2.8 ast
2 Marcus McIntosh 6'0" So. 3.0 1.2 --
5 Kenneth White 6'1" Fr. 2.8 1.0 --
33 Justin Loewe 6'4" So. 2.6 0.2 --
11 Luis Clemente 6'8" Jr. 2.5 1.7 --
23 Brian Gahan 6'4" Sr. 1.6 2.0 --
24 Stephen Davenport 6'3" Fr. 0.6 0.6 --
40 Slade Weishuhn 6'9" Fr. -- -- --
Gillispie Quoteboard
"Louisiana-Monroe has a very good team and is very well coached. They beat Baylor in Waco, so as always we'll have to play our best to have a chance to win. Our players were totally disappointed with the way we played against Alabama A&M. I think that you should never take winning for granted, but I do believe we're making progress because we knew we didn't perform in a successful way. We were just lucky to win on the scoreboard. I give a lot of credit to Alabama A&M. They played very well and they played very smart. We were very fortunate to win, but the way we went about it wasn't the way that's going to be successful for us in the future."
Tale of the Tape
(2004-05 stat comparison)
A&M ULM
Record 6-0 4-2
Conference 0-0 0-0
Ratings Pct. Index (RPI) 232 245
Streak W6 L1
Field Goal Pct. .521 .477
Opponent FG Pct. .309 .429
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .400 .400
Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .269 .374
3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 6.3 6.0
3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 15.8 15.0
Free Throw Pct. .667 .752
Opponent FT Pct. .620 .698
Rebound Avg. 42.3 40.2
Offensive Reb. Avg. 13.6 14.3
Rebounding Margin +13.6 +13.7
Turnovers Avg. 18.3 18.0
Opp. Turnovers Avg. 20.8 14.8
Assists Avg. 20.5 12.5
Blocks Avg. 4.7 4.0
Steals Avg. 8.7 6.2
Scoring Avg. 81.3 75.8
Opponent Scoring 51.8 67.3
Scoring Margin +29.5 +8.5
Alabama A&M Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Freshman Dominique Kirk scored 18 points, including two late free throws to seal the win, as Texas A&M beat Alabama A&M 71-68 Saturday to give the Aggies their best start in 24 years. A&M (6-0) led most of the way, but Alabama A&M (3-4) pulled to within 69-68 on Obie Trotter's 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. Kirk then hit two free throws with 8.2 seconds left to put the game away. Acie Law added 13 points for the Aggies. Antoine Wright, A&M's leading scorer, had eight points in the final eight minutes after failing to score in the game's first 32 minutes. Trotter led Alabama A&M with 18 points and five assists, and Marcus Jones added 12 points. The Aggies last won their first six games in the 1980-81 season.
Last Year vs. Louisiana-Monroe
MONROE, La. (AP, Jan. 3, 2004) -- Jesse King and Antoine Wright scored 19 points apiece to lead Texas A&M to a 75-67 win over Louisiana-Monroe. A&M built a 19-point lead early in the second half and withstood a rally in the final minutes from Louisiana-Monroe. ULM used a 14-3 run to pull to within 52-44 with 8:18 left, but the Aggies stretched the lead to 15 points and the Indians never got closer than seven points with 18 seconds left. The Aggies outrebounded the Indians 43-16 with Wright, Andy Slocum and Acie Law each grabbing eight. John Andrews sparked the Indians in the second half, scoring 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half. Aaron Branch added 11 points for the Indians, all in the final 20 minutes. In the opening minutes, A&M hit its first four 3-point shots and jumped to a 16-3 lead. The Aggies were 54.2 percent in shooting for game. Leandro Garcia-Morales added 14 points for A&M, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts. ULM forced the Aggies into 28 turnovers, while the Indians committed 11.
Two Years Ago at Reed
COLLEGE STATION (AP, Dec. 22, 2002) -- Bernard King scored 17 points and took the bench with 15 minutes remaining as Texas A&M rolled past Louisiana-Monroe, 107-66. Texas A&M (6-2) used a 3-pointer by Kevin Turner with 3 minutes remaining to become the first team to score 100 points in the five years A&M has played at Reed Arena. Turner finished with 15 points. The Aggies' 107 points was the most since the 1989-90 season. Louisiana Monroe (2-5) was led by Larry Parker and Kirby Lemons with 14 points each. A&M took a 60-27 halftime lead shooting 74-percent from the floor. Antoine Wright and King each scored 12 in the first half. King helped A&M work out to a 40 point lead, leading the Aggies on a 10-0 run early in the second half. A&M's starters took the bench with over 14 minutes remaining and never returned. A&M took 23 free throws in the second half alone and was 25-36 at the line for the game. The Aggies finished shooting 65-percent from the floor.
Quick Notes
*A win against Louisiana-Monroe would hand the Aggies a 7-0 start for the first time since 1980-81 and would also match their longest winning streak since then.
*A win would give coach Billy Gillispie a 7-0 start, the best by a first-year A&M coach since Tubby Graves started 11-0 in 1915-16.
*Junior Antoine Wright, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, has posted two double-doubles and ranks seventh in the Big 12 in scoring (16.0) and is ninth in field goal percentage (.557). Wright and OSU's Joey Graham are the only two players to rank in the top 10 in both categories.
*Freshman Joseph Jones has had two double-doubles and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in rebounding (8.7). The A&M record for season rebounding average by a freshman is 8.7 by Rudy Woods in 1978-79.
*Sophomore Acie Law is second in the Big 12 in assists with a 5.7 average.
*Freshman Dominique Kirk posted career highs in scoring (18), rebounds (7) and steals (4) in the win against Alabama A&M.
*A&M leads the nation in field goal percentage defense (.309) while ranking second in scoring margin (+29.5) and fourth in scoring defense (51.8).
*The Aggies rank second nationally in assists (20.5) and are sixth in field goal percentage (.521).
*The Aggies have out-rebounded all six opponents and rank ninth nationally, and lead in the Big 12, in rebounding margin (+13.7).
*A&M is forcing an average of 20.8 turnovers per game, most in the Big 12.
*In the last three games, 71 of A&M's 86 field goals have been assisted (82.6 percent). For the season, the Aggies have an assists rate of 71.1 percent.
*A&M ranks of all but two major Big 12 statistical categories.
*The Aggies are in the midst of a 10-game, season-opening home stand, the longest in school history.