Unbeaten Aggies Ready to Battle Savannah State
Dec 16, 2005 | Men's Basketball
December 16, 2005
The undefeated Texas A&M Aggies (6-0) play host to Savannah State (1-9) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Game #7
TEXAS A&M AGGIES (6-0)
vs.
SAVANNAH STATE TIGERS (1-9)
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005
7:30 p.m. (Central)
Reed Arena (12,500 cap.)
College Station, Texas
TELEVISION
Postgame Highlights Feed
9:45-10 p.m. (Central)
Coordinates: SBS 6, TR 9 (KU-Band)
RADIO
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: Channel 122
MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS
Savannah State: Opio Mashariki
912-356-2446 (office)
Texas A&M: Colin Killian
979-229-4706 (cell)
SERIES
First Meeting
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 6-0 (6-0 at home)
Ranking: UR
Last Game: Def. Grambling (101-71) last Saturday
Coach: Billy Gillispie (Texas State ?'83)
Record: 57-42 (4th year)
at A&M: 27-10 (2nd year)
vs. Savannah State: 0-0
SAVANNAH STATE TIGERS
Record: 1-9 (0-8 on the road)
Ranking: UR
Last Game: Lost at Prairie View (71-43) on Thursday
Coach: Horace Broadnax
Record: 43-97 (6th year)
at Savannah State: 1-9 (1st year)
vs. Texas A&M: 0-1
Game Notes
* Aggie Athletes Involved (AAI) will collecting Toys for Tots at each Texas A&M men?™s and women?™s home game through Dec. 21. Each fan who donates a new or gently used toy will receive free admission to that game. AAI is A&M?™s student-athlete service organization.
* Half-price tickets for all men?™s and women?™s home games through Jan. 4 also are available.
* A&M has won 19 straight regular-season non-conference games and also has won 19 straight at home.
* A&M is 6-0 at home this season and is 23-3 at home in the last two seasons. Savannah State is 0-7 on the road.
* Horace Broadnax is in his first season as head coach at Savannah State. he was head coach at Bethune-Cookman from 1997-02. His first team at BCC lost to A&M, 97-53, at G. Rollie White Coliseum in 1997-98.
* Broadnax was the starting point guard for Georgetown?™s 1984 NCAA championship team under Coach John Thompson. He is a practicing attorney.
* Junior guard Javon Randolph (5-10) leads the team in scoring with a 14.4 average.
* Sophomore guard Joseph Flegler (5-8) adds 9.1 points and is making 85.3 percent from the free throw line.
Coach Gillispie Comments
?Grambling was a good win for us. We had to make do without of a lot of things. I would not have thought we would score 100 with Joseph (Jones) playing only one minute and Acie (Law) playing eight minutes. Martellus Bennett was great. He goes after the ball like we all should. I like guys who are aggressive. He was able to give us a spark and he is going to be a big part of what we do. Josh Carter shot the ball well and is going to have to make shots for us to be successful.?
Grambling Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) - Josh Carter scored 20 points and Martellus Bennett added another 18 to help lead Texas A&M to a 101-71 victory over Grambling Saturday afternoon. A&M earned the win without the help of its two top scorers, Joseph Jones and Acie Law. Jones left early in the first half with an apparent ankle injury, while Law left the game early in the second half with a concussion. Grambling (2-3) used a strong full-court press early in the first half to jump out to a quick 9-7 lead over A&M. It didn?™t take A&M (6-0) long to adjust however, going on a 16-4 run, while the Grambling offense went on a seven minute drought without a field goal. Grambling?™s offense sparked before the half, led by Brion Rush, to pull the team within 10 points. Rush finished with 28 points and four rebounds. Grambling kept pace with A&M in the second half, but was never able to come any closer than nine points, which came midway through the second half on four consecutive three-pointers by Andre Ratliff. Ratliff finished the night with 19 points, including going 5-8 from three-point range.
Looking Ahead
After playing Savannah State on Saturday, A&M continues its 10-game season-opening homestand against Auburn on Thursday (8:30 p.m.) as part of a double-header with the Aggie women, who play Eastern Washington at 6 p.m. The Aggies play host to Texas Southern on Dec. 27 and Northwestern State on Dec. 31 before embarking on their first road trip to play Pacific on Jan. 3 in Stockton, Calif.
Who?™s Hot?
*Freshman Josh Carter scored a career-high 20 points, making 7-of-7 from the field, against Grambling. Carter set a school-record for three-point accuracy, making 5-of-5. For the season, Carter is averaging 10.3 points and 2.3 three-pointers per game, making 42.2 percent.
*Freshman Martellus Bennett, a second-team freshman All-America as a tight end in football, joined the team on Nov. 28. After spot action in two games, he came off the bench to score 18 points with three rebounds in just 15 minutes against Grambling. Bennett was the top-rated tight end prospect in the country coming out of high school and was rated as the 21st-best basketball recruit by HoopScoop.
*Sophomore Dominique Kirk made 3-of-4 three-pointers against Grambling and has made 6-of-10 in the last three games. Kirk has scored at least 9 points in four of six games.
*Senior Eddie Smith scored 14 points with a career-high 7 assists against Grambling.
*Junior Antanas Kavaliauskas scored a career-high 12 points, making 4-of-5 from the field, and added three rebounds against Grambling.
Talking Points
*A&M posted a 30-point win against Grambling despite its top two scorers -- junior Acie Law and sophomore Joseph Jones -- combining for just nine minutes because of injuries. Jones suffered a sprained ankle on the opening tip and Law sustained a concussion early in the second half. A&M responded with 66 bench points after averaging just 7.0 in the previous two games.
*Martellus Bennett is the first A&M football letterman to play basketball since Billy Bob Barnett, who lettered in basketball from 1967-69 under Shelby Metcalf and in football in 1969 under Gene Stallings.
*A&M leads the Big 12 in three-point field goals (8.0) and three-point percentage (.417). The Aggies rank 20th nationally in percentage. A&M made 13 three-pointers (25 att.) against Southern, tying a school record (Baylor, 2000).
*A&M leads the Big 12 in scoring offense at 81.3 points per game. The Aggies are second in scoring defense at 58.3 per contest.
uA&M leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally in scoring margin at +23.0.
*A&M leads the Big 12 and ranks fifth nationally in assists with 21.0 per game. A&M also leads the Big 12 in turnover margin (+8.2) and assists/turnovers ratio (1.5). The Aggies rank seventh nationally in ratio.
*The Aggies are forcing an average of 22.2 turnovers per game, most in the Big 12.
uA&M has won 19 straight regular-season non-conference games.
*The Aggies are 23-3 at home since Billy Gillispie arrived prior to last season.
*The Aggies are one of just 19 unbeaten teams in the nation and are the only one from the Big 12.
*Senior walk-on Chris Walker is bouncing back rapidly from a summer knee injury. Walker started in 26 games last year as a 6-5 walk-on after being a regular student at A&M the previous two years. He graduated on Friday with a degree in computer science (3.8 GPA).
*A&M welcomes one of the nation?™s top recruiting classes. The group was ranked as the 9th best nationally by HoopScoop and that was before the late addition of 6-10 freshman Chinemelu Elonu. The early 2006 class also is ranked 9th nationally and includes four of the top 10 players in Texas.
*A&M has 15 Texas high school products on its 18-man roster, the most in school history. The season before Billy Gillispie?™s arrival, the Aggies had
just four Texas players, including two walk-ons.
*Acie Law and Marlon Pompey are the only players who were on the roster two years ago. Of the 18 players listed on the roster, 89 percent are first or second-year players.
