January 20, 2006
After losing three straight games in the final five seconds, the Texas A&M men's basketball team plays the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday at 12:47 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum. Game notes:
Notable
| GAME INFO |
| Saturday, Jan. 21, 12:45 p.m. (CST) Hilton Coliseum (14,092), Ames, Iowa |
| RADIO |
| (KAGG-FM 96.1 in Bryan/College Station) Dave South, play-by-play Colin Killian, commentary |
| TELEVISION |
| (KCEN-TV in Bryan/College Station) Bob Carpenter, play-by-play Reid Gettys, commentary |
| SATELLITE RADIO |
| (Iowa State feed) |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats: (cyclones.com) Live Audio: (aggieathletics.com) |
| RECORDS |
| Iowa State: 12-5, 2-2 Big 12 (T-5th) Texas A&M: 11-4, 1-3 Big 12 (11th) |
| SERIES |
| Iowa State leads, 7-3 In Ames: ISU leads, 3-1 at Hilton: ISU leads, 3-1 Last Meeting: (2/22/05) |
| UP NEXT |
| Kansas at A&M Wednesday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena, College Station, Texas TV: ESPN Plus/ESPN Full Court, FSN Southwest |
- A&M leads, 3-2, in the last five meetings.
- The previous four games in Ames have each been decided by single-digit margins.
Key Game Notes
- A&M has lost three straight games by a combined seven points, missing potential game-winners in the final 10 seconds of each game.
- A&M is coming off a 58-54 loss at Kansas State on Wednesday.
- Iowa State ended a two-game losing skid with an 88-75 victory at Nebraska on Tuesday.
- A&M is 0-3 on the road with losses to Pacific (63-56), Oklahoma State (79-77) and Kansas State (58-54).
- Iowa State is 7-3 at home with losses to Iona (89-72), Fresno State (84-77) and Texas (78-58).
- A&M defeated the Cyclones, 75-59, last season in College Station.
About Iowa State
- The Cyclones finished 19-12 last season and beat Minnesota (64-53) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They lost to eventual national champion North Carolina (92-65) in the second round.
- Iowa State won 9 of its last 11 Big 12 games last season, including a 4-1 road mark in that span. The lone road loss was at Texas A&M (75-59).
- The Cyclones are in their third year under Head Coach Wayne Morgan.
- Iowa State features one of the nation's top backcourts with juniors Curtis Stinson (6'3") and Will Blalock (6'0"). Stinson averages 18.2 points and leads the Big 12 in steals (2.8), while Blalock averages 15.2 points and leads the league in assists (6.6).
- Stinson scored 27 points in Tuesday's win at Nebraska, but is questionable for Saturday's game because of his mother's illness.
- The Cyclones lead the Big 12 in steals (10.4) and rank second in turnover margin behind A&M at +5.41. They rank third in scoring with 77.4 points per game.
Sidebars
- Iowa State's Curtis Stinson and A&M's Marlon Pompey's were teammates in 2002-03 at Winchendon Prep in Groton, Mass.
- A&M assistant coach Steve Forbes is a native of Lone Tree, Iowa. He got his coaching start at Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa, where he served as head coach from 1991-93 after working as an assistant from 1988-91.
Projected A&M Starters
| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | |
| 1 | Acie Law IV | 6-3 | 185 | Jr-2L | 17.0 | 2.9 | 2.9 apg |
| 22 | Dominique Kirk | 6-3 | 180 | So-1L | 6.2 | 3.4 | 2.9 apg |
| 10 | Chris Walker | 6-5 | 210 | Sr-1L | 3.4 | 2.0 | 1.0 apg |
| 42 | Marlon Pompey | 6-8 | 225 | Jr-2L | 6.9 | 3.5 | 1.2 blk |
| 30 | Joseph Jones | 6-9 | 250 | So-1L | 15.4 | 6.9 | .548 FG |
Projected Iowa State Starters
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | APG |
| 11 | Will Blalock | G | 6-0 | 205 | Jr-2L | 15.2 | 2.8 | 6.6 |
| 1 | Curtis Stinson | G | 6-3 | 215 | Jr-2L | 18.2 | 4.9 | 3.7 |
| 13 | Rashon Clark | F | 6-6 | 190 | So-1L | 13.8 | 5.0 | 1.5 |
| 00 | Shawn Taggert | F | 6-10 | 225 | Fr-HS | 6.2 | 3.1 | 0.1 |
| 33 | Jiri Hubalek | C | 6-11 | 205 | So-RS | 8.3 | 4.2 | 0.5 |
Last Year at Reed Arena
COLLEGE STATION (AP)- Antoine Wright scored 21 points, Joseph Jones added 17 and Texas A&M went on a 17-0 run in the second half to end Iowa State's seven-game winning streak 75-59 on Feb. 22, 2005. Wright started the decisive spurt with a layup and Jones ended it with a putback, turning a close game into an improbable rout for the resurgent Aggies. Coming off an impressive overtime win at then-No. 2 Kansas, Iowa State's remarkable turnaround following a 0-5 start in the Big 12 came to an ugly end. The Cyclones went more than 13 minutes without a basket during one stretch in the second half and finished the game shooting 28 percent. Curtis Stinson led Iowa State with 15 points. Will Blalock and Jared Homan each scored 14. A&M shot 50 percent against the Big 12's top defense. As an indication of the Aggies' surprising dominance under the basket, A&M outscored Iowa State 34-18 in the paint with 12 offensive rebounds.
Last Time in Ames
AMES, Iowa (AP)- Will Blalock scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as Iowa State came from behind to defeat Texas A&M, 91-82, on Jan. 28, 2004. Jared Homan and Jake Sullivan scored 20 points each and Curtis Stinson added 14 as the Cyclones ran their home-court winning steak to 11 games. A&M was led by Jesse King's 21 points. Iowa State set a Big 12 record with 53 free throw attempts in the game. The Cyclones made 37. Iowa State was 28 of 42 at the line in the second half as A&M was whistled for 25 fouls. Iowa State attempted just two field goals in the last 5 1/2 minutes and kept the Aggies at bay by making 21 of 28 free throw attempts in the last four minutes. Iowa State trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and was down 36-29 before scoring the last four points of the half to cut the deficit to three, 36-33, at halftime. A&M got 17 points from Antoine Wright, 14 in the first half, and 13 by Acie Law.
Kansas State Recap
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP)- Cartier Martin scored 17 points and forced a critical held ball with 4.2 seconds left, and Kansas State held off Texas A&M's second-half comeback to win 58-54 on Wednesday night. Lance Harris hit three clutch free throws and added 11 points for Kansas State, which improved to 7-0 in Manhattan against the Aggies. A&M lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped to 0-3 on the road despite 28 points from Acie Law. The Aggies have lost three straight games by a total of seven points. Law scored 22 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer that tied it at 53-53 with 1:03 to go. But he missed one of two free throws with 29 seconds left and Kansas State up 55-53 -- and then missed two 3-point tries in the closing seconds after Harris hit one free throw with 19.4 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 56-54 lead. Joseph Jones went up for a follow shot after Law's last miss, but Martin tied him up and the ball went to Kansas State on the alternate possession. Harris, fouled on the inbounds play, hit both free throws with 3 seconds left to seal the Wildcats' victory. A&M opened the second half on a 2-for-13 slump and trailed 43-29 with 10 minutes to go. Jones had 10 points, well below his 15.8-point average, for A&M. He shot just 2-for-10 from the field.
Looking Ahead
- The Aggies return to College Station for a two-game homestand starting with Wednesday's game against Kansas (7 p.m.), followed by next Saturday's game against Baylor (5 p.m.).
- A&M plays at Oklahoma on Feb. 1 and at Texas on Feb. 4.
Who's Hot?
- After missing the Savannah State game with a concussion, junior Acie Law has scored in double figures in eight straight games, averaging 19.0 points in that span. Law ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring in league play with 24.5 per game.
- Plagued by foul trouble in some games, sophomore Joseph Jones is averaging 20.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in games in which he plays at least 25 minutes. He's the only Big 12 player to rank in the league's top 15 in both scoring and rebounding while averaging fewer than 27 minutes.
- Senior Chris Walker has averaged 29.8 minutes in Big 12 play, second most on the team, and has been a defensive force inside. He handed out a career-high five assists against Tech after entering the game with only three for the season and made a key three-pointer in A&M's second-half rally. He scored 10 points, a career-high for league play, against Oklahoma, making a career-best 3-of-5 three-pointers. Walker also made a key trey late in the Kansas State game during A&M's rally.
Talking Points
- A&M has lost each of its last three games (Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State) after missing potential game-winning shots in the final five seconds. The Aggies also started last year 1-3 in Big 12 play, but went 7-5 the rest of the way to finish 8-8.
- After leading at half in each of its first 10 games, A&M has trailed at intermission in four of the last five games. The Aggies rallied to beat Texas Tech, but lost to Oklahoma in the only game in that span in which they led at the break.
- A&M has trailed by double digits just twice (14 to Texas Tech and 14 to Kansas State). The Aggies came back to beat Tech and rallied to tie K-State in the final minute. The Aggies lost to Oklahoma State after leading by as many as eight in the second half and lost to Oklahoma after losing a seven-point second-half advantage.
- In 46 games under Billy Gillispie, only two opponents have shot better than 48 percent against A&M -- OU last year in College Station (53.2) and Oklahoma State this season in Stillwater (.560).
- A&M is forcing an average of 21.1 turnovers per game, most in the Big 12, and rank second nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions) at 31.2 percent. The Aggies are averaging 23.4 points off turnovers per game, but only 10.5 in the last two games.
- A&M ranks sixth nationally in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 86.0. The Aggies lead the Big 12 and rank 15th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 57.9 per game.
- A&M is the only Big 12 team to average at least 70.0 points while allowing fewer than 58.0 per game.
- A&M has scored 25.2 percent of its points from the FT line, most in the Big 12 and 15th nationally.
- The Aggies rank third in the nation in free throw rate (free throws made divided by field goal attempts) at 33.8 percent. A&M lead the Big 12 in free throws attempted (26.1) and made (17.9) per game.
- A&M averages 22.9 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and sixth most nationally. Opponents have scored 30.0 percent of their points from the line, the third-highest rate in the nation.
- After making 42 percent of their three-pointers in the first six games, A&M has made 29.0 percent (45-155) in the last nine games, averaging just 5.0 treys per game.
- The foursome of Acie Law, Joseph Jones, Dominique Kirk and Chris Walker have started all 20 Big 12 games together in the last two seasons.
- Acie Law and Marlon Pompey are the only players who were on the roster two years ago. Of the 19 players listed, 90 percent are first or second-year players.