January 24, 2006
Texas A&M basketball game notes for Wednesday's contest with the Kansas Jayhawks at Reed Arena...
Notable
| GAME INFO |
| Wednesday, Jan. 25, 7:07 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station, Texas |
| RADIO |
| (KAGG-FM 96.1 in Bryan/College Station) Dave South, play-by-play Al Pulliam, commentary |
| TELEVISION |
| Kevin Eschenfelder, play-by-play Jim Haller, commentary Dave Armstrong, play-by-play Chris Piper, commentary |
| SATELLITE RADIO |
| n/a |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats: (aggieathletics.com) Live Audio: (aggieathletics.com-subscription service) |
| RECORDS |
| Kansas: 11-6, 2-2 Big 12 (T-5th) Texas A&M: 12-4, 2-3 Big 12 (T-8th) |
| RANKINGS |
| Both teams are receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. |
| SERIES |
| Kansas leads, 10-0 in College Station: KU leads, 4-0 at Reed Arena: Kansas leads, 3-0 Last Meeting: (1/5/05) |
| UP NEXT |
| Baylor at A&M Saturday, Jan. 28, 5 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena, College Station, Texas TV: FSN Southwest |
- Kansas is the only Big 12 school A&M has not beaten since Big 12 play began in 1997
The Coaches
- TEXAS A&M: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
- Record: 63-46 (4th year)
- at Texas A&M: 33-14 (2nd year)
- vs. Kansas: 0-1
KANSAS: Bill Self (Oklahoma State '85)
- Record: 265-127 (13th year)
- at Kansas: 58-22 (3rd year)
- vs. Texas A&M: 2-2
Key Game Notes
- A&M's three Big 12 losses were by a combined seven points. The Aggies missed potential game-winners in the final 10 seconds of each game.
- A&M is coming off an 86-81 overtime win at Iowa State on Saturday, ending a three-game losing skid.
- Kansas ended a two-game losing streak with an 96-54 victory against Nebraska at home on Saturday.
- A&M is 11-1 at home with its only loss coming against No. 22-ranked Oklahoma (45-44) on Jan. 14.
- Kansas is 1-1 in true road games, with a win at Colorado (75-63) and an overtime loss at Missouri (89-86).
- The Jayhawks, ranked No. 2 nationally at the time, defeated the Aggies, 65-60, last year in Lawrence, Kan.
About Kansas
- The Jayhawks finished 23-7 last season and lost to Bucknell (64-63) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They tied for first in the Big 12 with a 12-4 mark
- Kansas was ranked No. 12 in the final AP poll last season, but return just one starter from that team.
- The Jayhawks are in their third year under Head Coach Bill Self, who is 2-2 in his career against A&M, with a 2-0 mark at Kansas. Self lost two games to A&M as head coach at Oral Roberts.
- Kansas is one of the nation's youngest teams with 11 freshmen and sophomores on its roster.
- The lone returning starter is senior Christian Moody (6'8"), who is averaging 5.4 points and 4.1 rebounds.
- The Jayhawks are led by freshman guard Brandon Rush (6'6"), who is their only player averaging in double figures in scoring. Rush is contributing 13.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and is making 51.1 percent from three-point range (24-47).
- Kansas leads the Big 12, and ranks second nationally, in field goal percentage defense at .355.
Sidebars
- A&M coach Billy Gillispie served as an assistant under Kansas coach Bill Self at Tulsa (1997-00) and Illinois (2000-02).
- A&M video coordinator Albert Johnson was the head coach of Athletes First from 2000-02, a team that included Kansas' Darnell Jackson and Jeremy Case.
Projected A&M Starters
| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | |
| 1 | Acie Law IV | 6-3 | 185 | Jr-2L | 17.0 | 2.9 | 3.1 apg |
| 22 | Dominique Kirk | 6-3 | 180 | So-1L | 6.0 | 3.3 | 2.9 apg |
| 10 | Chris Walker | 6-5 | 210 | Sr-1L | 3.6 | 1.9 | 1.0 apg |
| 42 | Marlon Pompey | 6-8 | 225 | Jr-2L | 6.7 | 3.5 | 1.1 blk |
| 30 | Joseph Jones | 6-9 | 250 | So-1L | 15.5 | 7.1 | .547 FG |
Projected Kansas Starters
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | APG |
| 3 | Russell Robinson | G | 6-1 | 196 | So-1L | 7.6 | 2.6 | 3.4 |
| 15 | Mario Chalmers | G | 6-2 | 190 | Fr-HS | 8.6 | 1.5 | 3.7 |
| 25 | Brandon Rush | G | 6-6 | 207 | Fr-HS | 13.3 | 5.5 | 2.5 |
| 34 | Christian Moody | F | 6-8 | 225 | Sr-3L | 5.4 | 4.1 | 0.7 |
| 24 | Sasha Kaun | C | 6-11 | 246 | So-1L | 9.4 | 6.0 | 0.1 |
Last Year in Lawrence
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LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP/1-5-05)- Bill Self had no idea how right he was when he said going against close friend Billy Gillispie wouldn't be any fun. Texas A&M -- 17-point underdogs despite an 11-0 record -- tied Self's second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks at 58 when Antoine Wright hit a jumper with less than a minute to play. Then, Kansas' Alex Galindo hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer, and Christian Moody and Aaron Miles each made two free throws in the final seconds for a hard-fought 65-60 victory in the Big 12 opener on Jan. 5, 2005. Kansas struggled all night against the Aggies' aggressive, pressing defense. A&M held the Jayhawks to 41 percent shooting and outrebounded them 33-27. Wright, the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 with 18 points per game, had only one point in the first half but wound up with 14. Freshman Joseph Jones had 16 for the Aggies. A&M forward Chris Walker said: "We don't believe in moral victories.''
Last Time in College Station
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COLLEGE STATION (AP/1-17-04)- Keith Langford scored 21 points and No. 12 Kansas held off Texas A&M 71-65 on Jan. 17, 2004. Aaron Miles had 11 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds for the Jayhawks, who had to scramble for the victory. 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. 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. Langford's 3-pointer with 3:46 left in the half tied it at 22, and his 3 with 2:06 to go gave Kansas its first lead since the opening basket of the game. Jesse King, A&M's second-leading scorer, sat out with a bruised toe.
Iowa State Recap
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AMES, Iowa (AP/1-21-06)- Joseph Jones and Acie Law each scored 17 points and Kenneth White hit two key 3-pointers to lead Texas A&M past Iowa State 86-81 in overtime Saturday, snapping the Aggies' three-game losing streak. A&M outscored Iowa State 11-2 down the stretch, as White and Josh Carter hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Aggies an 82-79 lead with 54 seconds left. Curtis Stinson turned the ball over on Iowa State's next possession, and A&M iced the game by hitting four free throws in the final 43 seconds. Iowa State led by as much as 10 early in the second half before the Aggies rallied. With 34.6 seconds left in regulation, White buried his first shot of the day -- a 23-footer with 17.7 seconds left -- to tie the game at 73 and send it into overtime. A&M went 10-of-16 from the field to open the second half and tied the game at 54. Iowa State outscored the Aggies 28-14 over the final 13:15 of the first half to turn an eight-point deficit into an eight-point halftime lead. Stinson scored 19 points in the first half, including 15 of Iowa State's last 22. Stinson led Iowa State with 27 points, and Jiri Hubalek added 16. Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 15 for A&M and Carter chipped in 11.
Looking Ahead
- The Aggies play host to Baylor on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Reed Arena (Fox Sports Net Southwest).
- A&M has a two-game road swing next week, playing at Oklahoma next Wednesday (7 p.m./ESPN+) and at Texas next Saturday (1 p.m./ESPN).
Who's Hot?
- After missing the Savannah State game with a concussion, junior Acie Law has scored in double figures in nine straight games, averaging 18.8 points in that span. Law ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring in league play with 23.0 per game.
- Plagued by foul trouble in some games, sophomore Joseph Jones is averaging 19.8 points and 8.7 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 10 in both scoring and rebounding while averaging fewer than 31 minutes.
- Senior Chris Walker has averaged 28.8 minutes in Big 12 play, third most on the team, and has been a defensive force inside. He's made 53 percent from the field and 54 percent of his three-pointers (7-13) in Big 12 play.
- Junior Antanas Kavaliauskas tied his career-high with 15 points and added four rebounds and three assists in the win at Iowa State, making 7-of-10 from the field with one three-pointer.
Talking Points
- In each of A&M's three Big 12 losses (Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State), the Aggies missed potential game-winning shots in the final five seconds.
- After leading at half in each of its first 10 games, A&M has trailed at intermission in five of the last six games. The Aggies rallied to beat Texas Tech and Iowa State, 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 three times (14 to Texas Tech and Kansas State, 10 to Iowa State). The Aggies came back to beat Tech and Iowa State 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.
- A&M has out-scored its opponents in the second half of four of five Big 12 games. The Aggies have shot at least 56 percent from the field in the second half of three conference games.
- Acie Law has averaged 15.2 second-half points (of his 23.0 average) in Big 12 play.
- In 47 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 20.3 turnovers per game, most in the Big 12, and rank third nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions) at 29.9 percent. The Aggies are averaging 22.8 points off turnovers per game, but only 11.7 in the last three games.
- A&M ranks 10th nationally in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 87.6. The Aggies rank third in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 59.3 per game.
- A&M, Texas and Kansas are the only Big 12 teams to average at least 72.0 points while allowing fewer than 60.0 per game.
- A&M has scored 24.2 percent of its points from the FT line, most in the Big 12 and 25th nationally.
- The Aggies rank fifth in the nation in free throw rate (free throws made divided by field goal attempts) at 33.1 percent. A&M lead the Big 12 in free throws attempted (25.9) and made (17.6) per game.
- A&M averages 22.8 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and sixth most nationally. Opponents have scored 29.1 percent of their points from the line, the third-highest rate in the nation.
- The foursome of Acie Law, Joseph Jones, Dominique Kirk and Chris Walker have started all 21 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.