January 27, 2006
The Texas A&M men's basketball team plays host to the Baylor Bears on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Reed Arena. Game notes:
Notable
| GAME INFO |
| Saturday, Jan. 28, 5:06 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station, Texas |
| RECORDS |
| Baylor: 0-5, 0-5 Big 12 (12th) Texas A&M: 12-5, 2-4 Big 12 (11th) |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. |
| RADIO |
| (KAGG-FM 96.1 in Bryan/College Station) Dave South, play-by-play Al Pulliam, commentary |
| TELEVISION |
| Greg Lucas, play-by-play Jim Haller, commentary |
| SATELLITE RADIO |
| Sirius Channel 126 |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats: (aggieathletics.com) Live Audio: (aggieathletics.com-subscription service) |
| SERIES |
| A&M leads, 120-71 in College Station: A&M leads, 70-27 at Reed Arena: A&M leads, 5-2 Last Meeting: (3/5/05) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M at Oklahoma Wednesday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m. (CST) Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Okla. TV: ESPN Plus/ESPN Full Court |
- Neither team has won three straight in the series since 1989 and 1990, when A&M had three consecutive victories.
The Coaches
- TEXAS A&M: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
- Record: 63-47 (4th year)
- at Texas A&M: 33-15 (2nd year)
- vs. Baylor: 2-0
BAYLOR: Scott Drew (Butler '93)
- Record: 37-56 (4th year)
- at Baylor: 17-45 (3rd year)
- vs. Texas A&M: 2-2
Key Game Notes
- Three of A&M's four Big 12 losses were by a combined seven points. The Aggies missed potential game-winners in the final 10 seconds of those three games.
- A&M is coming off 83-73 loss to Kansas at home on Wednesday and has lost four of its last five games.
- Baylor is coming off an 82-52 loss to Oklahoma at home on Wednesday and has lost five straight for the season and 18 straight going back to last year.
- A&M is 11-2 at home, but has lost two straight (45-44 to No. 22-ranked Oklahoma and 83-73 to Kansas.
- Baylor is 0-2 in true road games.
About Baylor
- The Bears finished 9-19 last season and finished 12th in the Big 12 with a 1-15 mark.
- Baylor returns four starters and seven lettermen.
- The Bears are in their third year under Head Coach Scott Drew, who is 2-2 in his career against A&M.
- Baylor is one of the Big 12's youngest teams with nine freshmen and sophomores on its roster. The Bears have been led in scoring by underclassmen in 29 of their last 33 games.
- Due to NCAA sanctions, the Bears did not play a non-conference schedule this season.
- Baylor is led by sophomore guard Aaron Bruce (6'3"), who is averaging 10.4 points and 3.4 rebounds.
- Junior guard Patrick Fields (6'6") is averaging 17.0 points in his last two games.
Sidebars
- A&M coach Billy Gillispie served as an assistant at Baylor under Harry Miller from 1994-97, helping the Bears to an 18-12 record in 1997.
- The Baylor job was Gillispie's first college position after many years in the high school and junior college coaching ranks.
- Gillispie coached high school basketball in Central Texas for eight years, serving as a assistant at Killeen (1985-87) and head coach at Copperas Cove (1987-88), New Braunfels Canyon (1988-90) and Killeen Ellison (1990-93).
- A&M junior Marlon Pompey played one year (2001-02) at Heritage Christian Academy in Houston under Baylor assistant Jerome Tang.
- Baylor Director of Basketball Operations Paul Mills is a 1996 graduate of Texas A&M.
- Baylor's NCAA Faculty Representative Michael Rogers is the son of former Texas A&M head coach Bob Rogers (1958-63).
Projected A&M Starters
| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | |
| 1 | Acie Law IV | 6-3 | 185 | Jr-2L | 17.0 | 2.8 | 3.1 apg |
| 22 | Dominique Kirk | 6-3 | 180 | So-1L | 6.1 | 3.1 | 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 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 1.1 blk |
| 30 | Joseph Jones | 6-9 | 250 | So-1L | 15.5 | 7.1 | .535 FG |
Projected Kansas Starters
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | APG |
| 0 | Curtis Jerrells | G | 6-1 | 200 | Fr-HS | 7.4 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| 14 | Aaron Bruce | G | 6-3 | 195 | So-1L | 10.4 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
| 20 | Tim Bush | F | 6-6 | 235 | Jr-1L | 3.8 | 2.2 | 0.4 |
| 32 | Tommy Swanson | F | 6-10 | 225 | Sr-3L | 2.2 | 3.0 | 0.2 |
| 15 | Mamadou Diene | C | 7-0 | 240 | Fr-RS | 4.0 | 6.8 | 0.6 |
Last Year in College Station
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COLLEGE STATION (AP/1-29-05)- Acie Law scored 22 points, including 11 in the last 6˝ minutes, and freshman Joseph Jones added 21 as Texas A&M held off Baylor for a 74-62 win on Jan. 29, 2005. A&M led 53-51 with 6:53 remaining before going on a 10-0 run. The run gave A&M a 59-51 lead and brought the raucous crowd of 10,818 to its feet. Jones was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and also had 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Law added nine points in the final 3:50. Baylor was led by Aaron Bruce, who scored 27 points, including four 3-pointers.
Last Year in Waco
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WACO, Texas (AP/3-5-05)- Bobby Leach scored a career-high 25 points to lead Texas A&M to an 84-76 win over Baylor on March 5, 2005. Antoine Wright had 16 points and Acie Law 15 as the Aggies won their first game in six visits to Ferrell Center. Leach's three-pointer put A&M ahead 53-42 with just over 13 minutes remaining. The Aggies scored only one field goal in the game's final four minutes but connected on 15-of-18 free throws to clinch the win. Baylor never got closer than nine points on several occasions, the last coming at 73-64 with 2:08 left to play. Aaron Bruce had 28 points, while Tommy Swanson added 17 points for the Bears. Baylor led 14-7 early in the first half, but the Aggies went on a 13-0 run to move in front 20-14. Texas A&M led 38-29 at the half with Wright and Leach pacing the way with 10 points each.
Kansas Recap
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COLLEGE STATION (AP/1-25-06)- Russell Robinson had a career-high 24 points to help Kansas remain perfect against Texas A&M with an 83-73 win over the Aggies on Wednesday night. The Jayhawks are 11-0 all-time against A&M. Kansas opened the second half with a 16-0 run, thanks to eight points from Robinson and sloppy play by the Aggies. Kansas erased a two-point halftime deficit and had built a 47-33 lead before A&M finally scored five minutes into the half. A&M's offense in that span featured blocked shots, misses from right under the basket and a slew of turnovers. The Aggies got hot from 3-point range, hitting two straight and got within 54-50, but Kansas scored eight straight points and put the game out of reach. The Jayhawks' great free throw shooting down the stretch kept them comfortably ahead. Kansas was at the line often, making 33-of-44 free throws. Freshman Brandon Rush added 22 points for Kansas and Mario Chalmers had 15. Acie Law led A&M with 17 points and Joseph Jones added 15. Marlon Pompey added 15 for the Aggies. A&M led by as many as seven points in the first half, despite getting just three from Jones. They led 33-31 at halftime. The Aggies shot 48 percent in the first half but struggled after halftime.
Looking Ahead
- 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 10 straight games, averaging 18.6 points in that span. Law ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring in league play with 22.0 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 30 minutes.
- Senior Chris Walker has averaged 28.3 minutes in Big 12 play, third most on the team, and has been a defensive force inside. He's made 48 percent from the field and 47 percent of his three-pointers (8-17) in Big 12 play.
- Freshman Josh Carter scored 15 points, a career-high for Big 12 play, against Kansas, making 4-of-9 three-pointers, and also posted a career-best six rebounds. Carter is averaging 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the last two games.
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 seven games. The Aggies rallied to beat Texas Tech and Iowa State, but lost to Oklahoma and Kansas in the only games in that span in which they led at the break.
- A&M has trailed by double digits just four times (14 to Texas Tech, Kansas and Kansas State, 10 to Iowa State). The Aggies came back to beat Tech and Iowa State, rallied to tie K-State in the final minute and came within four of Kansas. 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.
- Acie Law has averaged 14.3 second-half points (of his 22.0 average) in Big 12 play.
- In 48 games under Billy Gillispie, only three opponents have shot better than 48 percent against A&M -- OU last year in College Station (.532), Oklahoma State this season in Stillwater (.560) and Kansas this year in College Station (.548).
- A&M is forcing an average of 20.2 turnovers per game, most in the Big 12, and rank second nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions) at 29.5 percent. The Aggies are averaging 22.3 points off turnovers per game, but only 12.3 in the last four games.
- A&M ranks 13th nationally in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 88.9.
- A&M has scored 24.3 percent of its points from the FT line, most in the Big 12 and 20th nationally.
- The Aggies rank fifth in the nation in free throw rate (free throws made divided by field goal attempts) at 33.2 percent. A&M lead the Big 12 in free throws attempted (25.9) and made (17.7) per game.
- A&M averages 23.2 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and fifth most nationally. Opponents have scored 29.9 percent of their points from the line, the second-highest rate in the nation.
- The foursome of Acie Law, Joseph Jones, Dominique Kirk and Chris Walker have started all 22 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.