Aggies Play Host to No. 25-Ranked Colorado on Wednesday

February 07, 2006

The Texas A&M men's basketball team plays its third straight nationally-ranked opponent on Wednesday when it plays host to the No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes at 6 p.m at Reed Arena. Game notes:

Notable

GAME INFO

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 6:04 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station, Texas Tickets:

RECORDS

Colorado: 15-4, 5-3 Big 12 (T-3rd) Texas A&M: 13-7, 3-6 Big 12 (T-10th)

RANKINGS

Colorado is ranked 25th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and receiving votes in the Associated Press poll.

RADIO

(KAGG-FM 96.1 in Bryan/College Station) Dave South, play-by-play Al Pulliam, commentary

TELEVISION

(Texas and Colorado only) Greg Lucas, play-by-play Jim Haller, commentary

SATELLITE RADIO

None

INTERNET

Live Stats: (aggieathletics.com) Live Audio: (aggieathletics.com-subscription service)

SERIES

Colorado leads, 9-2 in College Station: CU leads, 3-1 at Reed Arena: CU leads, 2-1 Last Meeting: (2/19/05)

UP NEXT

A&M hosts Oklahoma State Saturday, Feb. 11, 2:30 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena, College Station, Texas TV: ABC (Regional)

• Of the four previous games between the teams played in College Station, three were decided by six points or fewer.

The Coaches

TEXAS A&M: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)

• Record: 64-49 (4th year)
  
• at Texas A&M: 34-17 (2nd year)
  
• vs. Colorado: 1-0
  COLORADO: Ricardo Patton (Belmont '80)
  
• Record: 172-134 (11th year)
  
• at Colorado: 172-134 (11th year)
  
• vs. Texas A&M: 8-2
  

Key Game Notes

• A&M has lost two straight, with both losses coming on the road to nationally-ranked teams. The Aggies dropped an 83-70 decision at No. 7 Texas on Saturday and lost at No. 18 Oklahoma, 71-63, last Wednesday.
• The game against No. 25-ranked Colorado marks A&M's third straight against a nationally-ranked team. The last time A&M faced three straight ranked teams was in 2001, when it lost to Iowa State, Texas and Oklahoma.
• The Aggies are 11-2 at home with narrow losses to Oklahoma (45-44) and Kansas (83-73).
• Colorado is 4-3 in true road games with losses to Colorado State (83-82), Texas (89-64), and Iowa State (96-79).
• A&M beat the Buffaloes last year in Boulder, 92-77. Colorado posted a 76-70 victory in College Station two years ago.

About Colorado

• The Buffaloes finished 14-16 overall last season with a 4-12 Big 12 record.
• Colorado returns all five starters and a whopping 13 lettermen. The Buffaloes are the Big 12's most experienced team with 10 seniors on the roster.
• Colorado is in its 11th year under Head Coach Ricardo Patton, who is 8-2 against A&M.
• The Buffaloes had won five straight games before Sunday's loss at Iowa State.
• Colorado leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (82.4), blocked shots (6.3), three-point field goals (9.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.27), while ranking second in assists (17.7) and steals (9.53).
• The Buffaloes are led by sophomore guard Richard Roby, who is averaging 18.1 points for the season and leads the Big 12 in conference play at 21.0.
• Senior forward Chris Copeland leads the Big 12 in blocked shots in league play with 1.9 per game.
• Junior guard Marcus Hall leads the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio at 2.33.

Sidebars

• Texas A&M assistant coach Buzz Williams served as an assistant coach (2000-03) then associate head coach(2003-04) at Colorado State before A&M.
• Colorado has two players from Texas on its roster -- junior guard Marcus Hall (Houston Jersey Village) and senior guard Billy Boidock (Dallas Bishop Lynch).
• CU's Richard Roby is a lifelong friend of former A&M standout Antoine Wright, following Wright from their hometown of San Bernardino, Calif., to Lawrence Academy in Massachusetts.

Projected A&M Starters

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class	PPG	RPG	APG
1	Acie Law IV	6-3	185	Jr-2L	16.6	2.9	3.5
22	Dominique Kirk	6-3	180	So-1L	6.7	3.2	2.8
10	Chris Walker	6-5	210	Sr-1L	3.1	1.9	1.2
42	Marlon Pompey	6-8	225	Jr-2L	6.0	3.4	0.9
30	Joseph Jones	6-9	250	So-1L	16.9	7.1	1.4

Projected Colorado Starters

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	PPG	RPG	APG
21	Marcus Hall	G	6-1	180	Jr-2L	9.2	1.9	4.1
23	Richard Roby	G	6-6	195	So-1L	18.1	5.1	2.6
12	Martane Freeman	F	6-7	200	Sr-1L	8.5	3.2	1.4
15	Chris Copeland	F	6-8	235	Sr-3L	13.2	5.1	1.2
33	Julius Ashby	C	6-9	235	Sr-1L	5.1	5.3	0.6

Last Year in Boulder

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BOULDER, Colo. (AP/2-19-05)- Antoine Wright matched a career-high with 32 points and Joseph Jones added 16 points as Texas A&M won its first Big 12 Conference road game by beating Colorado 92-77 on Feb. 19, 2005. Wright was 9-for-13 shooting and 11-of-11 from the free throw line for A&M. Colorado's Richard Roby had 21 points while Andy Osborn added 16 points with four 3-pointers. A&M rarely missed, shooting 71 percent in the first half, and with Wright and Jones combining for 28 points, led 51-33 at the break. A&M extended its lead to 65-42 with a 14-2 run, including eight points from Wright, early in the second half.

Last Time in College Station

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COLLEGE STATION (AP/2-28-04)- Blair Wilson scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, including three straight 3-pointers that put Colorado ahead for good, as the Buffaloes beat Texas A&M 76-70 on Feb. 28, 2004. David Harrison had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead Colorado. The Aggies led 42-36 at halftime on 50 percent shooting, but was held to just 29 percent in the second half. Colorado used a 9-2 run early in the second half to cut the A&M lead to two points. A layup by Lamar Harris tied the game at 49-49. Harris scored six points in a row during the stretch and finished with nine points and nine rebounds. With the game tied at 51, Wilson hit the 3-pointers, separated only by a pair of free throws by Harrison as Colorado jumped out to a 62-55 lead.

Texas Recap

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP/2-4-06)- No. 7 Texas was watching its lead slip away with every possession. Joseph Jones was dominating the paint and Texas A&M was disrupting the offense with a trapping defense that bottled up the ball at midcourt. So Brad Buckman did what needed to be done. He flopped on a hard drive by Jones. Or took a charge, depending on the split-second decision by an official. Buckman won the call. And by drawing Jones' fifth foul with less than four minutes left, Buckman pulled off maybe the biggest play in a tough 83-70 win Saturday that kept the Longhorns on top of the Big 12. Jones already had 31 points in leading an A&M rally that nearly wiped out an 18-point deficit in the second half before the Aggies eventually lost for the sixth time in eight games. P.J. Tucker notched his eighth double-double of the season with 25 points and 12 rebounds for Texas and Kenton Paulino scored 19 for the Longhorns. Texas also hit 33 of 39 free throws Trailing 35-28 at halftime, the Aggies rallied behind Jones and the halfcourt traps that harassed the Texas guards. The Aggies' constant pressure on the ball disrupted the Longhorns' tempo. Texas led 60-42 before turnovers and missed shots helped A&M inch closer.

Looking Ahead

• A&M continues its two-game road swing at No. 7-ranked Texas on Saturday (1 p.m./ESPN). The Aggies play a pair of home games next week against Colorado (Wednesday at 6 p.m.) and Oklahoma State (Saturday at 2:30 p.m.).

Who's Hot?

• After missing the Savannah State game with a concussion, junior Acie Law has scored in double figures in 13 straight games, averaging 17.8 points in that span. Law ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring in league play with 19.6 per game and is eighth overall (16.6).
• Plagued by foul trouble in some games, sophomore Joseph Jones is averaging 21.4 points and 8.4 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.
• Freshman Josh Carter has averaged 9.4 points in the last five games.
• Dominique Kirk has averaged 9.5 points and made 10-of-15 treys (.667) in the last four games. He's scored in double figures in the last two games, averaging 11.0 points and making 6-of-8 (.750) treys.

Talking Points

• In three of A&M's six Big 12 losses (Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State), the Aggies missed potential game-winning shots in the final five seconds.
• A&M made 10-of-15 three-pointers (.667) against Oklahoma, setting a school record for accuracy. In the last five games, A&M has made 42.4 percent of its treys (36-85) and is averaging 7.2 per game.
• A&M has trailed by double digits in six games. The Aggies rallied to beat Tech (from 14 points down) and Iowa State (10 points) and rallied to tie K-State (from 14 points down) in the final minute. A&M trimmed 14-point deficits to 4 against Kansas and Oklahoma and came within six of Texas after falling 18 points behind with 12 minutes left.
• A&M is forcing an average of 19.6 turnovers per game, second most in the Big 12. The Aggies rank third nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions) at 28.8 percent and are averaging 20.9 points off turnovers per game.
• A&M ranks 36th nationally in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 92.5.
• A&M has scored 24.0 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 32.6 percent. A&M leads the Big 12 in free throws attempted (25.5) and made (17.3) per game.
• A&M averages 23.0 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and third most nationally. A&M had 32 fouls against Texas and the Longhorns made 33-of-44 free throws. Opponents have scored 28.4 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 25 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.
• A&M's largest margin of defeat this year has been 13 (83-70) at Texas, which equalled the Longhorns' smallest winning margin in Big 12 play this year. The only other team in the Big 12 with no loss of greater than 13 points this season is Kansas, whose largest defeat was by 12 (61-49) to Arizona.
• A&M leads the conference in fewest opponents field goals made (19.8) and attempted (45.5) per game. In Big 12 play, A&M's opponents have averaged just 47.8 attempts, also the fewest in the league.
• The Aggies rank second in the Big 12 in turnover margin (+5.90) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.26). A&M also is second in league play in turnover margin (+3.22) and assist/turnover ratio (1.26)
• The Aggies are 7-0 with 19 or more assists and are 10-2 when they make 42% + from the field.