Aggies Hope to Extend Winning Streak Against Tigers

February 20, 2006

Riding a three-game winning streak, the Texas A&M Aggies battle the Missouri Tigers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. Game notes:

Notable

GAME INFO

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 7:05 p.m. (CST) Mizzou Arena (15,061), Columbia, Missouri

RECORDS

Missouri: 11-12, 4-8 Big 12 (T-9th) Texas A&M: 16-7, 6-6 Big 12 (T-5th)

RANKINGS

Neither team is ranked.

RADIO

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

TELEVISION

Dan McLaughlin, play-by-play Norm Stewart, commentary

SATELLITE RADIO

Sirius Channel 118 (Missouri broadcast)

INTERNET

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

SERIES

Missouri leads, 11-3 In Columbia: Missouri leads, 5-0 at Mizzou Arena: 0-0 Last Meeting: (2/5/05)

UP NEXT

A&M hosts Nebraska Saturday, Feb. 25, 3 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station, Texas TV: ESPN Plus/ESPN Full Court

• The series is tied, 2-2, over the last four games, with each team winning its home games.

The Coaches

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

• Record: 67-49 (4th year)
  
• at Texas A&M: 37-17 (2nd year)
  
• vs. Missouri: 1-0
  MISSOURI (interim coach): Melvin Watkins (UNC Charlotte '77)
  
• Record: 103-133 (9th year)
  
• at Missouri: 1-1 (1st year)
  
• vs. Texas A&M: 0-0
  

Key Game Notes

• A&M has won three straight and is 6-6 in Big 12 play, its best start since conference play began in 1996-97. The Aggies are coming off a 64-60 road win at Baylor on Saturday.
• Missouri is coming off a 79-46 loss at Kansas on Saturday and has lost seven of its last eight games.
• The Aggies are 2-5 on the road, including narrow losses to Pacific (63-56), Oklahoma State (79-77), Kansas State (58-54) and Oklahoma (71-63). The wins have been at Iowa State (86-81) and Baylor (64-60).
• Missouri is 10-4 at home, including wins against Kansas State (74-71), Kansas (89-86) and Oklahoma State (69-61).
• A&M is 5-3 in the last eight games while Missouri is 1-7 in that span.
• The Aggies beat the Tigers last year in College Station, 91-63. Missouri won two years ago in Columbia (Hearnes Center), 82-77.
• A&M is making its first appearance at the Mizzou Arena, which opened prior to last season. The Aggies are 0-5 in games played in Columbia.

About Missouri

• The Tigers finished 16-17 last season with a 7-9 mark in the Big 12. They lost in the first round of the NIT.
• Missouri returns three starters and seven lettermen.
• The Tigers are playing their third game under interim head coach Melvin Watkins, who took over the team when Quin Snyder resigned in early February.
• The Tigers are led by junior guard Thomas Gardner, who ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring at 19.6. Gardner ranks second in the league with an average of 3.4 three-pointers made per game.
• Senior center Kevin Young adds 8.4 points and leads the team in rebounding with 7.3 per game. Young leads the Big 12 in offensive rebounding at 3.8 per game.

Sidebars

• Missouri Interim head coach Melvin Watkins served as Texas A&M's head coach from 1998-04, posting a 60-112 record. Watkins' 2002-03 A&M squad beat the Tigers, 73-71, in College Station.
• Missouri assistant coach Lance Irvin was an assistant on Watkins' final staff at A&M in 2003-04.
• Acie Law and Marlon Pompey are the only remaining A&M players who played under Watkins.
• Missouri junior guard Marcus Watkins played for his father at A&M from 2002-04, appearing in 55 of 56 games. Watkins was an all-state player at A&M Consolidated High School, which is located less than one mile from the Texas A&M campus.
• Missouri features two starters from Texas -- sophomore guard Jason Horton (Dallas) and sophomore forward Marshall Brown (Austin).

Projected A&M Starters

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class	PPG	RPG	APG
1	Acie Law IV	6-3	185	Jr-2L	16.4	2.8	3.7
22	Dominique Kirk	6-3	180	So-1L	6.7	3.3	2.7
10	Chris Walker	6-5	210	Sr-1L	3.3	2.0	1.3
42	Marlon Pompey	6-8	225	Jr-2L	5.7	3.3	0.8 blk
30	Joseph Jones	6-9	250	So-1L	16.3	6.9	.542 FG%

Projected Missouri Starters

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	PPG	RPG	APG
12	Jason Horton	G	6-1	185	So-1L	4.7	2.6	4.4
1	Jimmy McKinney	G	6-3	208	Sr-3L	12.7	3.7	2.4
3	Thomas Gardner	G	6-5	213	Jr-2L	19.6	3.0	1.9
15	Marshall Brown	F	6-7	210	So-1L	10.3	4.9	1.3
14	Kevin Young	C	6-9	263	Sr-3L	8.4	7.3	0.5

Last Year in College Station

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COLLEGE STATION (AP/2-5-05)- Antoine Wright and Bobby Leach scored 20 points apiece and Texas A&M used sizzling long-range shooting to beat Missouri 91-63 on Feb. 5, 2005. A&M shot 75 percent from 3-point range in the second half, making 9-of-12 to erase a one-point halftime deficit and coast to the lopsided win. Leach made 4-of-5 3-pointers, with three coming in the second half. Joseph Jones added 17 points and had four blocked shots for A&M and Acie Law scored 11 points and had a career-best 14 assists.

Last Time in Columbia

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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP/1-10-04)- Arthur Johnson had 19 points, 12 rebounds and a key blocked shot to lead Missouri to an 82-77 win over Texas A&M on Jan. 10, 2004. Rickey Paulding added 16 points for Missouri. Acie Law's 3-pointer got the Aggies within 76-71 with 1:04 left, and his basket with 14.6 seconds remaining cut the margin to 81-77. Kevin Turner led the Aggies with 14 points. Antoine Wright and Jesse King added 14 points each, Andy Slocum had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Leandro Garcia-Morales finished with 10 points. A&M led 42-41 on Turner's 3-point shot with 16:12 left in the game, but Missouri responded with a 20-6 run for a 61-48 lead with 8˝ minutes remaining.

Baylor Recap

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WACO, Texas (AP/2-18-06)- Acie Law IV scored 18 points and sank two free throws with 2.6 seconds remaining, clinching Texas A&M's 64-60 win over Baylor on Saturday. Josh Carter and Joseph Jones each added 14 points for A&M. Carter's layup with 8.9 seconds left put the Aggies ahead 62-58, but Tommy Swanson's tip-in cut the Baylor deficit to two. Law then sank the free throws, his first two of the game, after he was fouled by Aaron Bruce on the inbound pass. Curtis Jerrells and Bruce led Baylor with 14 points each. Swanson added 12 points and had a career-high 14 rebounds. A&M's Antana Kavaliauskas added 10 points, going 5-for-5 from the field. Baylor missed an opportunity when, trailing 58-56 with 21.9 seconds left, Swanson couldn't corral the rebound on Josh Carter's missed free throw. The ball went off Swanson's fingertips and fell out of bounds. A&M, which shot just 35 percent in the second half, led 28-17 late in the first half before Baylor stormed back. The Bears ended the half on a 14-0 run and took a 34-31 halftime lead.

Who's Hot?

• Sophomore Joseph Jones has been named First-Team All-District by the NABC while junior Acie Law is a second-team selection.
• Law has scored in double figures in all but two games. He ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring in league play with 18.4 per game and is sixth overall (16.4). Law is the only Big 12 player to average at least 18 points and 4 assists in league play while making better than 46 percent from the field.
• Plagued by early foul trouble in some games, Jones is averaging 19.8 points and 7.9 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 scored 14 points with 5 rebounds and made 3-of-6 three-pointers at Baylor.
• Junior Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 10 points with a Big 12 career-high 6 rebounds (4 offensive) at Baylor, making 5-of-5 from the field.

Talking Points

• A&M is 6-6 in league play, its best mark after 12 games since Big 12 play started in 1996-97.
• 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. Eight of A&M's 12 league games have been decided by four points or less or in OT. The Aggies are 5-3 in those games, winning five straight.
• A&M has trailed by double digits in seven games. The Aggies rallied to beat Tech (from 14 points down), Iowa State (10 points) and Colorado (10 points), and came back 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 19.9 turnovers per game, most in the Big 12. The Aggies rank second nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions) at 29.4 percent and are averaging 20.9 points off turnovers per game. The Aggies rank second in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio (1.20) and in turnover margin (+5.91).
• A&M is 17th nationally (third in the Big 12) in defensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) at 91.1. Kansas (84.9) and Texas (87.0) and ranked first and third nationally.
• A&M has scored 23.6 percent of its points from the FT line, most in the Big 12 and 24th nationally. The Aggies rank 13th in the nation in free throw rate (free throws made divided by field goal attempts) at 31.5 percent. A&M leads the Big 12 in free throws attempted (24.7) and made (16.5) per game.
• A&M averages 22.2 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and 11th most nationally. Opponents have scored 27.3 percent of their points from the line, the third-highest rate in the nation.
• The foursome of Law, Jones, Kirk and Chris have started 28 straight Big 12 games together.
• Acie Law and Marlon Pompey are the only players who were on the roster two years ago.
• 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 (19.6) and attempted (45.5) per game, ranking fourth nationally in fewest field goals allowed and third in fewest attempts.
• After making a season-best .783 (18-23) from the free throw line against Colorado, the Aggies have made just 16-of-35 (.457) from the line in the last two games.