February 24, 2006
Riding a four-game winning streak, the Texas A&M Aggies play host to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday at 3:01 p.m. at Reed Arena. Game notes:
Notable
| GAME INFO |
| Saturday, Feb. 25, 3:01 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station, Texas |
| RECORDS |
| Nebraska: 17-9, 7-6 Big 12 (T-4th) Texas A&M: 17-7, 7-6 Big 12 (T-4th) |
| RANKINGS |
| Neither team is ranked. |
| RADIO |
| (KAGG-FM 96.1 in Bryan/College Station) Dave South, play-by-play Al Pulliam, commentary |
| TELEVISION |
| Bill Doleman, play-by-play Steve Bardo, commentary |
| SATELLITE RADIO |
| Sirius Channel 119 |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats: (aggieathletics.com) Live Audio: (aggieathletics.com-subscription service) |
| SERIES |
| Nebraska leads, 10-3 In College Station: Nebraska leads, 3-2 at Reed Arena: Nebraska leads, 2-1 Last Meeting: (1/26/05) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M hosts Texas Wednesday, March 1, 7 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station, Texas TV: ESPN2 |
- Each of the last four games in the series have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
The Coaches
TEXAS A&M: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
Record: 68-49 (4th year)
at Texas A&M: 38-17 (2nd year)
vs. Nebraska: 0-1
NEBRASKA: Barry Collier (Butler '76)
Record: 283-218 (17th year)
at Nebraska: 87-86 (6th year)
vs. Texas A&M: 4-1
Key Game Notes
- A&M has won four straight and is 7-6 in Big 12 play, its best start since conference play began in 1996-97. The Aggies are coming off a 54-51 road win at Missouri on Tuesday.
- Nebraska is coming off an impressive 93-77 win against Colorado at home on Wednesday. The Cornhuskers are 2-1 in their last three games.
- The Aggies are 14-2 at home with narrow losses to Oklahoma (45-44) and Kansas (83-73).
- Nebraska is 3-4 in true road games with wins at Iowa State (73-63), Oklahoma State (59-57) and Kansas State (57-42).
- A&M is 6-3 in the last nine games.
- The Cornhuskers beat the Aggies last year in Lincoln, 77-67. Nebraska also won two years ago in College Station, 83-77.
About Nebraska
- The Cornhuskers finished 14-14 last season with a 7-9 mark in the Big 12.
- Nebraska returns two starters and seven lettermen. The Cornhuskers are in their sixth year under head coach Barry Collier.
- The Cornhuskers were 10-4 in non-conference play, including an 84-74 win against Marquette. In Big 12 play, they have beaten Oklahoma (59-58), Kansas State (57-42), Missouri (65-52), Oklahoma State (59-57), Baylor (60-45), Iowa State (73-63) and Colorado (93-77).
- Nebraska is led by senior forward Wes Wilkinson, who averages 12.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
- Senior guard Jason Dourisseau adds 10.7 points and 7.0 rebounds while sophomore center Aleks Maric contributes 10.6 points and 8.2 rebounds. In Big 12 play, Maric leads the league in offensive boards (3.7).
- Nebraska has held 14 opponents to 40 percent or less shooting.
Sidebars
- Barry Collier was hired as Nebraska's head coach in 2000 by then-Athletic Director Bill Byrne, who became A&M's athletic director in 2002.
- Nebraska assistant coach Jerome Francis served as head coach at Prairie View A&M from 2002-05, going 0-3 against Texas A&M. His Panthers fell to the Aggies, 82-40, last year at Reed Arena.
Projected A&M Starters
| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | APG |
| 1 | Acie Law IV | 6-3 | 185 | Jr-2L | 16.3 | 2.9 | 3.7 |
| 22 | Dominique Kirk | 6-3 | 180 | So-1L | 6.9 | 3.4 | 2.6 |
| 10 | Chris Walker | 6-5 | 210 | Sr-1L | 3.5 | 2.1 | 1.3 |
| 42 | Marlon Pompey | 6-8 | 225 | Jr-2L | 5.5 | 3.4 | 0.9 blk |
| 30 | Joseph Jones | 6-9 | 250 | So-1L | 16.0 | 6.8 | .538 FG% |
Projected Nebraska Starters
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | APG |
| 3 | Charles Richardson | G | 5-9 | 160 | Jr-2L | 4.4 | 2.2 | 3.4 |
| 31 | Jamel White | G | 6-3 | 180 | Fr-HS | 7.7 | 2.9 | 1.7 |
| 1 | Jason Dourisseau | G | 6-6 | 200 | Sr-3L | 10.7 | 7.0 | 1.6 |
| 11 | Wes Wilkinson | F | 6-10 | 220 | Sr-3L | 12.0 | 6.6 | 1.5 |
| 21 | Aleks Maric | C | 6-11 | 265 | So-1L | 10.6 | 8.2 | 1.1 |
Last Year in Lincoln
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP/1-26-05)- Jake Muhleisen scored a season high 25 points and Nebraska outscored Texas A&M by 18 from the free throw line, as the Huskers beat Texas A&M 77-67 on Jan. 26, 2005. A&M was shistled for 34 fouls, which put Nebraska at the free throw line 45 times and the Huskers made 32. The Huskers made 12 of 17 in the first half to take a 34-27 halftime lead. The Aggies were able to cut the lead to single digits several times, coming to within seven on Antoine Wright's 3-point shot with 12:01 left. But A&M never got closer than eight down the stretch. Wes Wilkinson added 12 points for Nebraska, hitting six of seven free throws. Wright led the Aggies with 17 points. Acie Law added 16 for A&M.
Last Time in College Station
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COLLEGE STATION (AP/2-11-04)- Nate Johnson hit four free throws in the final minute of play and scored 19 points to lead Nebraska to an 83-77 victory over Texas A&M on Feb. 11, 2004. Nebraska only hit two field goals in the last 14 minutes, but made 25-of-26 free throws in the same stretch to outlast A&M. A last second shot by Bobby Leach gave A&M a 33-32 halftime edge. The Huskers' opened the second half on an 18-3 run to take a 50-36 lead, but hit a road block midway through the second half. A&M trailed by as little as three with 1:04 remaining, but Nebraska made all eight of its free throws in the final minute to hold on to the win.
Missouri Recap
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP/2-21-06)- Dominique Kirk scored eight points during the final 9:51 on Tuesday night, helping Texas A&M overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Missouri 54-51 -- a win that gives a boost to the Aggies' NCAA tournament hopes. Kirk, averaging 6.7 points per game, had just three points before leading a comeback that may have salvaged the Aggies' season. Missouri led 47-37 with 11:34 to play but scored just four points the rest of the way. Acie Law scored 15 for A&M and Kirk finished with 11. Thomas Gardner scored 21 points for Missouri, but only two in the second half. Jimmy McKinney had 14. A&M closed the margin to two points on Chris Walker's 3-pointer with 4:55 to play. After a Missouri miss, Kirk hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:55 to play to put the Aggies ahead for good. Missouri had one last chance with 1.2 seconds to play, but Gardner's 3-pointer banged off the rim. A&M took a 16-11 lead before going 7:20 between points in the first half. Missouri's 15-0 run during that span put the Tigers up 26-16. The Aggies, who missed 10 straight shots during the cold spell, managed to close the gap to 33-28 by halftime.
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. Jones also has been nominated to the Big 12 All-Academic Team.
- Law has scored in double figures in all but two games. He ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring in league play with 18.2 per game and is sixth overall (16.3).
- Plagued by early foul trouble in some games, Jones is averaging 19.1 points and 7.7 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.
- Sophomore Dominique Kirk scored 11 points in the win at Missouri and had a team-high 6 rebounds. Kirk has scorted in double figures in four of the last six games.
Aggie Storylines
- A&M is 7-6 in league play, its best mark after 13 games since Big 12 play started in 1996-97. A&M's four game-winning streak is its longest in Big 12 play and its three road wins are also its best.
- 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. Nine of A&M's 13 league games have been decided by four points or less or in OT. The Aggies are 6-3 in those games, winning six straight.
- A&M has trailed by double digits in eight games and rallied to win four of them. The Aggies came back to beat Tech (from 14 points down), Iowa State (10 points), Colorado (10 points) and Missouri (10 points). A&M came back to tie Kansas State (from 14 points down) in the final minute. A&M trimmed 14-point deficits to four 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, most in the Big 12. The Aggies rank second nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions) at 29.1 percent and are averaging 20.5 points off turnovers per game. The Aggies rank second in the Big 12 in turnover margin (+5.71) and are third in assist/turnover ratio (1.19).
- A&M is 17th nationally (third in the Big 12) in defensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) at 90.9. Kansas (84.9) and Texas (87.0) and ranked first and fourth nationally.
- A&M has scored 23.2 percent of its points from the FT line, most in the Big 12 and 35th nationally. The Aggies rank 20th in the nation in free throw rate (free throws made divided by field goal attempts) at 30.1 percent. A&M leads the Big 12 in free throws attempted (24.1) and made (16.1) per game.
- A&M averages 22.1 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and ninth most nationally. Opponents have scored 27.1 percent of their points from the line, the fourth-highest rate in the nation.
- The foursome of Law, Jones, Kirk and Chris have started 29 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 (45.9) 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 22-of-46 (.478) from the line in the last three games.