Aggies Try to Extend Hot Streak Against No. 6 Longhorns

February 28, 2006

Riding a five-game winning streak, the Texas A&M Aggies play host to the No. 6-ranked Texas Longhorns on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena. Game notes:

The Coaches

GAME INFO

Wednesday, March 1, 7:02 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station, Texas Ticket Info:

RECORDS

Texas: 24-4, 12-2 Big 12 (1st) Texas A&M: 18-7, 8-6 Big 12 (T-4th)

RANKINGS

Texas is ranked 6th in the latest Associated Press poll and 7th 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

ESPN2 (National) Ron Franklin, play-by-play Fran Fraschilla, commentary

SATELLITE RADIO

Sirius Channel 181

INTERNET

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

SERIES

Texas leads, 127-80 In College Station: Tied, 50-50 at Reed Arena: Texas leads, 6-1 Last Meeting: (2/4/06)

UP NEXT

A&M at Texas Tech Saturday, March 4, 12:45 p.m. (CST) United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas TV: ESPN Plus/ESPN Full Court

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

• Record: 69-49 (4th year)
  
• at Texas A&M: 39-17 (2nd year)
  
• vs. Texas: 1-2
  TEXAS: Rick Barnes (Lenoir-Rhyne '77)
  
• Record: 387-207 (19th year)
  
• at Texas: 185-73 (8th year)
  
• vs. Texas A&M: 15-2
  

Key Game Notes

• A&M has won five straight games, the longest current winning streak in the Big 12. The Aggies' last loss was to Texas in Austin on Feb. 4 (83-70).
• The Aggies are 8-6 in Big 12 play, their best start since conference play began in 1996-97.
• A&M is coming off a 66-55 win against Nebraska at home on Saturday, while Texas is coming off an impressive 80-55 win against Kansas at home on Saturday.
• The Aggies are 15-2 at home with narrow losses to Oklahoma (45-44) and Kansas (83-73).
• Texas is 7-2 in true road games with losses to Oklahoma State (81-60) and Oklahoma (82-72).
• A&M is 7-3 in the last 10 games whule UT is 8-2.
• A&M defeated the then-No. 9-ranked Longhorns last year in College Station, 74-63.

About Texas

• The Longhorns finished 20-11 overall last season and tied for fifth in the Big 12 with a 9-7 mark. Texas returns two starters and six lettermen from that team.
• The Longhorns are in their eighth year under Head Coach Rick Barnes, who is 15-2 against A&M, including a 2-0 mark when he was at Clemson.
• Texas has been ranked as high as No. 2 this season.
• The Longhorns lead the Big 12 in scoring defense (59.6), scoring margin (+18.2), rebounding margin (+10.8) and three-point percentage defense (.314).
• In Big 12 play, Texas leads the league in three-point percentage (.422).
• The Longhorns are led by junior forward P.J. Tucker, who is averaging 16.4 points 9.2 rebounds, and sophomore forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who averages 16.0 points and 9.3 rebounds. Aldridge leads the league in double-doubles with 13 while Tucker is second with 10.
• Sophomore Daniel Gibson (13.8) and senior Brad Buckman (10.7) also average in double figures.

Sidebars

• A&M head coach Billy Gillispie and Texas assistant coach Rodney Terry served together as assistants at Baylor in the 1996-97 season under Harry Miller.
• A&M's Joseph Jones and Texas' Daniel Gibson were teammates on the 2004 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team that played at the Nike Hoops Summit at the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.
• A&M's Kenneth White and Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge were AAU teammates with Team Texas.

Projected A&M Starters

No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Class	PPG	RPG	APG
1	Acie Law IV	6-3	185	Jr-2L	16.5	2.8	3.8
22	Dominique Kirk	6-3	180	So-1L	7.0	3.4	2.8
10	Chris Walker	6-5	210	Sr-1L	3.9	2.3	1.3
42	Marlon Pompey	6-8	225	Jr-2L	5.4	3.4	0.9 blk
30	Joseph Jones	6-9	250	So-1L	15.8	6.7	.537 FG%

Projected Texas Starters

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Class	PPG	RPG	APG
12	Kenton Paulino	G	6-0	185	Sr-3L	9.6	2.2	3.3
1	Daniel Gibson	G	6-2	190	So-1L	13.8	3.8	3.1
2	P.J. Tucker	F	6-5	225	Jr-1L	16.4	9.2	2.8
22	Brad Buckman	F	6-8	235	Sr-3L	10.7	7.0	1.6
23	LaMarcus Aldridge	C	6-10	237	So-1L	16.0	9.3	0.4

Last Month in Austin

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AUSTIN (AP/2-4-06)- P.J. Tucker scored 25 points and No. 7 Texas survived a 31-point effort from Texas A&M's Joseph Jones to keep its lead in the Big 12 with an 83-70 victory on Feb. 4. Jones scored 23 points in the second half to spark an A&M rally but he fouled out with 3:46 to play. The Longhorns made 33 of 39 free throws. Acie Law scored 18 points for the Aggies. Texas led by as many as 18 points before A&M rallied. A short hook by Jones pulled the Aggies within six before Buckman flopped on a drive by Jones, sending Jones to the bench with his fifth foul. With Jones out, the Aggies couldn't muster a final rally.

Last Year in College Station

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COLLEGE STATION (AP/1-12-05)- Acie Law had 24 points and six assists, freshman Joseph Jones added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Texas A&M ended an 18-game Big 12 losing streak with a 74-63 upset of No. 9 Texas on Jan. 12, 2005. P.J. Tucker led the Longhorns with 18 points and eight rebounds and freshman LaMarcus Aldridge, added 12 points and eight rebounds.A&M seized control of this game early. The Aggies' lead reached 21 points early in the second half. Texas made only one of its first 12 shots in the first half. Law's final 3-pointer of the night, a rainbow over Tucker as the shot clock expired, gave A&M a 63-50 lead with 3:39 to go. That shot sent the crowd into a frenzy and all but ended any comeback attempt.

Nebraska Recap

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COLLEGE STATION (AP/2-25-06)- Acie Law scored 19 points and Texas A&M picked up its fifth straight win, 66-55 over Nebraska on Saturday. A&M led by as many as 14 in the second half, but let Nebraska cut the lead to 57-52 late in the game. The Cornhuskers employed a full court press at that point, but the Aggies made two quick baskets to stretch the lead to 61-52. Poor shooting dogged Nebraska throughout and game and the team shot just 31 percent. A&M led 50-41 when two straight steals by the Aggies, paired with two layups and one free throw by Law, extended the lead to 55-41. Nebraska got within 33-30 about midway through the second half on a dunk by Aleks Maric. But Joseph Jones answered with a big two-handed dunk of his own on the next possession and the Cornhuskers would get no closer. Law hit a long jumper and then slid on the court to save the ball on the other end after a bad pass by Nebraska. He collected himself in time to dash to the other end and knock down a long 3-pointer that put A&M ahead 40-31. A&M got 12 points from Chris Walker, who made three 3-pointers, and Jones added 11. Nebraska did not make a field goal until a shot by White 10 minutes into the first half that made the score 13-5. Nebraska trailed, 27-21, at 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 (16.5).
• 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 has averaged 8.7 points in the last nine games, making 43.5 percent of his three-pointers (20-46) in that span.
• Senior Chris Walker set Big 12 career highs in scoring (12) and rebounding (8) against Nebraska. In the five games (all wins) since he received seven stitches over his left eye after the Texas game, Walker has averaged 7.2 points and 4.0 rebounds while making 47.1 percent (8-17) from three-point range. Walker is an Academic All-America nominee.
• Junior Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 13 points with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks against Nebraska and is averaging 9.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in the last three games. He ranks second in the Big 12 in field goal percentage (.588) among players who have made at least 50 field goals. A&M is 9-0 when he scores at least seven points.

Aggie Angles

• Wednesday's game is "Senior Night." Chris Walker, Edjuan Green and Eddie Smith will be honored.
• A&M is 8-6 in league play, its best mark after 14 games since Big 12 play started in 1996-97. A&M's five 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 14 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.
• In the five-game winning streak, A&M has held its opponents to 53.6 points, .376 from the field, .329 from three-point range forced 18.8 turnovers per game. Through the first nine league games, Jones and Law were combining to score 55.2 percent of the team's points. In the winning streak, they have scored 46.4 percent.
• A&M is forcing an average of 19.4 turnovers per game, tied for most in the Big 12. The Aggies rank second nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions) at 28.9 percent and are averaging 20.4 points off turnovers per game. The Aggies rank 2nd in the Big 12 in turnover margin (+5.48) and are 3rd in assist/turnover ratio (1.19).
• A&M is 15th nationally (third in the Big 12) in defensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) at 90.6. Kansas (87.0) and Texas (87.7) and ranked second and third nationally.
• A&M is allowing just 5.3 fast break points and 13.2 points off turnovers per game.
• A&M has scored 22.9 percent of its points from the FT line, most in the Big 12 and 37th nationally. The Aggies rank 27th in the nation in free throw rate (free throws made divided by field goal attempts) at 30.4 percent. A&M leads the Big 12 in free throws attempted (23.8) and made (15.9) per game.
• A&M averages 22.0 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and 14th most nationally. Opponents have scored 27.3 percent of their points from the line, the fourth-highest rate in the nation.
• The foursome of Law, Jones, Kirk and Chris have started 30 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, the Longhorns' smallest winning margin at home in Big 12 play this year. Every conference team except A&M has had at least one 20-point loss this season.
• A&M leads the conference in fewest opponents field goals made (19.4) and attempted (46.1) per game, ranking fourth nationally in fewest field goals allowed and attempted.
• After making a season-best .783 (18-23) from the free throw line against Colorado, the Aggies have made just 33-of-63 (.524) from the line in the last four games.