March 14, 2006
Texas A&M will meet No. 21-ranked Syracuse on Thursday at appriximately 8:40 p.m. (CST)/9:40 p.m. (EST) in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. A&M's game notes:
Texas A&M Aggies (No. 12 Seed)
| GAME INFO |
| Thursday, March 16, 8:40 p.m. (CST) Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (16,000), Jacksonville, Fla. |
| RECORDS |
| Syracuse: 23-11 Texas A&M: 21-8 |
| RANKINGS |
| Texas A&M is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today polls. Syracuse is ranked 21st by the AP and 22nd by ESPN/USA Today. |
| RADIO |
| (KAGG-FM 96.1 in Bryan/College Station) Dave South, play-by-play Al Pulliam, commentary |
| TELEVISION |
| CBS (National) Tim Brando, play-by-play Mike Gminski, commentary Stephen Bardo, sidelines |
| INTERNET |
| Live Stats: Link TBA (ncaasports.com) |
| SERIES |
| first meeting |
| UP NEXT |
| Winner vs. LSU/Iona NCAA Second Round Saturday, March 18, 4:50 p.m. (CST) Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (16,000), Jacksonville, Fla. TV: CBS |
- Record: 72-50 (4th year)
- at Texas A&M: 42-18 (2nd year)
- In NCAA Tournament: 0-1
- in NIT games: 2-1
- in conference tournaments: 3-3
- in all postseason games: 5-5
Leading Scorer: Acie Law IV (15.9)
Leading Rebounder: Joseph Jones (6.6)
Assists Leader: Acie Law IV (4.0)
Steals Leader: Acie Law IV (1.6)
Blocks Leader: Marlon Pompey (1.0)
3-Point Field Goals Leader: Dominique Kirk (1.8)
3-Point Percentage Leader: Josh Carter (.429)
Field Goal Percentage Leader: Antanas Kavaliauskas (.593)
Free Throw Percentage Leader: Acie Law IV (.739)
Record: 21-8 (10-6 Big 12, 4th place)
National Ranking: Received 17 votes in Monday's AP poll, 3 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll
Last 10 Games: 8-2
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
A&M Player and Coach Honors
- Big 12 Coach of the Year, Austin American-Statesman
- Big 12 Coach of the Year, The Dallas Morning News
- Big 12 Coach of the Year, San Antonio Express-News
- Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
JOSEPH JONES, Sophomore
- Second-Team All-Big 12, Coaches Poll, newspapers
- First-Team All-District (NABC)
- Named Big 12's Strongest Player (Sports Illustrated)
- Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
ANTANAS KAVALIUASKAS, Junior
- Big 12 All-Newcomer (Transfer) Team
DOMINIQUE KIRK, Sophomore
- Big 12 All-Underrated Team
ACIE LAW IV, Junior
- First-Team All-Big 12, Kansas City Star
- First-Team All-Big 12, Austin American-Statesman
- First-Team All-Big 12, The Dallas Morning News
- First-Team All-Big 12, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- First-Team All-District (USBWA)
- Second-Team All-District (NABC)
- Second-Team All-Big 12, Houston Chronicle, AP
- Second-Team All-Big 12, San Antonio Express-News
- Third-Team All-Big 12, Big 12 Coaches Poll
- Big 12 Player of the Week (March 5)
- Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team
CHRIS WALKER, Senior
- First-Team Academic All-Big 12
BILLY GILLISPIE, Head Coach
A&M's NCAA History
Texas A&M is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since 1987. This year marks the first time A&M has received an at-large bid. The Aggies are 3-7 in NCAA Tournament play, with their last win coming in the second round of the 1980 NCAA Tournament, when they posted a 78-61 double-overtime victory against North Carolina.
TEXAS A&M IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT (3-7)- 1987
Midwest Regional - First Round
#5 Duke 58, #12 Texas A&M 51
- 1980
Midwest Regional - First Round
#6 Texas A&M 55, #11 Bradley 53
Midwest Regional - Second Round
#6 Texas A&M 78, #3 North Carolina 61 (2 OT)
Midwest Regional - Semifinals (Sweet 16)
#2 Louisville 66, #6 Texas A&M 55 (OT)
- 1975
Midwest Regional - First Round
Cincinnati 87, Texas A&M 79
- 1969
Midwest Regional - First Round
Texas A&M 81, Trinity 66
- 1969
Midwest Regional - Second Round
Drake 81, Texas A&M 63
- 1969
Midwest Regional - Consolation Round
Colorado 97, Texas A&M 82
- 1964
Midwest Regional - First Round
Texas Western 68, Texas A&M 62
- 1951
West Regional - First Round
Washington 62, Texas A&M 40
Projected A&M Starters
| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Class | PPG | RPG | APG |
| 1 | Acie Law IV | 6-3 | 185 | Jr-2L | 15.9 | 3.1 | 4.0 |
| 22 | Dominique Kirk | 6-3 | 180 | So-1L | 7.0 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
| 10 | Chris Walker | 6-5 | 210 | Sr-1L | 3.8 | 2.3 | 1.5 |
| 42 | Marlon Pompey | 6-8 | 225 | Jr-2L | 5.4 | 3.4 | 1.0 blk |
| 30 | Joseph Jones | 6-9 | 250 | So-1L | 15.8 | 6.6 | .525 FG% |
Tournament Notes
- Texas A&M is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1987, when the No. 12-seeded Aggies fell to No. 5-seeded Duke in the first round, 58-51.
- A&M's 19-year drought is the second-longest among teams in this year's field. Oral Roberts is making its first appearance since 1984, a span of 22 years.
- The Aggies are the No. 12 seed and will play No. 5-seeded Syracuse in Thursday's first round at approximately 9:40 p.m. (EST)/8:40 p.m. (CST). The winner will play the winner of the LSU-Iona game in Saturday's second round at 5:50 p.m. (EST)/4:50 p.m. (CST).
- A&M and Syracuse and playing for the first time. The Aggies are 1-6 against members of the Big East.
- A&M is 8-1 in its last nine games and 10-4 in its last 14 games.
- The Aggies finished 10-6 in Big 12 play, their most wins in the league's 10-year history. A&M's fourth-place finish also was the school's best.
- A&M is coming off a tough 74-70 loss to Texas in last Saturday's semifinals at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The Aggies defeated Colorado, 86-53, in the quarterfinals, the largest margin of victory (33 points) by the Aggies in any postseason game.
- The Aggies are 1-1 in neutral site games and are 5-6 in all games away from home. A&M has had close road losses at Pacific (63-56), Oklahoma State (79-77), Kansas State (58-54), Oklahoma (71-63) and Texas (83-70).
- A&M's last NCAA Tournament win came in 1980, when the sixth-seeded Aggies beat No. 3 seed North Carolina, 78-61, in double overtime in Denton, Texas. A&M then fell in the Midwest Regional finals to eventual national champion Louisville, 66-55, in overtime.
- In that North Carolina game, neither team scored in the first overtime as UNC went into its famed Four Corners Offense, but A&M broke loose in the second overtime, setting NCAA Tournament records for most overtime points (25) and largest margin of victory in an overtime (17).
- A&M's other two NCAA wins came against Bradley (55-53) in the first round in 1980 and against Trinity (81-66) in 1969.
Sidebars
- A&M coach Billy Gillispie served as a court coach at the USA Basketball World University Games Team Trials last summer in Colorado, where he worked with Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara.
- Gillispie has previous head coaching experience in the NCAA Tournament after leading UTEP to an appearance two years ago. The Miners fell in the first round to Maryland, 86-83, in Denver.
- Gillispie also went to four NCAAs as an assistant under Bill Self at Tulsa (1999 and 2000) and Illinois (2001 and 2002). Tulsa went to the Elite Eight in 2000 and Illinois did it in 2001.
- Assistant coach Alvin Brooks was a guard on Lamar's 1980 Sweet 16 team and also went to the tournament as an assistant at Houston under coach Pat Foster.
- Athletic Assistant Jerrance Howard played at Illinois from 2000-04, helping the Illini to four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Who's Hot?
- Sophomore Joseph Jones has been named 1st-Team All-District by the NABC and is a 2nd-team All-Big 12 pick by the league's coaches and most major Big 12 newspapers. He also earned 2nd-team Academic All-Big 12 honors.
- Plagued by early foul trouble in some games, Jones is averaging 18.5 points and 7.3 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. Jones was named the strongest player in the Big 12 in a survey of league players conducted by Sports Illustrated. A&M has won 8 of its last 9 games when Jones plays 31+ minutes.
- Junior Acie Law IV is a first-team All-Big 12 pick by most major Big 12 newspapers. Law was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday after leading the team to wins against Texas and Texas Tech last week. He has scored in double figures in all but three games and ranked sixth in the Big 12 in scoring in league play with 17.3 per game.
- In the nine games (8-1 record) since he received seven stitches over his left eye after the Feb. 4 Texas game, senior Chris Walker has averaged 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds while making 35.5 percent (11-31) from three-point range. Walker is a first-team Academic All-Big 12 pick.
- Junior Antanas Kavaliauskas has averaged 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in the last five games. A&M is 11-1 when he scores at least seven points. Kavaliauskas was named to the league's All-Newcomer (Transfer) Team and his 59.3 field goal percentage is the best in the Big 12 among players who have made at least 50 field goals.
- Junior Marlon Pompey scored a career-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting at Texas Tech and added five rebounds. A&M is 11-1 when Pompey scores at least six points.
- Sophomore Dominique Kirk has been named to the Big 12's All-Underrated Team and has emerged as one of the Big 12's top defenders. He's averaged 8.2 points in the last 13 games, making 41.8 percent from three-point range in that span. The Aggies are 14-3 when he scores at least seven points.
Aggie Storylines
- Under Billy Gillispie, the Aggies have the fourth most conference wins (18) and fifth most total wins (42) in the Big 12 the last two years. Gillispie is 42-18 (.700) overall in two years at A&M, the best career mark by an Aggie coach since Bill Driver posted a 42-13 mark (.764) in three years from 1918-20.
- The crowd of 13,176 that saw the Texas game on March 1 was an A&M record, the fifth time the attendance record has been broken under Gillispie. A&M's season average (8,133) and conference average (10,731) were just shy of the school attendance records set last season.
- A&M finished 10-6 in league play, its most conference wins since Big 12 play started in 1996-97. A&M's eight game-winning streak was its longest in Big 12 play and its four road wins were also its best.
- A&M was the No. 4 seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, its highest seeding in the 10-year history of the tournament. The last time A&M had a higher postseason seeding was in 1994, when the Aggies were the No. 2 seed at the Southwest Conference Classic, which was played at Dallas' Reunion Arena.
- A&M's eight-game winning streak tied for the longest in the nation among major conferences at the time. North Carolina and Washington also had eight-game streaks.
- 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. Eleven of A&M's last 18 games were decided by four points or less or in OT. The Aggies are 7-4 in those games and won seven of the last eight.
- A&M has trailed by double digits in nine 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 also trimmed 14-point deficits to four against Kansas and Oklahoma, came within six of Texas in Austin after falling 18 points behind and rallied from 13 points down against the Longhorns in the Big 12 Tournament to take the lead in the final three minutes.
- In the last nine games, A&M has held its opponents to 55.2 points, .372 from the field, .311 from three-point range and a 0.68 assist/turnover ratio.
- 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 43.5 percent.
- A&M is forcing an average of 18.4 turnovers per game, second most in the Big 12. The Aggies rank fourth nationally in defensive turnover percentage (turnovers per possession) at .276 percent and are averaging 19.5 points off turnovers per game. The Aggies rank 2nd in the Big 12 in TO margin (+4.97) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.25).
- A&M is third nationally in defensive efficiency (points per possession) at .863.
- A&M has had more turnovers than its opponent in just one game this season (win at Iowa State). Only three opponents have had a positive assist/turnover ratio against A&M this season -- Iowa State, Texas and Kansas State.
- A&M is allowing just 60.4 points per game, second best in school history behind the 1979-80 team (59.8). A&M ranks second in the Big 12 and 28th nationally in scoring defense.
- In 60 games under Billy Gillispie, A&M has allowed an average of 62.1 points on 40.3 percent shooting.
- A&M has scored 22.5 percent of its points from the free throw line, most in the Big 12. The Aggies rank 32nd in the nation in free throw rate (free throws made divided by field goal attempts) at 29.7. A&M leads the Big 12 in free throws attempted (23.0) and made (15.6) per game. However, in the last nine games, A&M is averaging just 11.7 free throws and 17.7 attempts.
- A&M averages 21.6 personal fouls per game, most in the Big 12 and 20th most nationally. Opponents have scored 27.0 percent of their points from the line, the fourth-highest rate in the nation.
- The foursome of Law, Jones, Kirk and Walker started 32 straight Big 12 games together. Law and 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's average margin of defeat has been just 6.1 points.
- A&M leads the conference in fewest opponents' field goals made (19.4) and attempted (46.9) per game, ranking among the leaders nationally in both categories.