November 16, 2006
Game notes for the 12th-ranked Aggies' game against Lamar in the first round of the Shelby Metcalf Classic at Reed Arena:
| GAME INFO |
| Friday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station Shelby Metcalf Classic Tickets: |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 1-0 Lamar: 1-0 |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is ranked 12th by both The Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today. |
| TELEVISION |
| None |
| LIVE VIDEO |
| Aggies All-Access Free in Texas: PPV outside Texas: |
| RADIO |
| WTAW-AM 1620 (Local) Dave South, play-by-play Al Pulliam, commentary (broadcast time 6:30 p.m. CST) |
| INTERNET |
| Live Video (Free*): (Aggies All-Access) Live Video (PPV*): (Aggies All-Access) Live Audio (Free): (Aggies All-Access) Live Stats: (aggieathletics.com) |
| SERIES |
| Tied, 7-7 Last Meeting: (11/24/01) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M hosts Louisiana Tech Saturday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena, College Station Shelby Metcalf Classic |
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 1-0 (0-0 Big 12)
Ranking: 12th (AP), 11th (USA Today/ESPN)
Last Game: Beat Prairie View, 81-49, on Nov. 10
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
Record: 74-51 (5th year)
at Texas A&M: 44-19 (3rd year)
vs. Lamar: 0-0
PROJECTED AGGIES STARTERS
No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. PPG RPG APG
1 Acie Law IV 6'3" 195 Sr-1L 8.0 2.0 3.0
22 Dominique Kirk 6'3" 180 Jr-2L 3.0 5.0 4.0
23 Josh Carter 6'7" 195 So-1L 9.0 5.0 7.0
30 Joseph Jones 6'9" 250 Jr-2L 16.0 3.0 1.0
44 Antanas Kavaliauskas 6'10" 250 Sr-1L 16.0 4.0 2.0
LAMAR CARDINALS
Record: 1-0 (0-0 Southland)
Ranking: None
Last Game: Beat Texas Southern, 72-64, on Nov. 11
Head Coach: Steve Roccaforte (Lamar '89)
Record: 1-0 (1st year)
at Lamar: 1-0 (1st year)
vs. Texas A&M: 0-0
PROJECTED CARDINALS STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. PPG RPG APG
21 Darren Hopkins G 6'2" 175 Jr-Tr 21.0 2.0 4.0
23 Matthew Barrow G 6'4" 185 Jr-1L 11.0 5.0 2.0
12 Durand Murray F 6'7" 198 So-Sq 0.0 2.0 2.0
33 Lamar Sanders F 6'6" 230 Jr-Tr 13.0 12.0 1.0
42 James Davis C 7'1" 335 Jr-Tr 14.0 7.0 0.0
Tale of the Tape
(2006-07 stat comparison)
A&M Lamar
Record 1-0 1-0
Conference 0-0 0-0
RPI (NCAA) n/a n/a
AP-USA Today/ESPN 12/12 n/a
Current Streak W1 W1
Field Goal Pct. .492 .362
Opponent FG Pct. .311 .365
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .200 .304
Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .200 .455
3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 3.0 7.0
3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 15.0 23.0
Free Throw Pct. .769 .622
Opponent FT Pct. .643 .500
Rebound Avg. 35.0 48.0
Offensive Reb. Avg. 12.0 20.0
Rebounding Margin +2.0 +5.0
Turnovers Avg. 17.0 23.0
Opp. Turnovers Avg. 30.0 22.0
Assists Avg. 21.0 10.0
Blocks Avg. 2.0 1.0
Steals Avg. 11.0 5.0
Scoring Avg. 81.0 72.0
Opponent Scoring 49.0 64.0
Scoring Margin +32.0 +8.0
Key Game Notes
* The Shelby Metcalf Classic is the first in-season men's tournament hosted by Texas A&M.
* The Metcalf Classic is the first in-season tournament A&M has played in since the 2002 Cable Car Classic in San Jose, Calif. Ironically, legendary former A&M coach Shelby Metcalf was known as the "King of the Tournaments," playing in 75 in-season tournaments and winning 14 titles in 27 years.
* A&M has won eight straight regular-season games dating back to last year. The Aggies' last regular-season loss was to Texas in Austin on Feb. 4, 2006 (83-70).
* The Aggies have won 23 straight regular-season non-conference games at Reed Arena. The last loss was the A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 13, 2003 (82-80).
* A&M is coming off an 81-49 win against Prairie View A&M in the season opener on Nov. 10.
* Lamar opened its season with a 72-64 win against Texas Southern at home on Nov. 11.
* The Aggies are 34-5 at home under Billy Gillispie. A&M's 33 regular-season homecourt wins in the last three years are the second most in the nation in that span (New Mexico has won 35).
* A&M is 1-0 at home this season while Lamar is playing its first road game.
About Lamar
* The Cardinals are in their first season under Coach Steve Roccaforte, who replaces legendary coach Billy Tubbs. Tubbs is now Lamar's athletics director.
* Lamar went 17-14 last year and placed fourth in the Southland Conference with a 9-7 mark.
* The Cardinals were picked to finish second in the Southland Conference in a preseason poll of the league's coaches.
* Lamar is led by junior guard Matthew Barrow, a preseason first-team all-conference pick. Barrow scored 11 points in the Cardinals opener against Texas Southern.
* Junior guard Darren Hopkins led Lamar in its opener with 21 points, while junior James Davis, a 7-foot-1 center, added 14. A&M Coach Billy Gillipsie says Davis may be a future NBA player.
Sidebars
* A&M assistant coach Alvin Brooks is a 1982 graduate of Lamar, where he led the Cardinals to the Sweet 16 in the 1980 NCAA Tournament. Brooks still owns the Lamar record with 21 assists in one game.
* Lamar assistant coach Kermit Holmes was the head coach at Central High School in Tulsa in 2000-01. Legendary A&M Coach Shelby Metcalf is a 1949 graduate of Tulsa Central.
* Former Bryan High School standout Leslie Jackson is a freshman guard at Lamar.
Series Notes
* The series is tied, 7-7, but A&M has won two straight (2000-01 in C. Station and 2001-02 in Beaumont).
* A&M has a 6-1 lead in games played in College Station, including a 2-0 mark at Reed Arena. The teams last met at Reed in 2000-01, when the Aggies posted an 83-60 victory, their largest margin in the series.
* The teams last met in 2001-02 in Beaumont with the Aggies hanging on to a 77-74 victory.
Prairie View A&M Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Joseph Jones and Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 16 points apiece for No. 13 Texas A&M in an 81-49 victory over Prairie View A&M in the season opener for both teams on Nov. 10. A&M, which enters the season ranked for the first time since 1980, won its seventh straight home opener. Jones and Kavaliauskas, who are both 6-foot-9, were too much for the smallish Panthers and they had no trouble hitting easy shots under the basket. Acie Law IV added eight points and had three assists in his return after sitting out the last exhibition game with an injury. A&M led 44-21 at halftime and hot shooting by Jones in the first five minutes of the second half quickly pushed the lead to 30. The Aggies led by as many as 35 points in the second half and Prairie View wouldn't get within 30 points the rest of the way. The opening night record crowd of 10,722 included former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara.
Who's Hot?
* Junior Joseph Jones and senior Acie Law IV are on the preseason Wooden Watch list, which consists of the top 50 players in the country. Law also has been nominated for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard.
* Jones scored 16 points in the opener vs. Prairie View A&M, making 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line.
* Senior Antanas Kavaliauskas scored a career-high 16 points against Prairie View along with a career-best 4 steals. Kavaliauskas made 7-of-8 from the field.
* Freshman Chinemelu "Junior" Elonu scored 12 points with 4 rebounds (3 offensive) against Prairie View in his debut. Elonu made 5-of-6 from the field, including two powerful dunks.
* Sophomore Josh Carter scored 9 points with 5 rebounds and added 7 assists (0 turnovers) in the opener against Prairie View A&M. Carter made 2-of-4 from three-point range.
A&M Angles & Storylines
* The crowd of 10,722 that saw the Prairie View A&M game last week was a record for an Aggie season opener. The old mark was 6,929 against North Carolina A&T in 2004-05, Billy Gillispie's first game as A&M's head coach.
* A&M has won seven straight season-opening games. Gillispie is 5-0 in season openers in his career.
* A&M has won 23 straight regular-season non-conference home games. The last loss was against A&M-Corpus Christi (82-80) early in the 2003-04 season
* A&M is 34-5 at Reed Arena under Billy Gillispie, including a 21-1 mark against non-conference foes (including a 1-1 record in the 2005 postseason NIT). Gillipsie is 50-6 in home games in his last four seasons as a head coach.
* A&M has won eight straight regular-season games since an 83-70 loss at Texas last season.
* A&M has won six straight home games since an 83-73 loss to Kansas last season.
* A&M was picked to finish second in the Big 12 this season in a preseason poll of league coaches. The highest previous preseason poll position for the Aggies was seventh last year.
* A&M was ranked 13th in both the AP and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' polls. The last time A&M was ranked in the preseason was in 1980-81, when the Aggies were 15th in the AP and 12th in the UPI Coaches' poll. The only other time A&M was renaked in the preseason was in 1979-80, when it was 14th by the AP and 11th by the coaches.
* Prior to this season, A&M's last ranking by the AP came on Dec. 30, 1980, when the Aggies were 11th.
* A&M climbed to 12th in both polls this week. The school record for consecutive weeks in the national polls is eight, first set in 1959-60 and tied in 1978-79.
* Acie Law and Marlon Pompey are the only remaining players who were on the roster before Billy Gillispie arrived.
* Of the 21 players on the A&M roster, 19 are from the state of Texas (including 11-of-13 scholarship players), a school record. The year before Gillispie arrived, A&M had only four Texas players, including a pair of walk-ons. Gillispie's first A&M team had 10 Texans while last year's squad had 15.
* A&M plays a record 19 regular-season home games this season.
* A&M broke ground on Friday on a $20 million, 60,000-square-foot addition to Reed Arena that will include two new practice gyms, locker rooms, film and meeting rooms, a weight room, training and medical facilities, and offices. The project is scheduled to be completed by January 2008.
* A&M returns its top six scorers, four starters and 12 lettermen from last year's team that finished 22-9 overall and placed fourth in the Big 12 with a 10-6 mark. The Aggies made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1987 and beat Syracuse in the first round, A&M's first NCAA win since 1980. LSU eliminated the Aggies in the second round, making a long-range three-pointer with three seconds remaining for a 58-57 victory.
* Acie Law IV and Joseph Jones may be the nation's top inside-out combination. They are the only returning inside-out combo in the country who each averaged at least 15.0 points per game last season.