November 26, 2006
The 10th-ranked Texas A&M men's basketball team plays host to the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans on Monday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena. A&M's game notes:
| GAME INFO |
| Monday, November 27, 7 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station Tickets: |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 5-0 Arkansas-Little Rock: 4-2 |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is ranked 10th by ESPN/USA Today and 11th by The Associated Press. |
| TELEVISION |
| None |
| LIVE VIDEO |
| Aggies All-Access Free in Texas and Arkansas ONLY: PPV outside Texas/Arkansas: |
| 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 |
| First meeting |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M hosts Pacific Saturday, Dec. 2, 2 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena, College Station |
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 5-0 (0-0 Big 12)
Ranking: 10th (USA Today/ESPN), 11th (AP)
Last Game: Beat Idaho State, 74-44, on Saturday
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
Record: 78-51 (5th year)
at Texas A&M: 48-19 (3rd year)
vs. UALR: 0-0
PROJECTED AGGIES STARTERS
No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. PPG RPG APG
1 Acie Law IV 6'3" 195 Sr-1L 16.6 3.0 4.7
22 Dominique Kirk 6'3" 180 Jr-2L 6.2 4.2 3.2
23 Josh Carter 6'7" 195 So-1L 13.6 4.2 3.8
30 Joseph Jones 6'9" 250 Jr-2L 13.2 5.4 2.2
44 Antanas Kavaliauskas 6'10" 250 Sr-1L 9.6 5.2 1.7
ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK TROJANS
Record: 4-2 (0-0 Big Sky)
Ranking: None
Last Game: Beat Tennessee-Martin, 58-56, on Saturday
Head Coach: Steve Shields (Baylor '88)
Record: 53-39 (4th year)
at UALR: 53-39 (4th year)
vs. Texas A&M: 0-0
PROJECTED TROJANS STARTERS
5 Buddy Harding G 6'1" 182 So-1L 2.0 0.5 2.5
10 Terrance Akins G 6'1" 182 Jr-Rs 12.3 1.7 1.0
23 Lekheythan Malone F 6'6" 201 So-1L 8.5 2.3 1.5
24 Rashad Jones-Jennings F 6'8" 231 Sr-1L 13.2 13.5 1.0
34 Byron Ray F 6'7" 256 Sr-1L 8.5 7.0 1.0
Tale of the Tape
(2006-07 stat comparison)
A&M UALR
Record 5-0 4-2
Conference 0-0 0-0
RPI (NCAA) n/a n/a
AP-USA Today/ESPN 11 / 10 UR / UR
Current Streak W5 W2
Field Goal Pct. .531 .448
Opponent FG Pct. .284 .451
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .398 .294
Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .269 .426
3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 7.0 5.0
3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 17.6 17.0
Free Throw Pct. .727 .679
Opponent FT Pct. .632 .705
Rebound Avg. 37.4 38.0
Offensive Reb. Avg. 8.2 15.6
Rebounding Margin +3.6 +7.3
Turnovers Avg. 15.4 17.7
Opp. Turnovers Avg. 20.0 14.0
Assists Avg. 22.6 12.5
Blocks Avg. 4.4 3.5
Steals Avg. 8.4 5.5
Scoring Avg. 78.6 70.7
Opponent Scoring 49.0 70.8
Scoring Margin +29.6 -0.1
Key Game Notes
* A&M has won 12 straight regular-season games dating back to last year, the fourth-longest streak in the nation. The Aggies' last regular-season loss was to Texas in Austin on Feb. 4, 2006 (83-70).
* The Aggies have won 27 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 a 74-44 win against Idaho State on Saturday.
* The Aggies are 38-5 at home under Billy Gillispie. A&M's 37 regular-season homecourt wins in the last three years are tied for the most in the nation in that span (New Mexico also has won 37).
* A&M is 5-0 at home this season while Arkansas-Little Rock is 1-2 on the road.
About Idaho State
* The Bengals are in their first season under Coach Joe O'Brien.
* Idaho State went 13-14 last year and placed seventh in the Big Sky Conference with a 6-10 mark.
* The Bengals again were picked to finish seventh in the Big Sky in the coaches' preseason poll.
* Idaho State is led by senior guard Akbar Abdul-Ahad, who is averaging 17.3 points and is making 42.2 percent from three-point range. Senior guard David Schroeder is adding 15.0 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds.
* Idaho State's three losses have been on the road at Marquette (59-56 in overtime), Brigham Young (84-78 in overtime) and Washington State (66-60).
About UA-Little Rock
* The Trojans are in their fourth season under Coach Steve Shields.
* Arkansas-Little Rock went 14-15 last year and placed fourth in the Sun Belt Conference with a 5-9 mark.
* The Trojans were picked to finish first in the Sun Belt's West Division in the coaches' preseason poll.
* Senior forward Rashad Jones-Jennings, a preseason first-team all-conference pick, averages 13.2 points and ranks second nationally in rebounding with 13.5 per game. Junior guard Terrance Akins adds 12.3 points.
* UALR's two losses have been on the road at Texas Tech (93-59) and Tulsa (66-60).
Sidebars
* UALR Coach Steve Shields is from Waco and is a 1988 graduate of Baylor. His father is Gene Shields, was the longtime men's golf coach at Baylor.
* Shields was head coach at McLennan Community College in Waco from 1996-00. A&M coach Billy Gillipsie was an assistant at Baylor early in Shields' tenure at McLennan.
* UALR assistant coach Brad Autry was on the Baylor coaching staff when Gillispie joined Harry Miller's program there in 1994. He and Gillispie also served on the same staff under Bill Self at Illinois.
Series Notes
* This is the first meeting.
* A&M is 17-17 against members of the Sun Belt Conference. The last time the Aggies played a Sun Belt Conference school was last season when they defeated North Texas, 72-70, at Reed Arena.
Idaho State Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Josh Carter tied a school record with eight 3-pointers and scored a season-high 26 points to lead No. 11 Texas A&M past Idaho State, 74-44 on Saturday. Carter was 8-of-10 from 3-point range, and Acie Law added 22 points for Texas A&M (5-0), which held Idaho State to 29 percent shooting. David Schroeder led Idaho State (1-3) with 14 points. Akbar Abdul-Ahad and Matt Stucki had 11 each. Texas A&M shot 62 percent and outrebounded Idaho State 36-27. The Aggies went on a 14-3 run in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second half and weren't challenged after that. Texas A&M had a 21-point lead with 2:31 left in the first half before Idaho State closed with an 8-0 run to make it 37-24 at halftime.
Who's Hot?
* Junior Joseph Jones and senior Acie Law IV are on the preseason Wooden and Naismith award watch lists, which each consist 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.
* Law and Jones were co-MVPs of the Shelby Metcalf Classic. Jones scored 19 in each of the first two games, while uLaw has had three consecutive 20-point efforts.
* Senior Antanas Kavaliauskas scored a career-high 16 points against Prairie View and is averaging 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, making 60.0 percent from the field and 85.7 percent (6-7) from the line. Kavaliauskas was named to the Shelby Metcalf Classic all-tournament team.
* Sophomore Josh Carter scored a career-high 26 points against Idaho State, tying the school record for three-pointers with eight. Carter is averaging 13.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Carter leads the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio (18-to-4).
* Junior Dominique Kirk made 4-of-5 three-pointers against Lamar, finishing with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Kirk has started in all 67 games in his A&M career.
Aggie Angles & Storylines
* The Aggies lead the nation in defensive efficiency (points allowed per possession) at .697 and in effective defensive field goal percentage (which gives 50% more weight to made 3-Pt. FGs) at .333.
* A&M has won 27 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 38-5 at Reed Arena under Billy Gillispie, including a 24-1 mark against non-conference foes (including a 1-1 record in the 2005 postseason NIT). Gillipsie is 54-6 in home games in his last four seasons as a head coach.
* A&M has won 12 straight regular-season games since an 83-70 loss at Texas last season.
* A&M has won 10 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' preseason 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 ranked in the preseason was in 1979-80, when it was 14th (AP) and 11th (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 10th in USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll last week (11th by the AP), its third straight week in the polls. The school record for consecutive weeks in the national polls is eight, first set in 1959-60 and tied in 1978-79. A&M's last top-10 ranking was on Jan. 3, 1979, when it was 10th by The AP.
* 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 Nov. 17 on a $16 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.
* The crowd of 10,722 that saw the Prairie View A&M game on Nov. 10 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.