December 01, 2006
The undefeated and No. 8-ranked Texas A&M men's basketball team meets Big West Conference powerhouse Pacific on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Reed Arena. A&M's game notes:
| GAME INFO |
| Saturday, December 2, 2 p.m. (CST) Reed Arena (12,500), College Station Tickets: |
| RECORDS |
| Texas A&M: 6-0 Pacific: 3-3 |
| RANKINGS |
| A&M is ranked 8th by ESPN/USA Today and 9th by The Associated Press. |
| TELEVISION |
| None |
| LIVE VIDEO |
| Aggies All-Access Free in Texas and California ONLY: PPV outside Texas/California: |
| RADIO |
| WTAW-AM 1620 (Local) Dave South, play-by-play Al Pulliam, commentary (broadcast time 1:30 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 |
| A&M leads, 5-2 Last Meeting: (1/3/06) |
| UP NEXT |
| A&M at LSU Tuesday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m. (CST) Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, La. |
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 6-0 (0-0 Big 12)
Ranking: 8th (USA Today/ESPN), 9th (AP)
Last Game: Beat Idaho State, 74-44, on Saturday
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
Record: 79-51 (5th year)
at Texas A&M: 49-19 (3rd year)
vs. Pacific: 0-1
PROJECTED AGGIES STARTERS
No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl-Ex PPG RPG APG
1 Acie Law IV 6'3" 195 Sr-1L 16.7 3.0 5.0
22 Dominique Kirk 6'3" 180 Jr-2L 6.3 4.5 3.0
23 Josh Carter 6'7" 195 So-1L 13.3 3.8 3.5
30 Joseph Jones 6'9" 250 Jr-2L 13.7 5.0 .614 FG
44 Antanas Kavaliauskas 6'?10" 250 Sr-1L 10.2 5.8 .643 FG
PACIFIC TIGERS
Record: 3-3 (0-0 Big West)
Ranking: n/a
Last Game: Beat San Francisco, 79-72, on Wednesday
Head Coach: Bob Thomason (Pacific '71) Record 313-224 (19th year)
at Pacific: 313-224 (19th year)
vs. Texas A&M: 1-1
PROJECTED TIGERS STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl-Ex PPG RPG APG
5 Steffan Johnson G 6'1" 165 So-1L 13.5 2.3 3.2
3 C.J. Morgan G 6'0" 160 Fr-Hs 10.7 1.7 1.3
30 Anthony Esparza F 6'5" 190 Sr-1L 6.5 3.8 2.7
21 Anthony Brown F 6'7" 225 So-1L 17.8 9.0 1.1
51 Michael White C 6'7" 245 Sr-3L 8.8 3.2 1.3
Tale of the Tape
(2006-07 stat comparison)
A&M Pacific
Record 6-0 3-3
Conference 0-0 0-0
Sagarin Rating 6 129
AP-USA Today/ESPN 9 / 8 UR / UR
Current Streak W6 W1
Field Goal Pct. .537 .473
Opponent FG Pct. .280 .486
3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .392 .402
Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .221 .391
3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 6.7 7.8
3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 17.0 19.5
Free Throw Pct. .745 .728
Opponent FT Pct. .634 .735
Rebound Avg. 36.7 31.3
Offensive Reb. Avg. 7.5 10.7
Rebounding Margin +3.8 +4.0
Turnovers Avg. 15.2 18.2
Opp. Turnovers Avg. 19.8 15.8
Assists Avg. 22.5 14.5
Blocks Avg. 4.2 2.5
Steals Avg. 8.5 5.2
Scoring Avg. 78.0 74.0
Opponent Scoring 46.7 74.0
Scoring Margin +31.3 0.0
Key Game Notes
* A&M has won 13 straight regular-season games dating back to last year, the third-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 28 straight regular-season non-conference games at Reed Arena. The last loss was to A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 13, 2003 (82-80).
* A&M is coming off a 75-35 win against Arkansas-Little Rock on Monday. The Trojans are favored to win the West Division in the Sun Belt Conference.
* The Aggies are 39-5 at home under Billy Gillispie. A&M's 38 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 38).
* A&M is 6-0 at home this season while Pacific is 0-1 in true road games.
About Pacific
* The Tigers are in their 19th season under Coach Bob Thomason, who has won 313 games.
* Pacific went 24-8 last year and won its third straight Big West Conference title with a 12-2 mark.
* The Tigers return eight lettermen and two starters and are the co-favorites to repeat as Big West champions.
* Pacific has had three straight seasons with at least 24 wins and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament three straight years. The Tigers won first-round games in 2004 (Providence) and 2005 (Pittsburgh) before falling in the first round to Boston College last year in double overtime, 88-76.
* The Tigers are led by sophomore forward Anthony Brown (6'7"), who is averaging 17.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while making .586 from the field.
* Sophomore guard Steffan Johnson (6'1") is adding 13.5 points while freshman guard C.J. Morgan is contributing 10.7 points per game. Johnson scored 23 points in Wednesday's 79-72 victory against San Francisco.
* The Tigers lost their only previous true road game at New Mexico State on Nov. 14 (76-74). Their other two losses were at the Great Alaska Shootout to Loyola Marymount (88-85 in double OT) and Hawaii (71-60).
Sidebars
* A&M lost last year at Pacific, 63-56, the only regular-season non-conference loss in Billy Gillispie's three seasons at A&M.
* A win would hand Gillispie his 50th victory at A&M (3rd season) and his 80th as a head coach (5th year).
* Pacific senior forward Ben Pemberton is from Hawkins, Texas and attended Tyler Junior College.
Series Notes
* A&M leads the series, 5-2.
* Pacific is making its second trip to College Station and its first since 1960-61, when the Tigers fell to the Aggies, 86-39, at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
UALR Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Acie Law scored 17 points and Joseph Jones finished with 16 to help No. 9 Texas A&M rout Arkansas-Little Rock 75-35 Monday night. The Aggies (6-0) had four players score in double figures. Antanas Kavaliauskas added 13 points and Josh Carter had 11. Rashad Jones-Jennings, averaging a double-double coming into the game, had 10 points and five rebounds for the Trojans (4-3). Arkansas-Little Rock was 0-of-20 from beyond the 3-point line. Arkansas-Little Rock had outrebounded every opponent this season, but Texas A&M broke that streak with a 33-28 rebounding edge. The Aggies outscored the Trojans 14-4 over the final 3:58 to take a 43-17 lead at halftime. Texas A&M won its 28th straight regular-season nonconference home game.
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.
* Law has averaged 20.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the last four games while making 72.3 percent from the field and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from three-point range.
* Jones scored 16 points against Arkansas-Little Rock on 6-of-8 shooting and added a pair of blocked shots.
* Senior Antanas Kavaliauskas, a member of the Shelby Metcalf Classic all-tournament team, scored 13 points with 9 rebounds while making 6-of-7 field goals against Arkansas-Little Rock. Kavaliauskas has led the team in rebounding in three straight games, averaging 8.0 rebounds in
that span.
* Sophomore Josh Carter is averaging 18.5 points in the last two games, making 8-of-12 from three-point range (.667). He scored a career-high 26 points against Idaho State, tying the school record for three-pointers with eight. Carter leads the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio (21-to-5).
* Junior Dominique Kirk has started in all 68 games in his A&M career.
Angles & Storylines
* The Aggies lead the nation in scoring defense (46.7) and defensive field goal percentage (.280).
* A&M also leads the country in defensive efficiency (points allowed per possession) at .674 and in effective defensive field goal percentage (which gives 50% more weight to made 3-Pt. FGs) at .321 (Source: Ken Pomeroy, ESPN.com).
* A win on Saturday would hand Billy Gillispie his 50th win at A&M (third season) and the 80th of his career (fifth year). uA&M has won 28 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 39-5 at Reed Arena under Billy Gillispie, with a 25-1 mark against non-conference foes (including a 1-1 record in the 2005 postseason NIT). Gillipsie is 55-6 in home games in his last four seasons as a head coach.
* A&M has won 13 straight regular-season games since an 83-70 loss at Texas last season, the third longest streak in the country. A&M has won 11 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 8th in USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll this week (9th by the AP), its fourth 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 previous top-10 ranking was on Jan. 3, 1979, when it was ranked 10th by The AP. The No. 8 national ranking equals the highest in school history (No. 8 in 1959-60).
* 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.
*A&M plays a record 19 regular-season home games this season.
* A&M broke ground on Nov. 17 on a $16-20 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 early in 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.