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No. 13 Aggies Go on Road to Face Auburn on Friday

e teams first met in 1961-62, with A&M coming away with a 62-50 victory in the first round of the Houston Classic in Houston. A&M is 16-30 all-time against teams from the Southeastern Conference. A&M'

December 21, 2006

Texas A&M's game notes for Friday's contest at Auburn (PDF link to the right)...


GAME INFO
Friday, December 22, 7 p.m. (CST)
Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum (10,500), Auburn, Ala.
RECORDS
Texas A&M: 9-2
Auburn: 9-3
RANKINGS
A&M is ranked 13th by both ESPN/USA Today and The Associated Press.
TELEVISION

Matt Stewart, play-by-play
Sonny Smith, commentary
RADIO
WTAW-AM 1620 (Local)

Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
(broadcast time 6:30 p.m. CST)
INTERNET
Live Video: None
Live Audio (Free):
(Aggies All-Access)
Live Stats:
(auburntigers.com)
SERIES
Tied, 2-2
Last Meeting: (12/22/06)
UP NEXT
A&M hosts Grambling State
Thursday, Dec. 28, 4 p.m. (CST)
Reed Arena, College Station
Tickets:


TEXAS A&M AGGIES


  • Record: 9-2 (0-0 Big 12)
  • Ranking: 13th (USA Today/ESPN), 13th (AP)
  • Last Game: Beat Jacksonville, 97-58, at home on Saturday
  • Head Coach: Billy Gillispie (Texas State '83)
    Record: 82-53 (5th year)
    at Texas A&M: 52-21 (3rd year)
    vs. Auburn: 1-0

PROJECTED AGGIES STARTERS


 No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl-Ex PPG RPG APG 1 Acie Law IV 6'3" 195 Sr-1L 14.2 2.6 5.0 22 Dominique Kirk 6'3" 180 Jr-2L 6.7 3.6 3.6 23 Josh Carter 6'7" 195 So-1L 11.9 3.0 2.8 30 Joseph Jones 6'9" 250 Jr-2L 14.2 5.8 .600 FG 44 Antanas Kavaliauskas 6'10" 250 Sr-1L 13.1 5.6 .643 FG

AUBURN TIGERS


  • Record: 9-3 (0-0 Southeastern Conference)
  • Ranking: UR
  • Last Game: Beat Tenn. St., 86-59, at home on Tuesday
  • Head Coach: Jeff Lebo (North Carolina '89)
    Record: 150-99 (9th year)
    at Auburn: 35-36 (3rd year)
    vs. Texas A&M: 0-1

PROJECTED TIGERS STARTERS


 No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl-Ex PPG RPG APG 23 Quantez Robertson G 6'3" 190 So-1L 9.3 5.2 5.5 1 Frank Tolbert G 6'4" 210 Jr-2L 13.0 5.8 1.8 21 Rasheem Barrett G 6'5" 220 So-1L 13.8 4.9 2.4 32 Korvotney Barber F 6'7" 220 So-1L 14.8 7.8 1.0 3 Josh Dollard F 6'7" 225 So-1L 12.8 8.7 3.3

Tale of the Tape
(2006-07 stat comparison)


 A&M AUBURN Record 9-2 9-3 Conference 0-0 0-0 Sagarin Rating 16 103 AP-USA Today/ESPN 13/13 UR/UR Current Streak W2 W3 Field Goal Pct. .520 .487 Opponent FG Pct. .343 .411 3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .398 .335 Opponent 3-Pt. Pct. .268 .357 3-Pt. Field Goal Avg. 6.4 7.8 3-Pt. FG Attempts Avg. 16.0 23.2 Free Throw Pct. .753 .585 Opponent FT Pct. .687 .648 Rebound Avg. 34.9 38.3 Offensive Reb. Avg. 9.7 12.1 Rebounding Margin +4.0 +2.5 Turnovers Avg. 14.0 17.9 Opp. Turnovers Avg. 17.4 18.5 Assists Avg. 21.2 19.3 Blocks Avg. 3.6 5.6 Steals Avg. 7.8 9.3 Scoring Avg. 76.1 77.5 Opponent Scoring 53.6 68.0 Scoring Margin +22.5 +9.5

Key Game Notes


  • A&M has won two straight and is coming off a 97-58 win against Jacksonville at home last Saturday.
  • Auburn has won three straight and is coming off an 86-59 win against Tennessee State at home on Tuesday.
  • A&M is 0-2 in road games this season, while Auburn is 9-1 at home.
  • A&M's road losses were at No. 9-ranked LSU (64-52) and No. 1 UCLA (65-62) earlier this month. Auburn's lone home loss was to No. 2 Pittsburgh (74-66) on Dec. 3.
  • The Tigers other two losses also were against ranked teams -- No. 7 Wisconsin (77-63) and No. 14 Oklahoma State (66-65) at neutral sites.
  • A&M beat Auburn, 72-67, last year in College Station.

About Auburn


  • The Tigers went 12-16 last year and placed fifth in the West Division of the SEC with a 4-12 mark.
  • Auburn has no seniors on its roster and its projected starting lineup includes four sophomores.
  • The Tigers are in their third year under Coach Jeff Lebo, a standout at North Carolina in the late 1980s.
  • Auburn's five starters all average at least 9.0 points per game. Sophomore Korvotney Barber leads the way at 14.8, followed by sophomore Rasheem Barrett (13.8), junior Frank Tolbert (13.0), sophomore Josh Dollard (12.8) and sophomore Quantez Robertson (9.3).
  • Dollard leads the team in rebounding at 8.7 while Barber adds 7.8 per contest. Robertson is the assists leader with a 5.5 average.

Sidebars


  • Auburn has two Texas natives on its roster: Freshman guard Kelvin Lewis of Fort Worth (North Crowley HS) and freshman guard DeWayne Reed of Houston (Wheatley HS).

Series Notes


  • The series is tied, 2-2.
  • Auburn won the only previous meeting in Auburn with a 95-71 victory in 1990-91.
  • The teams' last two meetings have been in College Station. The Tigers won, 86-82, at G. Rollie White Coliseum in 1991-92, and A&M posted a 72-67 victory last year at Reed Arena.
  • The teams first met in 1961-62, with A&M coming away with a 62-50 victory in the first round of the Houston Classic in Houston.
  • A&M is 16-30 all-time against teams from the Southeastern Conference.
  • A&M's last road victory against an SEC team (not including Arkansas, formerly a fellow member of the Southwest Conference) came in 1978-79, when the Aggies beat Kentucky, 73-69, at Rupp Arena.

Jacksonville Recap


COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Josh Carter scored 16 points, and Acie Law and Antanas Kavaliauskas had 15 apiece to help No. 13 Texas A&M roll to a 97-58 victory over Jacksonville on Saturday night. Joseph Jones had 14 points and Marlon Pompey added 11 for the Aggies, whose wins have all come at home this season. Texas A&M has won 14 straight games at Reed Arena dating to last season. A&M's two losses were on the road to then-No. 9 LSU and No. 1 UCLA last week. Jesse Kimbrough, a former A&M football player, led Jacksonville with 19 points. Jacksonville shot 33 percent from the field.


Last Year vs. Auburn


COLLEGE STATION (AP, Dec. 22, 2005) -- Joseph Jones scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Texas A&M hit seven free throws in the final minute to hold off Auburn, 72-67, Thursday night at Reed Arena and remain undefeated. The Aggies (8-0), who never trailed in the game, extended a one-point halftime lead to as much as 12 in the second half. A&M held an eight-point lead over the Tigers (5-3) with 47 seconds to play before Auburn quickly cut it to four. The Aggies got two free throws from both Chris Walker and Marlon Pompey in the last 25 seconds to seal the win. Jones scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half. Acie Law added 19 points on the night and Kenneth White scored a career-high 10. Auburn placed four players in double figures, led by Frank Tolbert's 15 and Ronny Lamelle's 14.


Looking Ahead


  • After playing their final non-conference road game at Auburn, the Aggies close their non-conference schedule with home games against Grambling (4 p.m., Dec. 28) and Winthrop (8:30 p.m., Jan. 2).
  • The Aggies open Big 12 play against Bob Huggins' Kansas State squad on Jan. 6 in College Station.

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 has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games, including the last six. He tied his career-high with 13 rebounds against top-ranked UCLA and added 11 points for his first double-double of the year. He ranks third in the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.846).
  • Senior Antanas Kavaliauskas is averaging 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in the last six games, making 66.7 percent from the field. He ranks second in the Big 12 (and 16th nationally) in field goal percentage (.643).
  • Senior Marlon Pompey scored 11 points vs. Jacksonville, making 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
  • Junior Dominique Kirk has started in all 73 games in his A&M career and has made 99 career three-pointers.
  • Sophomore Josh Carter has led the team in scoring in the last two games, averaging 20.0 points and making 70.0 percent (7-of-10) of his three-pointers.
  • Senior Acie Law IV is playing in his 100th A&M game on Friday against Auburn.

Angles & Storylines


  • The Aggies rank third nationally in defensive field goal percentage (.343) and are sixth in scoring defense (53.6). No opponent this season has scored more than 65 points. A&M leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense, scoring defense and three-point percentage defense (.268).
  • A&M leads the nation in assists (21.2), ranks fifth in field goal percentage (.520), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.52) and fourth in scoring margin (+22.5). The Aggies lead the Big 12 in scoring margin, assists, and assist/turnover ratio. A&M also leads the Big 12 and ranks 18th in the country in free throw percentage (.753).
  • A&M is the only team to rank among the top 15 nationally in both defensive and offensive field goal accuracy.
  • Joseph Jones has become the 28th Aggie to reach 1,000 career points at A&M (1,009). He needs 16 rebounds to become the 19th Aggie to reach 500 in a career. Only 13 players have scored 1,000 points with 500 boards.
  • A&M is ranked 13th for the seocnd straight week in both the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' poll and AP poll. The Aggies have been ranked seven straight weeks. The school record for consecutive weeks in the national polls is eight, first set in 1959-60 and tied in 1978-79. Before this year, A&M's last previous top-10 ranking was on Jan. 3, 1979, when it was ranked 10th by The AP. A&M was ranked No. 6 in early December, the highest in school history.
  • Prior to this season, A&M's last ranking by the AP came on Dec. 30, 1980, when the Aggies were 11th.
  • A&M has won 14 straight home games since an 83-73 loss to Kansas last season.
  • A&M has won 31 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 42-5 at Reed Arena under Billy Gillispie, with a 28-1 mark against non-conference foes (including a 1-1 record in the 2005 postseason NIT). Gillipsie is 58-6 in home games in his last four seasons as a head coach.
  • 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. uA&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 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.