November 22, 2007
No. 15-ranked Texas A&M plays the Ohio State Buckeyes in the championship game of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday at 7:02 (EDT)/6:02 (CDT) at Madison Square Garden. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Game #6
#15 Texas A&M Aggies (4-0, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0, 0-0 Pac 10)
DICK?â„¢S SPORTING GOODS NIT SEASON TIP-OFF CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Friday, Nov. 23
7:02 p.m. (EDT)/6:02 p.m. (CDT)
New York City
Madison Square Garden (19,763 cap.)
TELEVISION
ESPN2 (national)
Play-by-Play: Dave O?â„¢Brien
Analyst: Steve Lavin
RADIO
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Will Johnson
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: n/a
Internet: www.AggieAthletics.com
SERIES
Tied, 1-1 (both games played in Columbus, Ohio)
Last Meeting: A&M 72, Ohio State 69 (1957-58 in Columbus)
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 5-0 (0-0 Big 12)
Ranking: 15th (USA Today/ESPN), 16th (AP)
Last Game: Beat Washington, 77-63, on Wednesday
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas ?'87)
Record: 158-119 (10th year)
at Texas A&M: 5-0 (1st year)
vs. OHio State: 0-0
PROJECTED STARTERS (exhibition stats)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. PPG RPG APG
22 Dominique Kirk G 6-4 185 Sr-3L 9.6 2.4 4.2
15 Donald Sloan G 6-3 205 So-1L 7.8 4.4 --
23 Josh Carter F 6-7 200 Jr-2L 13.8 4.6 --
30 Joseph Jones F 6-9 255 Sr-3L 11.8 4.6 --
12 DeAndre Jordan C 7-0 255 Fr-Hs 10.2 8.6 --
OHIO STATE BUCKEYES Record: 3-0 (0-0 Big 12)
Ranking: Receiving votes in both polls
Last Game: Beat No. 21 Syracuse, 79-65, on Wednesday
Head Coach: Thadd Matta (Butler ?'90)
Record: 186-53 (8th year)
at Ohio State: 84-22 (4th year)
vs. Texas A&M: 0-0
PROJECTED STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. PPG RPG APG
14 Jamar Butler G 6-1 185 Sr-3L 16.3 4.3 6.0
33 Jon Diebler G 6-6 200 Fr-Hs 6.0 1.7 2.0
23 David Lighty F 6-5 215 So-1L 13.0 5.0 --
45 Othello Hunter F 6-8 225 Sr-1L 13.0 8.0 --
31 Kosta Koufos c 7-0 265 Fr-Hs 20.3 8.0 --
Key Game Notes
*The Aggies are playing for their first in-season tournament title since winning the 1989 Golden Panthers Holiday Classic in Miami, Fla.
*Texas A&M is making its second appearance in the preseason NIT, its first since the inaugural event in 1985. The Aggies dropped a 71-68 decision to UAB in the first round of the 1985 preseason NIT played at The Summit in Houston.
*The Aggies played host to two postseason NIT games in 2005 and one in 1982. In 2005, A&M beat Clemson (82-64) in the first round, then returned to fall to St. Joseph?â„¢s (58-51) in the third round. In 1982, the Aggies beat Lamar, 60-58, in the first round.
*A&M is making its first road trip of the 2007-08 season.
*Prior to the 2007 NIT Season Tip-Off, the Aggies were 0-1 in New York City, falling to Long Island by a score of 66-52 at Madison Square Garden in the 1949-50 season opener.
*A&M is 1-1 all-time against Ohio State with both previous meetings in Columbus, Ohio. The teams first met in 1947-48, with the Buckeyes posting a 54-40 victory. In 1957-58, the Aggies prevailed, 72-69.
*A&M is 8-16 all-time against members of the Big 10 Conference, but has won three straight with wins against Purdue (71-64 in 2001-02) and Penn State (62-60 in 2004-05 and 60-55 in 2005-06).
*Texas A&M Coach Mark Turgeon played two games at Madison Square Garden in the inaugural preseason NIT in 1985. His Kansas Jayhawks defeated Pepperdine (67-61) and Washington (69-64) in the first two rounds to earn to right to travel to New York. In the semifinals, Kansas beat Louisville (83-78), then fell to Duke (92-86) in the title game.
About Ohio State
*The Buckeyes went 35-4 last season in their third year under Head Coach Thadd Matta. He led Ohio State to the Big 10 Championship with a 15-1 mark. The Buckeyes advanced to the NCAA Championship game, where they fell to Florida, 84-75.
*OSU guard Jamar Butler (6-1) earned honorable mention All-Big 10 honors last season. This season, he is averaging 16.3 points and 6.0 assists per game.
*Freshman center Kosta Koufos (7-0) leads the Buckeyes in scoring (20.3) and rebounding (8.0).
*The Buckeyes are coming off a 78-65 upset of No. 21-ranked Syracuse in the NIT semifinals on Wednesday. They opened the season with NIT first and second round wins against Wisconsin-Green Bay (91-68) and Columbia (68-54). Both games were played in Columbus, Ohio.
Who?â„¢s Hot?
*A preseason All-America candidate, senior forward Joseph Jones is listed among the top 50 candidates for the Wooden Award and is a consensus preseason first-team All-Big 12 pick. In just 23.8 minutes per game, Jones is averaging 11.8 points and 4.6 rebounds and needs just 13 rebounds to enter A&M?â„¢s career top 10 list. He already ranks among the school?â„¢s top 10 in scoring and blocked shots. Jones made his 100th career start against Washington, scoring 17 points against the Huskies.
*Senior guard Dominique Kirk is the winningest starter in school history with a 75-26 (.743) record in 101 starts. A defensive All-American last year, Kirk has been named the Big 12?â„¢s top defender for the second preseason by The Sporting News. He scored a season-high 15 points against Washington with 4 assists.
*Sophomore Bryan Davis ranks second on the team in rebounding with 5.8 per game. He came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points with 6 rebounds against Ouachita Baptist. Davis scored 9 points with 6 rebounds, 1 block and 2 steals against Washington. He scored 8 points with a career-high 9 rebounds and a career-best 4 assists against McNeese State.
*Freshman DeAndre Jordan, a preseason freshman All-America pick, has averaged 10.0 rebounds in the last four games, including a career-high 12 against UTEP. He had made an A&M and Big 12 record 17 straight field goal attempts before missing his second shot against Washington. Jordan has scored in double figures in three games and has had 13 dunks. He has made 24-of-27 (.889) from the field, best in the Big 12 and best in the nation among players who have played four or more games. He scored 12 points with 10 rebounds against Ouachita Baptist, becoming the first A&M freshman since Joseph Jones in 2004-05 to post a double-double.
*Sophomore Donald Sloan scored a career-high 18 points with 5 rebounds in the win against Washington. His previous high was 15 last year at Oklahoma State. Sloan was 6-of-10 from the field and made both of his three-point attempts.
Aggie Angles
*Starting perimeter players Dominique Kirk, Donald Sloan and Josh Carter have combined to play 402 minutes in the first five games and have had just 20 turnovers.
*A&M?â„¢s opponents have averaged just 13.0 free throw attempts per game after averaging 20.2 last season. The Aggies have averaged 31.4 attempts. The Aggies have outscored their opponents by an average of 11.0 points per game, despite making just 59.2 percent from the line.
*With 290 career three-point field goals between them, Josh Carter and Dominique Kirk are the most prolific shooting tandem in school history.
*With six players listed at 6?â„¢9? or taller, the 2007-08 Aggies are the tallest in school history and among the biggest in college basketball. At 7?â„¢0?, freshman DeAndre Jordan is the fourth 7-footer to play at A&M, joining Andy Slocum (1999-04), Steve Niles (1968-71) and Lewis Qualls (1960-63).
*The Aggies have outrebounded all five opponents this season with an average margin of +12.6. In the last four games, the average margin has been +15.2, including a +9 margin against Washington. The Aggies have averaged 16.8 offensive rebounds in the last four games, including 19 against the Huskies.
*A&M is ranked No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches?â„¢ poll and the AP poll this week. The Aggies have been ranked in both polls a school record 23 straight weeks.
*A&M has won 38 straight regular-season non-conference home games and six straight home games overall.
*The Aggies have held four of their five opponents to under 40 percent field goal accuracy. A&M has made at least 43 percent of its shots in all five contests.
*The Aggies have committed more or equal turnovers than their opponents in four of five games.
*A&M has scored at least 20 points in the paint in all fivegames, averaging 31.6 points in the paint per game.
*Senior forward Joseph Jones is from Normangee, Texas, a town of just 719 people located 30 miles from College Station. He?â„¢s making his first trip to New York City (pop. 8.1 million).