January 18, 2008
No. 9-ranked Texas A&M plays its second straight road game on Saturday when the Aggies meet the Kansas State Wildcats at 3 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
GAME #18
#9/10 Texas A&M Aggies
(15-2, 1-1 Big 12 Conference)
vs.
Kansas State Wildcats
(11-4, 1-0 Big 12 Conference)
Saturday, Jan. 19
3:05 p.m. (CST)
Bramlage Coliseum (12,528 cap.)
Manhattan, Kan.
TELEVISION
ESPN
Play-by-Play: Terry Gannon
Analysts: Stephen Bardo
RADIO
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: 122 (Kansas State broadcast)
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 15-2 (1-1 Big 12)
Ranking: 9th (USA Today/ESPN), 10th (AP)
RPI: 28
Last Game: Lost at Texas Tech (68-53) on Wednesday
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas ?'87)
Record: 168-121 (10th year)
at Texas A&M: 15-2 (1st year)
vs. Kansas State: 202
TENTATIVE TEXAS A&M STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class PPG RPG APG
22 Dominique Kirk G 6-4 185 Sr-3L 7.8 3.5 4.1
15 Donald Sloan G 6-3 205 So-1L 8.8 3.7 2.9
23 Josh Carter F 6-7 200 Jr-2L 13.4 3.9 --
30 Joseph Jones F 6-9 255 Sr-3L 11.2 5.2 --
12 DeAndre Jordan C 7-0 255 Fr-Hs 10.1 6.9 --
KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
Record: 11-4 (1-0 Big 12)
Ranking: n/a
RPI: 48
Last Game: Won at Oklahoma (84-82) last Saturday
Head Coach: Frank Martin (Fla. International ?'93)
Record: 11-4 (1st year)
at Kansas State: 11-4 (1st year)
vs. Texas A&M: 0-0
TENTATIVE KANSAS STATE STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class PPG RPG APG
5 Clent Stewart G 6-4 190 Sr-3L 8.1 3.3 3.4
2 Blake Young G 6-2 195 Sr-1L 6.5 3.0 --
4 Andre Gilbert F 6-7 205 Jr-Tr 5.1 3.0 --
12 Bill Walker F 6-6 220 Fr-Sq 15.8 6.5 --
30 Michael Beasley F 6-10 235 Fr-Hs 24.8 13.1 --
Key Game Notes
*The Aggies are playing their second straight road game. Prior to this week, A&M had not been on the road for 45 days since a 78-67 loss at Arizona on Dec. 2.
*A&M is 0-2 in true road games, but is 2-2 in all games away from home, winning the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York with wins against Washington (77-63) and Ohio State (70-47).
*Kansas State is 8-1 at home this year, with the only loss coming against Oregon in overtime (80-77).
*A&M is 15-2 for the first time since the 1959-60 season, when it started 16-2. The only better starts were 16-1 in 1921-22 and 17-0 in 1919-20.
*Bramlage Coliseum is the only Big 12 arean where A&M has not won. The Aggies are 0-7 in the building and are 0-8 in all meetings in Manhattan.
*The Aggies are coming off a 68-53 loss at Texas Tech on Wednesday, which ended an eight-game win streak.
*Kansas State has won two straight and has been idle since opening Big 12 play with an 84-82 win at Oklahoma last Saturday.
About Kansas State
*The Wildcats finished 23-12 last season, placing fourth in the Big 12 with a 10-6 mark. They advanced to the second round of the NIT.
*KSU is in its first season under Coach Frank Martin, who was an assistant last year on Bob Huggins' staff.
*Tech and A&M have had one common opponent in Florida A&M. The Wildcats posted an 87-60 victory in Manhattan and the Aggies carded an 83-54 win in College Station.
*The Wildcats are led by freshman forward Michael Beasley (6-10), who is averaging 24.8 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. Freshman forward Bill Walker (6-7) adds 15.8 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Sidebars
*A Kansas native, A&M Coach Mark Turgeon coached the previous seven seasons at Wichita State, He led the Shockers to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2006.
*Turgeon led Hayden HS in Topeka to state titles in 1982 and 1983 and went on to play four years at Kansas under Larry Brown.
*Brown hired Turgeon as an assistant coach immediately after he graduated in 1987. The Jayhawks won the NCAA title in 1988. Turgeon was an assistant at KU for five seasons, the last four under Roy Williams.
*Turgeon is 2-2 in his career against Kansas State. His first win at Wichita State was a 76-66 win against the Wildcats in Wichita. He posted a 65-56 win against KSU in Manhattan in 2001-02. He lost to the KSU at home in 2002-03 and on the road in 2003-04 (54-50).
*A&M?â„¢s DeAndre Jordan and KSU?â„¢s Michael Beasley were teammates last summer on the USA Basketball U19 team that finished second at the world championships in Serbia.
Series Notes
*Kansas State leads the series, 12-5, with an 7-0 advantage in games played in Manhattan.
*A&M has won the last three games played in College Station, including a 69-65 win last season.
*The last three meetings have each been within six points. KSU posted a 58-54 win in Manhattan in 2006.
Who?â„¢s Hot?
*A preseason All-America candidate, senior forward Joseph Jones was named MVP of the Dick?â„¢s Sporting Goods NIT Season-Tip-Off in November. Jones is listed among the top 50 candidates for the Wooden Award and is a consensus preseason first-team All-Big 12 pick. Jones ranks among the school?â„¢s career top 10 in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, field goal percentage, steals, free throws and free throw attempts. Jones, who graduated on Dec. 14 (agricultural leadership), scored has scored in double figures in 14 games, including six straight.
*Senior guard Dominique Kirk owns the Big 12 record for consecutive starts with 113. Kirk is the winningest player in school history with an 85-28 (.752) record. A defensive All-American last year, Kirk has been named the Big 12?â„¢s top defender for the second straight preseason by The Sporting News. He ranks seventh in the Big 12 in assists (4.1) and leads the league assist/turnover ratio (2.76), ranking 18th nationally. Kirk scored a team-high 15 points with 5 assists (0 turnovers) against Colorado.
*Junior Josh Carter ranks second in career three-point accuracy in Big 12 history at 44.3 percent. He leads the team with a 13.4 scoring average and has scored in double figures in 11 straight games.
*Sophomore Bryan Davis leads the team in blocks (25) and steals (14) and is third in rebounding (4.5). Davis ranks fifth in the Big 12 in blocks (1.47).
*Freshman DeAndre Jordan, a preseason freshman All-America pick, leads the nation in field goal percentage (.747, 90 FGA min.). A member of the preseason NIT all-tournament team, Jordan made an A&M and Big 12 record 17 straight field goal attempts in November. Jordan scored 14 points with 9 rebounds against Colorado, including five dunks. One of the dunks was named one of the top four plays in college basketball last week by ESPN.
*Sophomore Donald Sloan has led the team in scoring in five of the last 13 games, averaging 9.9 points in that span. Sloan has averaged 11.7 points in the last three games.
*Sophomore Chinemelu Elonu has averaged 4.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in the last nine games. He has led the team in rebounding in three of the last six games.
Aggie Angles
*The Aggies lead the nation in rebounding margin at +11.5 and has out-rebounded all 16 opponents this season.
*A&M?â„¢s 15-2 record under Mark Turgeon is the best coaching debut in school history.
*A&M ranks 10th nationally in field goal percentage defense at .370 and has held 11 opponents under 40 percent. The Aggies are allowing just 58.2 points per game (16th nationally), just ahead of last year?â„¢s school record of 59.4.
*A&M ranks fifth nationally in field goal accuracy at 50.9 percent, despite shooting a season-low .340 at Texas Tech and .377 against Rice within the last four games.
*A&M and Georgetown are the only teams to rank among the top 10 nationally in both offensive and defensive field goal percentage.
*During A&M?â„¢s eight-game winning streak, the Aggies outshot their opponents, .546 to .346 and posted an average scoring margin of +28.0, winning every game by at least 17 points.
*The Aggies have won 15 straight home games, the sixth longest streak in school history and the 10th longest active streak in the country. The Aggies?â„¢ 64 home wins in the last four seasons are the most in the nation in that period.
*A&M is 42-9 since the start of last season, ranking among the 10 winningest teams in the country in that span.
*A&M is averaging 25.5 bench points per game, 33.2 percent of its total offensive output.
*Like Mark Turgeon?â„¢s teams at Wichita State, the Aggies are among the most balanced in college basketball. Eight different players have scored in double figures this season and seven are averaging between 6-14 points. Turgeon?â„¢s teams at WSU always had at least six players averaging in a similar range.
*A&M and Kansas are the only Big 12 teams with seven players averaging at least 6.0 points per game.
*A&M climbed to No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches?â„¢ poll and to No. 10 in the AP poll this week. The Aggies have been ranked in both polls a school record 31 straight weeks. Prior to this streak, A&M has been ranked a total of 27 weeks in its entire history.