Nov. 17, 2008
COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M faces a tough challenge when it plays host to Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena. The Lumberjacks have four starters back from last year's 26-6 team that upset Oklahoma in Norman.
GAME #2 Texas A&M Aggies (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (1-0, 0-0 Southland)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:06 p.m. (CST) College Station, Texas Reed Arena (12,989 cap.)
Television None Live streaming at www.AggieAthletics.com
Postgame Highlights Feed 9:45-10 p.m. AMC15 - Transponder K5 D/L/ Freq.: 11800 MHz (vertical)
Radio Texas A&M Sports Network Play-by-Play: Dave South Analyst: Al Pulliam Network Affiliates Atlanta KPYN-AM 900 Athens KLVQ-AM 1410 Austin KJCE-AM 1370 Brenham KWHI-AM 1280 Carthage KGAS-AM 1590 College Station WTAW-AM 1620 College Station KZNE-AM 1150 Comanche KCOM-AM 1550 Dallas KFXR-AM 1190 El Campo KULP-AM 1390 Gonzales KCTI-AM 1450 Houston KBME-AM 790 Marshall KMHT-AM 1450 New Braunfels KGNB-AM 1420 San Antonio KSJL-AM 810 San Saba KBAL-AM 1410 Sulphur Springs KSST-AM 1230 Victoria KVNN-AM 1340
TEXAS A&M AGGIES Record: 1-0 (0-0 Big 12) Ranking: Receiving votes (AP and Coaches) Last Game: Beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff (76-47) at home on Sunday Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87) Record: 179-130 (11th year) at Texas A&M: 26-11 (2nd year) vs. SFA: 0-0
PROJECTED TEXAS A&M STARTERS No. Player P Ht. Wt. Cl-Ex PPG RPG APG 15 Donald Sloan G 6-3 205 Jr-2L 9.0 7.0 4.0 3 Derrick Roland G 6-4 190 Jr-2L 3.1 1.0 2.0 23 Josh Carter F 6-7 200 Sr-3L 23.0 6.0 -- 0 Bryan Davis F 6-9 240 Jr-2L 15.0 6.0 -- 41 Chinemelu Elonu C 6-10 235 Jr-2L 11.7 7.0 --
SFA LUMBERJACKS Record: 1-0 (0-0 SLC) Ranking: No. 11 "Mid-Major Poll" Last Game: Beat Howard Payne (77-38) at home on Friday Head Coach: Danny Kaspar (North Texas `78) Record: 354-148 (17th year) at SFA: 135-96 (9th year) vs. Texas A&M: 0-0
PROJECTED SFA STARTERS No. Player P Ht. Wt. Cl-Ex PPG RPG APG 1 Eric Bell G 5-3 150 Jr-1L 3.0 0.0 4.0 3 Eddie Williams G 6-2 190 So-1L 16.0 1.0 1.0 00 Josh Alexander F 6-4 210 Sr-3L 16.0 5.0 1.0 12 Nick Shaw F 6-6 215 Sr-1L 3.0 6.0 1.0 44 Matt Kingsley F 6-9 230 Sr-3L 16.0 3.0 0.0
Series Notes *A&M leads the series, 15-3, with a 9-2 edge in games played in College Station and a 1-0 mark at Reed Arena. *The teams last met early in the 1999-00 season, with the Aggies posting a 70-65 win at Reed Arena. *SFA's last win in the series was in the 1970-71 season when the Lunberjacks beat the Aggies, 89-82, at G. Rollie White Coliseum. *A&M is 107-36 all-time against teams from the Southland Conference..
Key Game Notes *Mark Turgeon's 26-11 record is the best coaching start in school history. *A&M has won 47 straight regular-season non-conference home games since an 82-80 loss to A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 13, 2003. *The Aggies opened their season with a 76-47 win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday. Stephen F. Austin tipped off with a 77-38 win against Howard Payne on Friday. *A&M is 68-10 at home in the last four seasons. *SFA was 11-4 in true road games last year, including a 66-62 win at Oklahoma.
About SFA *The Lumberjacks finished 26-6 last season, winning the Southland Conference regular-season title with a 13-3 mark. *SFA advanced to the NIT, its first postseason tournament appearance since 1987. *he Lumberjacks are in their ninth season under Coach Danny Kaspar. *SFA returns four starters from last season, including 2008 SLC Player of the Year Josh Alexander. *Aexander (6-4) and center Matt Kingsley (6-9) were preseason first-team all-conference picks. SFA was picked by the league's coaches to repeat as conference champions. *Alexander and Kingsley, along with guard Eddie Williams, each scored 16 points to lead the Lumberjacks to a 77-38 win against Howard Payne in their season opener on Friday night. *SFA shot 51.9 percent from the field while holding Howard Payne to just 29.8 percent. *he Lumberjacks also posted a 37-27 rebounding edge and forced 22 turnovers.
UAPB Recap COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Guard Donald Sloan finished a combined 5 of 27 from the floor.
Feeling at Home *A&M has won 42 of its last 47 home games, including 16 of its last 21 in Big 12 play. *The Aggies will play 18 home games this season. *The Aggies have won 47 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 went 16-4 at home last season, matching the third most home victories in school history. *The Aggies are 51-7 (.879) at home the last four seasons and are 68-10 (.872) in the last five years. A&M's 68 home wins are the second most in the country in that time behind Memphis (74).
Reed Arena *Reed Arena is in its 11th season as the home of Texas A&M basketball. The 12,500-seat facility opened in 1998 and was named for Houston veterinarian Chester J. Reed '47 and his wife, Billie Jean, who contributed the nucleus of the assets that fund the facility. *A $23 million, 68,000-square-foot expansion project will open this season. The addition includes practice gyms, locker rooms, film rooms, a weight room, training facilities and offices. *The top 14 single-game attendance marks in A&M history (and 18 of the top 20) have been set in the last four years. The top 14 non-conference attendance marks also have been set in the last four seasons. *A&M is 109-51 (.681) in its 11th season at Reed Arena. The Aggies were 41-41 (.500) at Reed in its first six seasons of existence.
Random Notes *Senior Josh Carter needs 5 three-point field goals to break Bernard King's school career record of 232. Carter is second with 227 three-pointers. Carter is the most accurate three-point shooter in school history, making 42.8 percent. He led the nation in 2006-07 by making 50.0 percent. *Carter scored 23 points, making 5-of-9 three-pointers, in the opening win against UAPB. A two-time honorable mention All-Big 12 pick, he was a second-team preseason selection. *Carter has scored 1,121 career points, 24th on the A&M chart. He needs 3 points to pass Joe Wilbert (1993-95) and move into 23rd. Lynn Suber (1988-91) is 22nd at 1,133. *Junior Bryan Davis scored 15 points with 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals against UAPB. He was named preseason honorable mention All-Big 12. *Carter has started in 71 straight games, or every game since the start of his sophomore season. Junior Donald Sloan has started in 37 straight games since the start of the 2007-08 season. *Freshman David Loubeau was a preseason honorable mention Freshman All-American by CollegeHoops.net. He and fellow freshman Dash Harris, who both played high school basketball in Florida, were ranked among the top 75 recruits in the nation. *Junior Chinemelu Elonu scored 11 points with 7 rebounds against UAPB, his highest scoring game since he had a career-high 11 in his college debut against Prairie View A&M in 2006-07. *Junior B.J. Holmes posted a career-high 3 steals against UAPB. *The Aggies were placed fifth in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll and received votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. *A&M's 68 home wins in the last four years are the second most in the nation in that period behind Memphis (74). *A&M is 53-18 since the start of the 2006-07 season, ranking it among the winningest teams in the country in that span.*The Aggies' 17-man roster boasts 13 Texas high school products and one each from Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia and California. *Junior forward/center Mark Turgeon were assistants together at Kansas under Larry Brown when the Jayhawks won the national title in 1988. *The Aggies are among the youngest teams in the Big 12 with 10 underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) and only two seniors on the roster.