Dec. 12, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - After an eight-day break for final exams, Texas A&M will play its first true road game of the season on Saturday when it faces the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
GAME #8
Texas A&M Aggies (6-1, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
Alabama Crimson Tide (5-2, 0-0 SEC)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
7:05 p.m. (CST)
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Coleman Coliseum (15,341 cap.)
Television
Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast
ESPN Full Court
Play-by-Play: Tom Roberts
Analyst: Wimp Sanderson
Direct TV: Channel 722
Dish Network: Channel 457
Radio
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: Channel 91
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
http://aggieathletics.com
Record: 6-1 (0-0 Big 12)
Ranking: Receiving votes (AP)
Last Game: Beat Arizona (67-66) at home on Dec. 5
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
           Record: 184-131 (11th year)
           at Texas A&M: 31-12 (2nd year)
           vs. Alabama: 1-1
PROJECTED TEXAS A&M STARTERS
No.      Player                         P         Ht.       Wt.      Cl-Ex            PPG    RPG    APG
15       Donald Sloan           G        6-3     205    Jr-2L              12.1     3.1      4.1
11       B.J. Holmes              G        6-0     175    So-1L            7.7      2.0      1.9
23       Josh Carter              F         6-7     200    Sr-3L             13.9    4.0      --
0         Bryan Davis              F         6-9     240    Jr-2L              11.7      6.0     --
41       Chinemelu Elonu     C        6-10   235    Jr-2L               7.3     4.9      --
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ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
http://rolltide.com
Record: 5-2 (0-0 Southeastern Conference)
Ranking: n/a
Last Game: Beat Louisiana (61-44) at home on Sunday
Head Coach: Mark Gottfried (Alabama '87)
           Record: 271-150 (14th year)
           at Alabama: 203-126 (11th year)
           vs. Texas A&M: 0-2
PROJECTED ALABAMA STARTERS
No.      Player                                    P         Ht.       Wt.      Cl-Ex              PPG    RPG    APG
22       Ronald Steele                       G        6-2     191    Sr-3L             13.7   3.4      2.4
21       Senario Hillman                    G        6-1     192    So-1L            12.6   3.3      1.7
12       Alonzo Gee                           G        6-6     219    Sr-3L             11.4   6.6      --
32       JaMychal Green                   F         6-9     220    Fr-Hs             7.6      7.4      --
40       Justin Knox                           F         6-9     240    So-1L            3.0      4.1      --
Series Notes
* Alabama leads the series, 6-2, but A&M has won two straight with both games played in College Station. The Crimson Tide has a 2-0 lead in games played in Tuscaloosa.
* A&M last visited Tuscaloosa in 1997-98, falling by a score of 81-64. The Aggies dropped a 64-58 decision at Alabama in 1992-93.
* A&M is 19-30 against teams from the Southeastern Conference, but has won three straight. Last year, A&M defeated Alabama (76-63) and LSU (79-53) at home and in 2006-07, the Aggies won at Auburn (87-58).
* A&M plays another SEC school, LSU, on Dec. 20 at Houston's Toyota Center.
Key Game Notes
* The Aggies play at Alabama in their first true road game of the season on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. nA&M defeated the Crimson Tide last year in College Station, 76-63.
* A&M has won two straight but has been idle since a thrilling 67-66 come-from-behind win against Arizona at home on Dec. 5.
* Alabama has won four straight and is coming off a 61-44 victory against Louisiana at home on Sunday.
* Mark Turgeon 31-12 record ties Billy Gillispie (31-12 at A&M in 2004-06) for the second-best start in Big 12 history behind Tech's Bob Knight (33-10 in 2001-03).
About Alabama
* The Crimson Tide went 17-16 last year and placed fifth in the SEC's West Division with a 5-11 mark.
* Alabama is in its 11th year under Head Coach Mark Gottfried, who has led the Tide to five NCAA Tournament appearances. Alabama advanced to the NCAA Elight Eight in 2004.
* The Crimson Tide is led by senior guard Ronald Steele (6-2), who redshirted last year while recovering from knee surgery. A first-team All-SEC pick as a sophomore, Steele is averaging 13.7 points per game.
* Sophomore guard Senario Hillman (6-1) averages 12.6 points and senior guard Alonzo Gee (6-6) adds 11.4 points and 6.6 rebounds.
* The Crimson Tide's losses were at home to Mercer (72-69) and against Oregon (92-69) in the Maui Invitational.
* Alabama is one of the nation's top defensive teams, allowing its opponents to make just 35.8 percent from the field, including 24.8 percent from three-point range.
Last Year's Game
COLLEGE STATION (AP, Nov. 28, 2007) -- Donald Sloan had 15 points and eight assists to help No. 9 Texas A&M remain undefeated with a 76-63 victory over Alabama. Alabama got within two points of the Aggies (7-0) early in the second half but wouldn't get any closer. The Crimson Tide (3-2) cut A&M's lead to 50-47 on a 3-pointer by Rico Pickett with about 12 minutes left before Josh Carter answered with a 3 for the Aggies. Sloan then stole the ball from Mykal Riley and made a layup to make it 55-47. Crimson Tide star Richard Hendrix, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, had a layup with about eight minutes left to cut A&M's lead to six points, but Dominique Kirk scored four quick points to make it 61-51. Hendrix made two free throws before the Aggies scored five straight points punctuated by Chinemelu Elonu's dunk to take a 66-53 lead with five minutes left to put this one out of reach. Kirk added 14 points and Carter had 13 for the Aggies.
Arizona Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Bryan Davis scored 10.
Aggie Notes
* Senior Josh Carter owns the school record for career three-point field goals with 239. The old mark was 232 by Bernard King (1999-03). Carter is the most accurate three-point shooter in school history, making 42.4 percent. He led the nation in 2006-07 by making 50.0 percent.
* Carter scored 25 points against Jackson State, one shy of his career-high, and made 5-of-9 three-pointers. He has had two 20-point games this season and is averaging a team-best 13.9 points. A two-time honorable mention All-Big 12 pick, he was a second-team preseason selection.
* Carter has started in 77 straight games -- every game since the start of his sophomore season. He has played in 108 career games and is on track to break the school record of 132 by Dominique Kirk (2004-08).
* Sophomore guard B.J. Holmes has averaged 12.3 points in the last four games while making 55.0 percent (11-20) from three-point range. He led the team in scoring in each of the last two games, scoring a career-high 15 points against Kent State and dding 14 against Arizona.
* Junior Bryan Davis is averaging 11.7 points and leads the team in rebounds (6.0) and blocks (11). Davis was named to the all-tournament team at the South Padre Island Invitational after scoring 15 points with 13 rebounds against Kent State. He scored 16 points vs. SFA, tying his career-best for a regulation game, and has scored in double figures in five games this season.
* Junior Donald Sloan has started in 43 straight games since the start of the 2007-08 season. Sloan scored a season-high 17 points against Jackson State and leads the team in assists (4.1). He ranks second in the Big 12 and 14th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (3.6).
* Junior Derrick Roland has established himself as one of the nation's top defenders. He helped limit Arizona All-American Chase Budinger to just 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting in the second half of the come-from-behind win against Arizona. Roland scored 6 points with a season-best 6 rebounds against the Wildcats.
* A&M had just 4 turnovers (16 assists) against Arizona, a school record for fewest in a game. Turnovers were not kept as an official statistic until the mid-1970s.
* The Aggies 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 72 home wins in the last four years are the second most in the nation in that period behind Memphis (76).
* A&M is 58-19 in the last three seasons, ranking it among the winningest teams in the country in that span.
* A&M is one of just nine schools to win an NCAA Tournament game in each of the last three seasons.
* A&M and Kansas are the only Big 12 schools to win at least 21 games in each of the last four seasons.
* Turgeon's teams are known for their balance and the 2008-09 Aggies are no different. Nine players are averaging at least 3.5 points per game and seven are averaging at least 5.0 points.
* The Aggies are 15-of-16 from the free throw line in the last two minutes of "close games," which are defined as games within 10 points.
* A&M has scored at least 22 points in the paint in all seven games, averaging 31.4 points in the paint per game.
- In the last five games, the Aggies are averaging 27.0 bench points.
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Additional Links:
Big 12 Conference: http://big12sports.com/
Southeastern Conference: http://secsports.com/
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/