Jan. 2, 2009
COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M carries an eight-game winning streak into Saturday's game against McNeese State at Reed Arena.
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
GAME #14
Texas A&M Aggies (12-1, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
McNeese State Cowboys (5-6, 0-0 Southland)
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Saturday, January 3, 2009
8 p.m. (CST)
College Station, Texas
Reed Arena (12,989 cap.)
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Television
None
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Radio
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: 140
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
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TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 12-1 (0-0 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI: RV (AP, Coaches) / 40
Last Game: Won at Rice (72-60) on Wednesday
Current Streak: Won eight straight
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
           Record: 190-131 (11th year)
           at Texas A&M: 37-12 (2nd year)
           vs. McNeese State: 1-0
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PROJECTED TEXAS A&M STARTERS
No.      Player                         P         Ht.       Wt.      Cl-Ex            PPG    RPG    APG
15       Donald Sloan           G        6-3     205    Jr-2L              11.8    3.6      3.5
3         Derrick Roland         G        6-4     185    Jr-2L              5.6      2.3      --
23       Josh Carter              F         6-7     200    Sr-3L             13.7    4.1      --
0         Bryan Davis              F         6-9     240    Jr-2L              11.6      6.9     --
41       Chinemelu Elonu     C        6-10   235    Jr-2L               8.8     6.6      --
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MCNEESE STATE COWBOYS
Record: 5-6 (0-0 Southland Conference)
Ranking/RPI: UR / 253
Last Game: Lost to Samford (57-52) at home on Tuesday
Current Streak: Lost three straight
           Head Coach: Dave Simmons (Louisiana Tech `81)
           Record: 60-69 (5th year)
           at McNeese State: 33-39 (3rd year)
           vs. Texas A&M: 0-1
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PROJECTED MCNEESE STATE STARTERS
No.      Player                                    P         Ht.       Wt.      Cl-Ex               PPG    RPG    APG
23       C.J. Collins                           G        5-8     157    So-1L            4.9      2.0      3.5
22       Stephan Martin                     G        5-11   167    So-1L            8.8      2.3      --
24       John Pichon                          F         6-6     220    Sr-3L             10.5   6.5      --
43       P.J. Alawoya                         F         6-7     195    So-1L            8.3      8.5      --
15       Kleon Penn                           C        6-11   300    Sr-2L             7.0      5.1      --
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Additional Information:
Big 12 Conference: http://big12sports.com/
Southland Conference: http://southland.org/
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/
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Half Price Holiday Hoops
•     Texas A&M men's and women's home games through Monday will be half price.
•     For more information, go to http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/tickets/B08-Holiday.asp
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Series Notes
•     A&M leads the series, 2-1, with a 2-0 edge in games played in College Station and a 1-0 mark at Reed Arena.
•     A&M beat the Cowboys by a score of 73-50 last year at Reed Arena in Mark Turgeon's debut game.
•     The teams first met in 1995-96, with A&M posting a 97-68 victory at G. Rollie White Coliseum. McNeese State's lone victory was in 1995-96 (83-68) in Lake Charles.
•     A&M is 109-26 against current members of the Southland Conference. A&M is 2-0 against the SLC this season with home wins against Stephen F. Austin (55-48) and Sam Houston State (60-50).
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Key Game Notes
•     A&M closes out its non-conference schedule with home games against McNeese State on Saturday and North Dakota on Monday. The Aggies open Big 12 play at Oklahoma State next Saturday.
•     The Aggies have won eight straight -- tied for the 10th longest winning streak nationally -- and are coming off a 72-60 win at Rice on Wednesday.
•     McNeese State has lost three straight and is coming off a 57-52 loss to Samford at home on Tuesday. The Cowboys lost at LSU, 62-59, on Dec. 22, just two days after the Aggies defeated the Tigers (72-61) in Houston.
•     A win would make A&M 13-1 for the second straight season, matching the second-best record after 14 games in school history. The 1919-20 team finished with a perfect 19-0 mark. Other 13-1 starts were in 1921-22, 1959-60 and 2007-08.
•     A&M is 8-0 at home this season while McNeese State is 1-5 in true road games.
•     The Aggies have won 54 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 is 76-9 all-time in non-conference games at Reed (.894).
•     The Aggies are 75-10 (.882) at home in the last five years, the second most home wins in the country (Memphis has 80).
•     Mark Turgeon's 37-12 record is the second best coaching start in Big 12 history through 49 games. Kansas' Bill Self was 39-10 in 2003-05.
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Sidebars
•     Texas A&M sophomore guard B.J. Holmes and McNeese State sophomore forward P.J. Alawoya were teammates at Hastings High School in Houston.
•     McNeese State Assistant Coach T.J. Marcum is a 2000 graduate of Texas A&M. He was a team manager as a student at A&M and served as director of basketball operations under Melvin Watkins in 2003-04.
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About McNeese State
•     The Cowboys are in their third season under Coach Dave Simmons, a former standout player at Louisiana Tech who is a member of the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He was an assistant at Louisiana Tech (1983-86), where he coached NBA great Karl Malone.
•     McNeese State is led by junior guard Diego Kapelan (6-2), who averages 11.5 points per game. Senior forward John Pichon (6-6) adds 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. Kapelan scored 15 points, making 5 three-pointers, in the narrow loss at LSU.
•     The Cowboys have been stout on defense, allowing just 62.5 points per game on 38.1 percent field goal shooting. LSU made just 38.3 percent against the Cowboys after leading the nation in field goal accuracy.
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Last Year vs. MSU
COLLEGE STATION (AP, Nov. 9, 2007) - Freshman DeAndre Jordan scored 12 points and Josh Carter had 14 to lead 16th-ranked Texas A&M to a 73-50 victory over McNeese State. Joseph Jones had 11 points in limited action. The Aggies shook off a slow start to lead 41-26 at halftime and outscored McNeese State 22-9 in the opening minutes of the second half to stretch their lead 63-35. McNeese State was led by Jarvis Bradley with 12 points, while Rorey Lawrence and John Ford added 11 each. A 3-pointer by Dominique Kirk gave the Aggies a 22-20 lead and A&M outscored McNeese State 9-2 over the next two minutes.The Cowboys took a 6-0 lead and were on top until Kirk's 3 mostly due to poor shooting by the Aggies who missed three consecutive layups at one point in the first half.
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Rice Recap
HOUSTON (AP) - Josh Carter had 11 and Donald Sloan scored 10. Texas A&M has won eight straight and is off to a 12-1 start for the second straight season. Rodney Foster, who had 18 points, was the only player to score in double figures for Rice (5-8). He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range for the Owls.
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Inside Dish
•     Senior Josh Carter owns the school record for career three-point field goals with 250, which ranks eighth in Big 12 history. The old A&M mark was 232 by Bernard King (1999-03). Carter is the most accurate three-point shooter in school history, making 42.2 percent. He led the nation in 2006-07 by making 50.0 percent.
•     Carter leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.877, 50-57), 12th-best nationally among players with at least 55 attempts. The school record for a season is .865 by Mike Floyd in 1974-75. A&M is 67-11 when he scores in double figures.
•     Carter has had three 20-point games this season, and scored 19 in the win against LSU. He is averaging a team-best 13.7 points. A two-time honorable mention All-Big 12 pick, he was a second-team preseason selection.
•     Carter has started in 83 straight games -- every game since the start of his sophomore season. He has played in 114 career games and is on track to break the school record of 132 by Dominique Kirk (2004-08).
•     Junior Bryan Davis scored 18 points with 10 rebounds in the win at Rice. He has averaged 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds in the last eight games while making 67.3 (37-55) percent from the field. He leads the team in rebounds (6.8) and blocks (20). Davis was named to the all-tournament team at the South Padre Island Invitational. A&M is 20-3 when Davis scores in double figures.
•     Junior Donald Sloan has started in 49 straight games since the start of his sophomore year (2007-08). He has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games and tied his career-high with 21 points against Florida A&M. Sloan leads the team in assists (3.5). A&M is 32-4 with Sloan hands out at least 3 assists.
•     Junior Chinemelu Elonu has had a team-high three double-doubles this season and in the last five games has averaged 11.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.0 blocks while making 71.4 percent from the field. Elonu's season field goal percentage of .687 ranks fourth nationally (min. 65 FGA). A&M is 17-0 when Elonu scores at least 6 points and is 19-0 when he has at least 5 rebounds.
•     Sophomore B.J. Holmes has averaged 10.7 points in the last 10 games while making 45.2 percent (19-42) from three-point range. Holmes hit a rainbow three-pointer with two seconds left to send the Alabama game into overtime. He scored a career-high 16 points against Alabama and added 14 against Arizona. A&M is 9-0 in his career when he scores at least 8 points and is 18-2 when he makes at least one three-pointer. He's made a three-pointer in 11 straight games.
•     Junior Derrick Roland has scored at least 7 points in four straight games, averaging 8.3 points in that span. Roland is regarded as one of the country's top defenders and held Arizona's Chase Budinger to just 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting in the second half of A&M's come-from-behind victory. A&M is 15-3 when he scores at least 6 points in his career.
•     Sophomore Nate Walkup has become the Aggies' new "Mr. Clutch" for making big shots in tight games. His trey against Arizona with 20 seconds left proved to be the game-winner. He hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds left at Alabama, which set up B.J. Holmes trey at the end of regulation that sent the game into overtime. Walkup also hit key baskets late in close games against Stephen F. Austin, SMU and Rice.
•     Freshman Dash Harris handed out a career-high 5 assists with 0 turnovers in just 12 minutes in the win at Rice.
•     The Aggies made just 64.5 percent from the free throw line through the first five games and ranked last in the Big 12 last season at .633. The Aggies are second in the Big 12 this season at 71.4 percent. A&M set Big 12 and A&M records for free throw percentage by making 20-of-20 against Florida A&M.
•     The Aggies are 32-of-35 (.914) from the free throw line in the last two minutes of "close games," which are defined as games within 10 points. In the last six games, the Aggies are 23-of-25 (.920) in "crunch time.
•     A&M has posted an average scoring margin of +10.0 points per game. The Aggie are out-scoring their opponents by an average of +8.0 points per game from the free throw line.
•     The Aggies rallied from 14-point deficits to beat Arizona and Alabama. A&M was five points down with 15 seconds left in regulation against Alabama, but came back to win in overtime.
•     A&M had just 4 turnovers (16 assists) against Arizona, a school record for fewest in a game. A&M is averaging just 12.5 turnovers per game, third fewest in the Big 12. A&M is 9-0 when it has 15 or fewer turnovers this season.
•     A&M's 75 home wins in the last four years are the second most in the nation in that period behind Memphis (80).
•     A&M is 64-19 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.
•     A&M has scored at least 22 points in the paint in all 13 games, averaging 32.0 points in the paint per game.
•     The Aggies are receiving votes in both major polls are ranked No. 40 in the RPI.
•     In the last five games, A&M's opponents are averaging just 56.8 points per game on 38.7 percent field goal shooting, including only 28.9 percent from three-point range.