Jan. 16, 2009
COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M plays hosts to #6/5 ranked Oklahoma in the Aggies' third Big 12 game of the season this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
GAME #18
Texas A&M Aggies (15-2, 1-1 Big 12)
vs.
No. 5/6 Oklahoma Sooners (16-1, 2-0 Big 12)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
1:05 p.m. (CST)
College Station, Texas
Reed Arena (12,989 cap.)
Television
ESPN
Play-by-Play: Ron Franklin
Analyst: Stephen Bardo
ESPN360: http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/index?id=290170245
Dish Network: Channel 140
Direct TV: Channel 206
Radio
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: 91
www.aggieathletics.com
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
www.aggieathletics.com
Record: 15-2 (1-1 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI: Receiving votes (both polls) / 33
- Last Game: Beat No. 21 Baylor (84-73) on Wednesday
Current Streak: Won one
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
           Record: 193-132 (11th year)
           at Texas A&M: 40-13 (2nd year)
           vs. Oklahoma: 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   11.8    3.7      3.4
3         Derrick Roland         G        6-4     185    Jr-2L   5.3      2.3      --
23       Josh Carter              F         6-7     200    Sr-3L  13.2    3.9      --
0         Bryan Davis              F         6-9     240    Jr-2L  10.7      6.3     --
41       Chinemelu Elonu     C        6-10   235    Jr-2L   10.5    7.8      --
          Â
OKLAHOMA SOONERS
www.soonersports.com
Record: 16-1 (2-0 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI: 5 (coaches), 6 (AP) / 5
Last Game: Beat No. 11 Texas (78-63) at home on Monday
Current Streak: Won four stright
           Head Coach: Jeff Capel (Duke `97)
           Record: 134-69 (7th year)
           at Oklahoma: 55-28 (3rd year)
           vs. Texas A&M: 1-3
PROJECTED OKLAHOMA STARTERS
No.      Player                                    P         Ht.       Wt.      Cl-Ex   PPG    RPG    APG
20       Austin Johnson                     G        6-3     176    Sr-3L 7.1      2.7      4.3
13       Willie Warren                        G        6-4     207    Fr-Hs 15.9   1.9      2.8
5         Tony Crocker                        G        6-6     206    Jr-2L  10.8   3.5      --
32       Taylor Griffin                         F         6-7     238    Sr-3L 8.9      6.8      --
23       Blake Griffin                          F         6-10   251    So-1L 22.4   13.8   --
                                           Â
Additional Information:
Big 12 Conference: http://big12sports.com/
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/
Series Notes
- Oklahoma leads the series, 26-4, but A&M has won three of the last four meetings, including two straight in College Station.
- The Sooners had a 10-3 edge in games played in College Station and are 7-3 at Reed Arena.
- Six of the last seven games in the series were decided by 10 points or less.
- Oklahoma's Jeff Capel is 1-3 against Texas A&M, while the Aggies' Mark Turgeon is 1-1 against the Sooners.
Key Game Notes
- The Aggies are 15-2 for the second time in the last three years, matching the second-best start in school history. The only other teams to match or better that start were in 2006-07 (15-2), 1959-60 (15-2), 1921-22 (15-2) and 1919-20 (17-0).
- The Aggies have won 11 of their last 12 games and are coming off an 84-73 win against No. 21-ranked Baylor at home on Wednesday.Â
- Oklahoma has won four straight and is coming off a 78-63 win against No. 11 Texas at home on Monday. nA&M is 11-0 at home this season. The Aggies have won 52 of their last 57 home games overall and have won 17 of their last 22 in Big 12 play.
- The Sooners are 3-1 in true road games and are 6-1 in all games away from home this season.
- Mark Turgeon 40-13 record is the second-best coaching start in Big 12 history through 53 games. Kansas' Bill Self was 43-10 in 2003-05.
About Oklahoma
- The Sooners are in their third season under Head Coach Jeff Capel.
- Oklahoma finished 23-12 last season and tied for fourth in the Big 12 with a 9-7 mark. The Sooners advanced to the second-round of the NCAA Tournament.
- The Sooners' only loss this season was at Arkansas (96-88) on Dec. 30. They have posted impressive wins against Purdue (87-82 OT), USC (73-72) and Utah (70-52) and opened Big 12 play with a 61-53 win at Kansas State.
- Sophomore forward Blake Griffin (6-10) leads the Big 12 in scoring (22.4), rebounding (13.8) and field goal percentage (.645). He is an early favorite for NCAA player of the year honors.
- Freshman guard Willie Warren (6-4) adds 15.9 points while junior guard Tony Crocker (6-6) averages 10.8 points per contest.
- Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage defense (.375) .
Last Year at Reed
COLLEGE STATION (AP, Feb. 2, 2008) - Joseph Jones scored 18 points to lead No. 23 Texas A&M to a 60-52 win in a defensive battle with Oklahoma. The Aggies led by one when Donald Sloan got a steal and cut through the lane for a layup that made it 54-51 with just less than 2 minutes remaining. Longar Longar made the first of two free throws after Sloan's layup to cut the lead to 54-52, but his second one fell short. Jones made a free throw to stretch A&M's lead to 55-52 with 56 seconds left, but missed his second try. He got the rebound and Bryan Davis finished with a 3-point play that brought the crowd to its feet and made it 58-52, putting the game out of reach. A&M shot 35 percent for the game. David Godbold led the Sooners with a career-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers. The Aggies led by four points before Godbold keyed a 9-2 run that put Oklahoma ahead 42-39 midway through the second half. The Aggies went on a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-point play by Davis, to overcome a six-point halftime deficit and take a 33-31 lead with about 16:30 left. Oklahoma outscored the Aggies 12-6 in the last five minutes of the opening half to take a 29-23 lead at halftime. Davis finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and Sloan had 10 points.
Last Year in Norman
NORMAN, Okla. (AP, March 2, 2008) - Longar Longar had 14 points and eight rebounds and Oklahoma held Texas A&M scoreless for more than 16 straight minutes as the Sooners beat the Aggies 64-37. The Sooners set an NCAA record for the longest time holding an opponent scoreless, since the advent of the shot clock in 1986, by blanking Texas A&M for 16 minutes and 12 seconds. A&M's 10 first-half points set a Big 12 record for the fewest points in a half of a conference game and a school record for fewest points in a half in any game. The Aggies, who entered the game second in the Big 12 in field-goal percentage, made just 13 of 51 shots (25.5 percent), including 2 of 16 from 3-point range. Mark Turgeon. Bryan Davis' dunk with 16:39 left ended the Aggies' scoreless stretch, but A&M never seriously threatened in the second half. Oklahoma built its lead to as many as 29 points. Johnson and Blake Griffin each scored 13 points for Oklahoma. The Sooners shot 48 percent from the field, going 24 of 50.
Baylor Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Bryan Davis both scored 17 points and Elonu had a career-high 16 rebounds as Texas A&M got its first Big 12 win, 84-73 over No. 21 Baylor on Wednesday night. The last time these teams met in College Station, it took five overtimes for Baylor to get a 116-110 victory in the longest game in Big 12 history. This time the outcome was decided by halftime. A&M (15-2, 1-1) led by 11 points after the first half and 3-pointers by Josh Carter both added 15 points for A&M.
Inside Dish
- Senior Josh Carter owns the school record for career three-point field goals with 255, 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 41.7 percent. He led the nation in 2006-07 by making 50.0 percent.
- Carter leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage (.877, 57-65), 13th-best nationally among players with at least 65 attempts. The school record for a season is .865 by Mike Floyd in 1974-75. A&M is 59-11 when Carter scores in double figures and 30-18 when he doesn't reach 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 13.2 points. A two-time honorable mention All-Big 12 pick, he was a second-team preseason selection.
- Carter has started in 87 straight games -- every game since the start of his sophomore season. He has played in 118 career games and is on track to break the school record of 132 by Dominique Kirk (2004-08).
- Junior Bryan Davis scored 17 points in the win against Baylor, making 9-of 12 from the free throw line. He ranks second on the team in rebounds (6.3) and blocks (22). Davis was named to the all-tournament team at the South Padre Island Invitational. A&M is 21-3 when Davis scores in double figures in his career.
- Junior Donald Sloan has started in 53 straight games since the start of his sophomore year (2007-08). He has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 13 games and has scored at least 8 points in every game this year. Sloan leads the team in assists (3.4) and ranks fourth in the Big 12 in assist/turnover radio (2.3). A&M is 34-4 when Sloan hands out at least 3 assists.
- Junior Chinemelu Elonu has posted three straight double-doubles, averaging 16.7 points and 13.0 rebounds in that stretch. He has had a team-high six double-doubles this season and has averaged a double-double in the last nine games (13.7 points, 10 rebounds). Elonu's season field goal percentage of .664 ranks sixth nationally (min. 100 FGA). A&M is 20-1 when Elonu scores at least 6 points and is 22-1 when he has at least 5 rebounds in his career.
- Sophomore B.J. Holmes has averaged 10.6 points in the last 14 games while making 43.3 percent (29-67) 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 19 points at Oklahoma State. A&M is 10-1 in his career when he scores at least 8 points and is 21-3 when he makes at least one three-pointer. He's made a three-pointer in 15 straight games.
- Junior Derrick Roland scored 10 points in the win against Baylor, making both his three-point tries, and added a season-high 4 assists. He played just 10 minutes against McNeese State and missed the North Dakota game because of elbow and back injuries. 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 16-3 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 has had 16 assists with just six turnovers in the last five games and scored a career-high 6 points against North Dakota.
- In the last nine games, A&M's opponents are averaging just 60.3 points per game on 40.8 percent field goal shooting.uThe Aggies made just 64.5 percent from the free throw line through the first five games but have made 74.9 percent in the last 12 games. A&M ranked last in the Big 12 last year at .633 but are fourth this season at 71.5 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 46-of-52 (.885) from the free throw line in the last two minutes of "close games," which are defined as games within 10 points. In the last nine games, the Aggies are 34-of-39 (.872) in "crunch time.
- A&M has posted an average scoring margin of +8.8 points per game. The Aggie are out-scoring their opponents by an average of 7.2 points per game from the free throw line, the best margin in the Big 12.
- 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 11.9 turnovers per game, second fewest in the Big 12. A&M is 12-0 when it has 15 or fewer turnovers this season.
- A&M's 78 home wins in the last four years are the second most in the nation in that period behind Memphis (82).
- A&M is 67-20 (.770) in the last three seasons, ranking it among the winningest teams in the country in that span.
- A&M has scored at least 22 points in the paint in all 16 games, averaging 31.1 points in the paint per game.