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Aggies Face Tough Road Battle at NebraskaAggies Face Tough Road Battle at Nebraska
Men's Basketball

Aggies Face Tough Road Battle at Nebraska

Texas A&M rides a two-game winning streak into Tuesday night's game against the Cornhuskers. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. GAME #28 Texas A&M Aggies (19-8, 5-7 Big 12) vs.

Feb. 23, 2009

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Texas A&M rides a two-game winning streak into Tuesday night's game against the Cornhuskers. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

GAME #28
Texas A&M Aggies (19-8, 5-7 Big 12)
vs.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (16-9, 6-6 Big 12)
              
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
8:32 p.m. (CST)
Lincoln, Neb.
Devaney Center (13,595 cap.)

Television
ESPN2
(national)
Play-by-Play: Bob Wischusen
Analyst: Doug Gottlieb
Direct TV: Channel 209 / Dish Network: Channel 144 / Bryan Suddenlink: Channel 28
ESPN360: http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/espn360/index?id=290550158

Radio
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: Channel 126
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: 19-8 (5-7 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI (SOS): Unranked / 39 (33)

  • Last Game: Won at Texas Tech (79-73) on Saturday

Current Streak: Won two straight
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
            Record: 197-138 (11th year)
            at Texas A&M: 44-19 (2nd year)
            vs. Nebraska: 0-1

PROJECTED TEXAS A&M STARTERS
No.       Player                          P          Ht.        Wt.       Cl-Ex   PPG     RPG     APG
15        Donald Sloan            G         6-3      205     Jr-2L    11.4     3.6       3.0
3          Derrick Roland          G         6-4      185     Jr-2L    5.9       2.8       --
23        Josh Carter               F          6-7      200     Sr-3L   13.5     4.1      --
0          Bryan Davis               F          6-9      240     Jr-2L   10.6      6.3      --
41        Chinemelu Elonu      C         6-10    235     Jr-2L    10.4      7.6       --
           
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
www.huskers.com
Record: 16-9 (6-6 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI (SOS): unranked / 65 (47)
Last Game: Lost at Kansas (70-53) on Saturday
Current Streak: Lost one
            Head Coach: Doc Sadler (Arkansas `82)
            Record: 101-54 (5th year)
            at Nebraska: 53-36 (3rd year)
            vs. Texas A&M: 1-1

PROJECTED NEBRASKA STARTERS
No.       Player                                      P          Ht.        Wt.      Cl-Ex    PPG     RPG     APG
24        Cookie Miller                         G         5-7      165     So-1L 7.1       2.2       3.8
4          Steve Harley                          G         5-11    180     Sr-1L  10.7    3.4       --
5          Sek Henry                              G         6-3      200     Jr-2L   8.5       3.3       2.2
11        Ade Dagunduro                     G         6-5      200     Sr-1L  12.1    4.2       --
32        Chris Balham                         F          6-8      235     Jr-2L   2.2       2.6       --                     
                                        
Additional Information:
Big 12 Conference: http://big12sports.com/
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/

Series Notes

  • Nebraska lead the series, 11-5, including a 6-2 mark in Lincoln. All eight games were at the Devaney Center.
  • The Cornhuskers upset the Aggies last year in College Station, 65-59. A&M won the previous two meetings by identical 66-55 scores in Lincoln (2006-07) and College Station (2005-06).
  • A&M has won two of its last three games against Nebraska and has also won two of the last three in Lincoln.

Key Game Notes

  • The Aggies have won two straight and are coming off a 79-73 win at Texas Tech on Saturday.
  • Nebraska has lost two of its last three games and is coming off a 70-53 loss at Kansas on Saturday. 
  • The Aggies are 3-5 in true road games, including a 1-5 mark in Big 12 play. The Cornhuskers are 13-3 at home, with a 4-2 record in conference play.

About Nebraska

  • The Cornhuskers are in their third season under Head Coach Doc Sadler.
  • Nebraska finished 20-13 last year and placed seventh in the Big 12 with a 7-9 mark. The Cornhuskers advanced to the second round of the NIT.
  • Sophomore guard Ade Dagunduro (6-5) leads Nebraska in scoring (12.1). Senior guard Steve Harley (5-11) adds 10.7 points.
  • Senior guard Paul Velander (6-2) ranks fourth in the Big 12 in three-point percentage at .438.
  • Nebraska leads the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing only 58.7 points per game. The Cornhuskers rank second in the league in steals (8.8) and turnover margin (+5.8). Their opponents average 17.5 turnovers per game.
  • Among Nebraska's six Big 12 wins are home victories against  Missouri (56-51), Kansas State (73-51) and Texas (58-55).

Last Time They Met
COLLEGE STATION (AP, Feb. 23, 2008) -- Sek Henry hit two 3-pointers in the last 5 minutes to help Nebraska to a 65-59 victory over No. 22 Texas A&M, their second straight win over a ranked team. With about 6 minutes to go, freshman Cookie Miller crashed into Dominique Kirk and remained on the court writhing in pain for several minutes. The 5-foot-7 Miller, who was called for the foul, injured his left shoulder and was taken to the locker room by trainers. The Aggies took a 53-50 lead less than 2 minutes later after a 9-2 run fueled by 3-pointers by Kirk and Donald Sloan. Henry's 3-pointer seconds later tied it and a jumper by Steve Harley put Nebraska back on top. The teams exchanged layups and the Cornhuskers went ahead 57-55 before a layup by Sloan tied it again. Henry hit another 3-pointer with 1:23 to go before Jay-R Strowbridge made a free throw that gave Nebraska a 61-57 lead with 35 seconds to play. The Aggies lost the ball on a bad pass and were forced to foul. Henry missed both shots, but Nebraska got the rebound. Harley hit both free throws after another foul to make it 63-57 with 17 seconds left. Derrick Roland's slam dunk made it 63-59 but A&M had to foul again. Harley hit two more free throws to secure the win. Roland led A&M with 13 points. A&M's first-half shooting woes continued after halftime and the Aggies went without a field goal for an almost 7 1/2-minute span in the second half. A three-point play by Sloan finally broke the drought and made it 46-41. A 3-pointer by Kirk after a layup by Nebraska's Ade Dagunduro got A&M within 48-44.

Last Time in Lincoln
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP, Feb. 10, 2007) - Dominique Kirk 10 for the Aggies. Ryan Anderson scored all 18 of his points - on six 3-pointers - in the first half to lead Nebraska. Aleks Maric had all 15 of his points in the second half, and Marcus Perry added 11 for the Huskers.
 
Texas Tech Recap
LUBBOCK -- Texas A&M likely would have routed Texas Tech had it not missed 21 free throws. But the Aggies made enough of them to beat the Red Raiders 79-73 Saturday night despite being awful from the line. Mark Turgeon said Elonu continues to improve. "I don't know the league well enough, but most improved player from one year to the next, I'm sure Chin's gonna be right there if they even have an award like that," he said. "He'll be right there for it. He played well today." The Aggies trailed only a few times in the second half and never more than two points. Both teams went to the free throw line often but the Aggies had more than twice the attempts (51) as did the Red Raiders (22). There were 56 fouls called in the game and four Tech players fouled out. Josh Carter added 20 points for the Aggies (19-8, 5-7 Big 12), hitting four of his six attempts from 3-point range. Alan Voskuil and John Roberson scored 16 each, and Nick Okorie added 14 to lead the Red Raiders (12-15, 2-10). The loss was the fourth straight for Tech. "Our guards made good decisions to read it and get him the ball in position to make shots. Josh wasn't very good today, but he had 20 points. He was not very good at the foul line, I didn't think he was very good at defending and he wasn't good with the ball. He did rebound well for us. He had five defensive rebounds. But he seemed tired to me."

Hoops Success

  • A&M needs one more victory for its fifth straight 20-win season. Before the 2004-05 season, A&M had only six 20-win seasons in its entire history.
  • A&M, Kansas and Texas are the only three Big 12 schools that have won at least 20 games in each of the last four years. Only 23 schools in the nation have won at least 20 games in each of the last four seasons.
  • A&M also is looking for its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Prior to this streak, A&M had never made consecutive NCAA appearances. Including the 2005 NIT, A&M has advanced to postseason play four straight years.
  • A&M is 4-3 NCAA Tournament play in the last three years. Prior to that, A&M was just 3-7 in NCAA Tournament games in its history.
  • A&M's three NCAA losses in the last three years were by an average of 1.7 points with each game decided in the final 10 seconds.
  • A&M is one of just eight schools that have advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons.
  • A&M is the only Big 12 school -- and one of just four schools nationally --  to win at least one postseason game in each of the last four seasons (1 NIT/3 NCAA Tournaments). The others are North Carolina (4 NCAAs), Georgetown (1 NIT/3 NCAAs) and Memphis (1 NIT/3 NCAAs).

Academic Success

  • When the NCAA adopted the Academic Progress Rate (APR) as its standard for measuring the academic success of its member schools in 2004, Texas A&M did not meet the minimum score of 925 and lost a scholarship for the 2004-05 season. The program's APR for 2007-08 improved to a perfect score of 1,000.
  • All nine Aggies seniors have graduated in the last two seasons and seniors Josh Carter and Bryson Graham are on schedule to graduate this year.

NBA Presence

  • A&M has produced three NBA Draft picks in the last four years. , including first round choices Acie Law IV (2007, Atlanta Hawks) and Antoine Wright (2005, New Jersey Nets). DeAndre Jordan was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2008.
  • Prior to 2005, A&M had not produced an NBA Draft pick since 1987. A&M's never had more than one active NBA player before now.
  • Law, Wright and Jordan have each started in NBA games this season.

Tough Competition

  • A&M's schedule is the 27th-strongest in the nation according to rpiratings.com. The Aggies have an official NCAA RPI of 38.
  • Nine of A&M's first 12 league opponents were ranked among the top 50 in the RPI and 11 were in the top 100.
  • Saturday's game at Texas Tech (122 RPI) marked the first time A&M played a team outside the top 100 since it faced North Dakota on Jan. 5.
  • A&M is the only team in Big 12 history to play every team in the top half of the preseason coaches poll in its first five games. Three of those games were on the road at three of the toughest venues in the country (Oklahoma State, defending NCAA champion Kansas and No. 11 Texas), while the other two were at home against ranked teams (No. 21 Baylor, No. 5 OU).

Coach Turgeon

  • A former player and assistant coach at Kansas, 44-year-old Mark Turgeon is in his second season at Texas A&M. He cut his coaching teeth at Kansas under legends Larry Brown and Roy Williams.
  • Turgeon's 44-19 record matches the best coaching start in A&M history and the second-best in the Big 12's 13-year history. Kansas' Bill Self was 47-16 after 63 games in 2003-05 and Billy Gillispie was 44-19 at A&M in 2004-06.
  • Turgeon led the Aggies to a 25-11 record last year, the third most wins in school history. A&M advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, dropping a close 51-49 decision to No. 1-seed UCLA.
  • Turgeon's 25 wins last season were the most by a Big 12 coach in his debut and tied for the most by a first-year coach in the history of any Big 12 school. Tom Penders went 25-9 in his first year at Texas in 1988-89 prior to the Big 12. 
  • Turgeon needs one more win to notch his fifth 20-win season in the last six seasons. His teams have advanced to postseason play five times in the previous six years.

Player Notables

  • JOSH CARTER: All-Big 12 candidate ... see page 16 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... had a career-high 26 points and tied school record with 8 three-pointers two years ago at Nebraska ... mark also tied Devaney Center record ... has scored in double figures in seven straight games ... A&M is 93-35 (.727) since Carter joined the program ... needs three more victories to become the winningest player in school history ... one of only two players in A&M history to score at least 1,400 points with 400 rebounds (474) and 200 assists (232), joining Bernard King (1,990/490/550) ... owns school record for career three-point field goals (280), No. 4 in Big 12 history ... with 1,462 career points (8th in A&M history), needs 133 points to move into top five ... leads Big 12 in free throw accuracy (.845), despite going 2-of-6 at Texas Tech ... chasing school record of .865 set by Mike Floyd in 1974-75 ... ranks fifth in career percentage at .799 ... has played in all 128 career games and has started in 97 straight ... on pace to break the school record for games played (132 by Dominique Kirk, 2004-08) ... A&M is 63-15 in his career when he scores in double figures, including a 16-4 mark this season.
  • BRYAN DAVIS: All-Big 12 candidate ... see page 10 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... leads team in rebounding (6.3), ranks second in blocks (34), and is third in scoring (10.6) ... ninth in the Big 12 in rebounding, fifth in blocked shots ... earned all-tournament honors at the South Padre Island Invitational, where he scored 15 points with 13 rebounds in the final-round win vs. Kent State ... ranks eighth in A&M history in career blocks (84 ... team is 24-5 in his career when he scores in double figures.
  • DONALD SLOAN: All-Big 12 candidate ... see page 15 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... has scored in double figures in six straight games ... leads team in assists (3.0), ranks second in scoring (11.4) and is third in steals (21) ... has committed just 44 turnovers (with 82 assists) in 827 minutes of action this season (one every 18.8 minutes). Last year, he averaged a turnover every 13.3 minutes ... is 25-of-29 (.862) on free throws in "crunch time" this season (games within 10 points in the final two minutes) ... making 75.2 percent from the free throw line, a marked improvement over last season's .673 mark ... leads the team in free throws made (91) and attempted (121) ... Aggies are 36-6 in his career when he hands out at least 3 assists.
  • DERRICK ROLAND: Big 12 All-Defense candidate ... see page 11 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... one of the country's top defenders ... normally guards the opponents' top scoring guard ... in Big 12 play, his primary assignment has averaged just 12.3 points while making just 33.8 percent from the field and 29.0 percent from three-point range ... opponents' top-scoring guard has scored below his average in all but two Big 12 games ... making 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from three-point range in Big 12 play ...  held Texas' A.J. Abrams to a season-low 7 points on 3-12 shooting in win against Longhorns ... Abrams averaged just 8.0 points against Roland this year ... Oklahoma State's James Anderson averaged just 9.5 points in two games against Roland ... scored 13 points, making 3-of-6 three-pointers, against UNC Wilmington ... team is 8-2 in his career when he scores in double figures.
  • CHINEMELU ELONU: All-Big 12 candidate / Big 12 All-Defense candidate / Big 12 Most-Improved candidate ... see page 17 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... averaged 1.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 56 career games entering season ... in Big 12 play, he ranks second on the team in scoring (11.6) while leading in rebounding (8.3), blocks (24) and field goal accuracy (.607) ... has had eight double-doubles (fifth most in the Big 12), including four in league play ... ranks second in Big 12 in blocked shots (2.0) and offensive rebounds (3.9) ... sixth in total rebounds (8.3) in league play ... leads the team in field goal percentage at .642, seventh-best nationally (min. 150 FGA) ... school record is .622 by Rudy Woods in 1978-79 ... leads the team in three-point plays (FG+FT) with nine and also leads in dunks with 31 ... younger sister, Adaora Elonu (uh-DOOR-uh) is a 6-1 freshman forward for the A&M women's team who twice has been named the Big 12's Freshman of the Week ... Aggies are 24-5 in his career when he scores at least 6 points and are 26-4 when he has at least 5 rebounds.
  • B.J. HOLMES: Big 12 All-Reserve candidate ... see page 14 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... one of the top players off the bench in the Big 12, averaging 8.4 points in conference play ... In Big 12 games, ranks second in the league in three-point percentage (.457) and is third in free throw percentage (.865) ... scored a career-high 24 points in first win against Texas Tech, making 6-of-7 three-pointers (.875), tying for the fourth-best percentage in school history ... made his first six three-pointers against Tech, tying Big 12 record for consecutive treys ... had streak of 20 straight games with at least one three-pointer (the third longest in school history) earlier this season ... has been the Aggies' top scorer off the bench a team-high 17 times ... scored 16 points with a career-best 7 rebounds in the win at Alabama and nailed a rainbow three-pointer with :02 left to send the game to overtime ... has had just 17 turnovers (38 assists) in 599 minutes, an average of just one every 35.2 minutes ... Aggies are 9-2 this season when he scores in double figures.
  • NATHAN WALKUP: Scored 7 points (3-of-3 from the field) in win against Texas, a career-high for a Big 12 game ... see page 18 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... nailed the game-winning three-pointer with 20 seconds left vs. Arizona, his only points of the game ... made another big three with :14 left at Alabama to pull A&M within 2 points before teammate B.J. Holmes tied it with :02 left ... also hit a "clutch" jumper in the final minute against Stephen F. Austin to help ice the victory ... made a three-pointer with 7:32 left at Rice that gave the Aggies a six-point lead and the Owls never came close again ... grabbed 11 rebounds against Stephen F. Austin and pulled down a career-best 12 against UNC Wilmington ... scored a season-high 9 points against UNC Wilmington, just missing his first career double-double ... Aggies are 12-1 in his career when he scores at least 5 points and are 13-2 when he makes at least one three-pointer, including a 7-0 mark this season.
  • DASH HARRIS: Has emerged as one of the team's best defenders ... see page 12 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... in the last 15 games has handed out 35 assists with 19 turnovers ... handed out a career-best 5 assists with 0 turnovers in win vs. Texas ... also had 5 assists vs. Texas Tech, Rice and McNeese State ... had 4 assists and a career-high 6 points vs. North Dakota ... ranks third on the team with 51 assist ... Aggies are 7-0 when he has at least 3 assists.
  • DAVID LOUBEAU: Preseason honorable mention freshman All-America by Collegeinsider.com ... see page 13 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... ranks second among Big 12 freshmen in offensive rebounding (2.3) in league play ... scored 11 points with 8 rebounds in first win against Texas Tech and added 10 points in win against Oklahoma State ... scored a career-high 12 points with 8 rebounds in the win against Kent State ... has been the first player off the bench a team-high 16 times ... scored 9 points, all in the second half, in close loss at Oklahoma ... Aggies are 6-1 when he scores at least 8 points, losing only at Oklahoma, when he helped A&M take a late lead with 9 second-half points.

Offensive Notes
Scoring
A&M is 12-0 this season with it scores at least 72 points ... the Aggies are one of the most balanced teams in the Big 12 with four players averaging in double figures and five players averaging between 8.4 and 12.9 points in league play ... no player from A&M or Nebraska ranks among the league's top 20 scorers ... A&M is 11-2 when it has four or more players score in double figures and is 17-3 when three or more reach double digits ... A&M is 13-1 in the last three years when the trio of Carter, Sloan and Davis each score in double figures, including a 9-1 mark this year (the only loss was at Oklahoma) ...  the Aggies average 18.6 bench points and have had at least 10 bench points in all but the loss at Baylor ... A&M is 8-0 when it has at least 8 fast break points this season and is 17-1 when they reach that mark under Mark Turgeon.

Production in Wins/Losses
In its Big 12 wins, A&M has averaged 79.8 points while making .473 from the field, .441 from three-point range and .700 from the free throw line ... in its losses, the Aggies have averaged 62.0 points while making .398 from the field,.325 from three-point range and .644 from the line ... A&M has averaged 14.9 turnovers in its Big 12 losses, but only 10.8 in its conference wins ... A&M is averaging 19.0 bench points in its Big 12 wins, but only 15.0 in its losses.

Field Goal Shooting
The Aggies are 14-1 when they make at least 43 percent from the field ... A&M is 5-7 when it shoots under 43 percent ... under Mark Turgeon, A&M is 36-5 when it makes at least 43 percent from the field, with a 19-0 mark when it makes better than 50 percent.

Efficiency
A&M is 18-3 when it has just 9 assists or more this season ... the Aggies are 12-0 when they have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, including a 4-0 mark in league play ... A&M is 36-6 when Donald Sloan has at least 3 assists in his career, including a 13-2 mark this year ... the Aggies are 7-0 when Dash Harris has at least 3 assists.

Turnovers
A&M averaged 12.0 turnovers per game in non-conference play, second fewest in the Big 12 ... In Big 12 play, the Aggies are averaging 13.2 turnovers, sixth fewest in the league ... A&M is 15-3 when it has 13 or fewer turnovers ... under Mark Turgeon, the Aggies are 33-7 with 13 or fewer turnovers ... the Aggies are 15-1 when their opponents have 13 or fewer points off turnovers, including a 4-1 mark in Big 12 play (only loss was at Oklahoma) ... A&M has surrendered an average of 17.8 points off turnovers in its losses, but only 9.3 in its victories (in Big 12 play, A&M has given up 17.4 in its losses and only 9.6 in its wins) ... under Turgeon, A&M is 28-4 when it has more points off turnovers than its opponent ... the Aggies had 16 assists and only 4 turnovers against Arizona, their fewest turnovers in a game since the statistic was first maintained in the mid-1970s ... A&M almost matched that performance against McNeese State, handing out 16 assists with only 6 turnovers.

Inside Game
A&M has outrebounded six of its last seven opponents with an average margin of +8.6 in that span ... the Aggies had a +14 rebounding margin in the narrow loss at Oklahoma, the Sooners largest deficit of the year ... The Aggies had a +17 margin in the win at Texas Tech ... A&M is 15-3 when out-rebounding its opponent this season and is 4-5 when being beaten on the boards ... A&M posted a +7 rebounding margin against LSU, which came into the game leading the nation in rebounding margin ... in Big 12 play, the Aggies rank second in the league in offensive rebounding with 13.5 per game ... A&M is averaging 29.6 points in the paint and have scored at least 18 points in the paint in every game ... the Aggies are 16-1 this season when scoring at least 27 points in the paint, but are only 3-7 when scoring 26 points or fewer in the paint ... under Turgeon, A&M is 38-5 when scoring at least 27 points in the paint.

From the Line
After ranking last in the Big 12 last year in free throw accuracy (.633), A&M ranks seventh this season at .692 ... the Aggies rank last in the Big 12 in league play at .663, but have made more free throws (214) than any team except Oklahoma State (232)  ... A&M made 71.7 percent prior to conference play ... the Aggies were a dismal 30-of-51 in the win at Texas Tech, resulting in a relatively close game ... free throw shooting cost A&M dearly in the close losses to nationally-ranked Oklahoma (twice), Texas and Kansas State ... the Aggies were 14-of-23 (.609) against the Sooners in College Station and were just 10-of-18 in Norman, losing both games by just six points ... A&M made a season-low 12-of-24 (.500) in the loss at Texas and was just 19-of-30 in the five-point loss to Kansas State ... In its Big 12 losses, A&M has made just 64.4 percent from the line; in their league wins, the Aggies have made 68.1 percent (72.5 percent if you exclude the Tech game)  and out-scored their opponents by an average of 10.2 points from the line ... ironically, the Aggies set Big 12 and school marks for free throw accuracy by making 20-of-20 (1.000) against Florida A&M ... A&M made 18-of-21 (.857) from the line in the win against Texas ... A&M is 74-of-90 (.822) from the line in the last two minutes of "close games," which are defined as games within 10 points ... as a team, the Aggies shoot almost 10,000 free throws per week in practice ... for the season, A&M has made more free throws (482) than its opponents have attempted (451) ... A&M averages 26.9 free throw attempts per game in Big 12 play (most in the league), 8.5 more than its opponents ... the Aggies have an average scoring margin of -0.7 in league play ... when it has more free throw attempts than its opponent, A&M is 18-6 overall.

Defensive Notes
Scoring
A&M is 10-0 when its opponent scores 64 points or fewer this season ... the Aggies are ranked seventh in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 65.1 points per game ... one of the nation's top scoring teams, Oklahoma State (83.3) scored a season-low 64 points in A&M's win on Jan. 31 and averaged just 68.0 points in two games against the Aggies ... high-scoring Baylor (79.7) averaged just 72.5 points in two games against the Aggies ... every Big 12 opponent has scored under its season average against A&M ... under Mark Turgeon, A&M is 37-9 when its opponent scores 70 or fewer points.

Field Goal Shooting
The Aggies are allowing .424 field goal accuracy for the year and .441 in Big 12 play, fifth best in the league ...  A&M is 14-3 this season when its opponent makes under 45 percent from the field and is 5-5 when the opponent shoots better than that mark ... the Aggies are 11-1 when their opponent make under 41 percent ... under Turgeon, the Aggies are 29-2 when they opponent makes under 41 percent from the field ... A&M ranks fourth in the Big 12 in three-point percentage defense at .348 in league play.

Production in Wins/Losses
In its Big 12 wins, the Aggies have allowed an average of 69.2 points and its opponents have made 42.6 percent from the field, 30.6 percent from three-point range and 71.6 percent from the free throw line ... in its league losses, A&M has allowed 70.7 points on 45.4 percent shooting, including 38.5 percent from three-point range and 72.1 percent from the line.

Blocked Shots
In Big 12 play, A&M ranks fourth in the league in blocked shots with 4.1 per game ... in the full season statistics, A&M and Oklahoma are the only teams in the Big 12 with two players among the top five in the league in blocked shots ... Chinemelu Elonu ranks second in the Big 12 in blocks for the season (1.7) and in league play (2.0) ... Bryan Davis ranks fifth in both season (1.3) and conference play (1.2) ... Davis ranks eighth on the A&M career chart (84) while Elonu is ninth (72) ... the last time A&M averaged more blocks in a season was in 1989-90, when the team was led by shot blocking ace David Harris, who averaged 3.5 by himself.

Additional Notes
Stay in the Game
A&M players have fouled out just five times this season and one was in overtime at Alabama (Bryan Davis) ... opposing players have fouled out 20 times this season ... in Big 12 play, A&M players have fouled out just twice ... the school record for fewest foul outs is eight in 1958-59 ... for conference play, it is two in 1959 (Southwest Conference).

In the Clutch
A&M is 11-5 in games decided by 10 points or fewer, but is just 2-5 in Big 12 play ... five of A&M's seven league losses were by nine points or fewer and four were by six or less ... the last three Big 12 losses were a one possession game in the final minute ... the Aggies are 18-1 when they have the lead going into the final five minutes, losing only at No. 2 Oklahoma ... under Mark Turgeon, the Aggies are 38-3 when they have the lead going into the final five minutes.