Aggies Look for Important Road Win at Colorado

March 3, 2009

COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M goes for its fifth straight win on Wednesday when it plays the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder. The game will tip at 8:05 (CST)/7:05 (MST) and will be televised on ESPNU.

GAME #30
Texas A&M Aggies (21-8, 7-7 Big 12)
vs.
Colorado Buffaloes (9-19, 1-13 Big 12)
              
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
8:05 p.m. (CST)/7:05 p.m. (MST)
Boulder, Colo.
Coors Events/Conference Center (11,064 cap.)

Television
ESPNU
Play-by-Play: Dave Armstrong
Analyst: Reid Gettys
Check Local Listings
Direct TV: Channel 614
Dish Network: Channel 148

Radio
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: Channel 91
www.aggieathletics.com
Texas A&M Sports Network Stations
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College Station                   WTAW-AM       1620
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Houston                          KBME-AM        790
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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: 21-8 (7-7 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI (SOS): Unranked / 35 (39)

• Last Game: Beat Iowa State (87-69) at home on Saturday

Current Streak: Won four straight
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
            Record: 199-138 (11th year)
            at Texas A&M: 46-19 (2nd year)
            vs. Colorado: 1-0

PROJECTED TEXAS A&M STARTERS
No.       Player                          P          Ht.        Wt.      Cl-Ex               PPG     RPG     APG
15        Donald Sloan            G         6-3      205     Jr-2L                11.1     3.6       3.0
3          Derrick Roland          G         6-4      185     Jr-2L               5.9       2.7       --
23        Josh Carter               F          6-7      200     Sr-3L               13.9     4.3      --
0          Bryan Davis               F          6-9      240    Jr-2L               10.4      6.2      --
41        Chinemelu Elonu      C         6-10    235     Jr-2L                10.4      7.6       --
           
COLORADO BUFFALOES
www.cubuffs.com
Record: 9-19 (1-13 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI (SOS): unranked / 228 (78)
Last Game: Lost at Baylor (75-57) on Saturday
Current Streak: Lost nine straight
            Head Coach: Jeff Bzdelik (Illinois-Chicago `76)
            Record: 96-86 (6th year)
            at Colorado: 21-39 (2nd year)
            vs. Texas A&M: 0-1

PROJECTED COLORADO STARTERS
No.       Player                                      P          Ht.        Wt.      Cl-Ex    PPG     RPG     APG
1          Nate Tomlinson                     G         6-2      180     Fr-Hs 7.5       2.6       2.8
11        Cory Higgins                          G         6-5      185     So-1L 17.3     5.6       2.5
12        Dwight Thorne II                     G         6-2      185     Jr-2L   12.3    3.2       --
31        Jermyl Jackson-Wilson        F          6-6      230     Sr-2L  5.5       3.9       --
33        Austin Dufault                        F          6-8      210     Fr-Hs 8.8       3.9       --
                                        
Additional Information:
Big 12 Conference: http://big12sports.com/
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/

Series Notes

• Colorado leads, 9-6, but A&M has won five straight since a 76-70 Buffaloes victory in College Station in 2004.
• Colorado has a 4-2 edge in games played in Boulder (all at the Coors Center), but A&M has won two straight -- a 92-77 win in 2005 and an 87-69 victory in 2007.
• The Aggies beat the Buffaloes, 86-69, last year in College Station in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Key Game Notes

• The Aggies have won four straight and are coming off an 87-69 victory against Iowa State at home on Saturday. 
• Colorado has lost nine straight and is coming off a 75-57 loss at Baylor on Saturday.
• The Aggies are 4-5 in true road games, including a 2-5 mark in Big 12 play, but have won two straight. The Buffaloes are 8-8 at home, with an 1-6 record in conference play.
• Josh Carter will make his 100th career start on Wednesday.
• A win would hand Mark Turgeon the 200th victory of his coaching career. Turgeon is 199-138 in his 11th year as a college head coach. He is 46-19 at A&M, matching the best start in A&M history and the second-best start in Big 12 history. Kansas' Bill Self started with a 48-17 mark after 65 games in 2003-06. Billy Gillispie was 46-19 at A&M in 2004-07)

Tough Competition

• A&M's RPI is 35. The Aggies' schedule is rated as the 37th-toughest in the nation.
• A&M has beaten four teams ranked in the top 40 in the RPI. Of the eight losses, four have been against top-40 teams. A&M has not lost a game to a team outside the top 75.
• A&M's last three losses were decided in the final minute, including road games at Oklahoma and Baylor. The Aggies took the Sooners to the final minute in both meetings this season.
• The Aggies have defeated three teams that have been ranked in the national polls at some point this season -- Texas, LSU and Baylor.
• In non-conference play, A&M defeated two top-50 teams in Arizona (47 RPI) and No. 18-ranked LSU (25 RPI). The only loss was to Tulsa (62 RPI) at a neutral site. The lowest ranked team to beat the Aggies has been Kansas State (73 RPI).

About Colorado

• The Buffaloes are in their second season under Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik. 
• Colorado finished 12-20 last year and placed 12th in the Big 12 with a 3-13 mark.
• The Buffaloes' lone Big 12 victory was against Iowa State (55-49) on Jan. 27 in Boulder. They have dropped overtime games at home to two upper division Big 12 teams, losing to Kansas State (77-75) and Texas (85-76). Six of their Big 12 losses were decided by five points or less, or in overtime. 
• Sophomore guard Cory Higgins (6-5) ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring (17.3) and second in free throw percentage (.833). Junior guard Dwight Thorne II (6-3) adds 12.3 points and ranks third in the league in three-point percentage (.439) in league play. Thorne is a cousin of former A&M All-American Acie Law IV.
• Colorado ranks second in the Big 12 in free throw accuracy, making 72.9 percent.

Last Time They Met
COLLEGE STATION (AP, Jan. 12, 2008) -- Mark Turgeon was unhappy that Colorado shot 62 percent from the field, a figure bolstered by a 77 percent effort in the second half. The only time the Aggies (15-1, 1-0) trailed in this one was when a 3 by Cory Higgins made it 3-0 in the opening minute. They led by 15 points at halftime and had built their lead to 61-42 after a layup by Bryan Davis about eight minutes into the second half. Higgins had 15 points for the Buffaloes and Xavier Silas and Richard Roby added 14 apiece. Colorado had trouble defending A&M's balanced scoring attack, which featured six players in double figures. Along with Jordan and Kirk, Davis, Josh Carter, Joseph Jones and Donald Sloan all scored at least 10 points.

Last Time in Boulder
BOULDER, Colo. (AP, Jan. 13, 2007) - Acie Law IV scored 21 points to lead No. 8-ranked Texas A&M to an 87-69 victory against Colorado. The Aggies (15-2, 3-0 Big 12) were led  by Josh Carter scored 19 - including five 3-pointers - before fouling out late. Antanas Kavaliauskas finished with 15 points. Colorado (4-9, 0-3) was led by Dominique Coleman with 17 points. He also had a career-best 13 rebounds. Richard Roby, who came in averaging 25 points in Big 12 play, scored 11. Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, who sustained a mild concussion against Oklahoma earlier this week, finished with 13 points.
 
Iowa State Recap
COLLEGE STATION (AP) - Josh Carter had seven 3-pointers and a career-high 29 points to lead Texas A&M to an 87-69 win over Iowa State on Saturday. The win is A&M's fourth straight and Iowa State's 15th consecutive Big 12 road loss. The Aggies used a 14-4 run in the opening minutes of the second half to stretch a seven-point lead into a a 58-41 advantage. A&M (21-8, 7-7 Big 12) made five 3-pointers in the next six minutes to push the lead to 73-46 with about nine minutes left. Carter was 7-of-10 from 3-point range and finished just one shy of his career-high of eight 3s. Chinemelu Elonu added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies, his ninth double-double of the year. Iowa State (14-15, 3-11) was led by Craig Brackins who had 20 points. "My teammates set up some great looks for me, and that enabled me to make some shots," Carter said. "I am more aggressive right now than I have been. I am taking shots that I wasn't taking previously. There is a thin line between winning and losing, and we have been on both sides this season. When we were on our losing streak, I knew I was going to have to step up and start playing better." The Aggies made 52.5 percent from the field, their best since a win over Kent State in last November. A&M dominated inside, scoring 32 points in the paint and posting a 38-24 rebounding margin.

Hoops Success

• A&M has posted 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 five years. Only 23 schools in the nation won at least 20 games in each of the previous four seasons.
• A&M 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).

Home Court Advantage

• A&M has won 56 of its last 63 home games, including 21 of its last 28 in Big 12 play.
• The Aggies are 15-2 at home this season, their fifth straight season with at least 15 home victories.
• The Aggies have won 56 straight regular-season non-conference games at Reed Arena, including wins against Arizona, Alabama and LSU. The last loss was to A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 13, 2003 (82-80). A&M is 77-9 all-time in non-conference games at Reed (.895).
• The Aggies are 49-6 (.890) at home the last three seasons and are 82-12 (.872) in the last five years, the second most home wins in the country (Memphis has won 88).
• A&M is 122-53 (.697) in its 11th season at Reed Arena. The Aggies were 41-41 (.500) in its first six years at Reed.
• The $23 million, 68,000-square-foot Cox-McFerrin Center for Aggie Basketball was officially dedicated on Jan. 17. The addition includes practice gyms, locker rooms, film rooms, a weight room, training facilities and offices.
• 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 used to fund the facility.
• 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 averaging 10,728 fans per game in Big 12 play this season.

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.

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 46-19 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 48-17 after 65 games in 2003-06 and Billy Gillispie was 46-19 at A&M in 2004-07.
• 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 has led his teams to at least 21 wins in five of the last six seasons (His WSU team won 19 games in 2006-07). His teams have advanced to postseason play five times in the previous six years. His record in the last six years is 134-63 (.680).

Player Notables

• Josh Carter: will make his 100th career start on Wednesday ... scored a career-high 29 points (7-of-10 three-pointers) vs. Iowa State ... made game-winning three-pointer at buzzer against Nebraska ... has scored in double figures in nine straight games ... has made 14-of-19 (.737) three-pointers in the last three games ... A&M is 95-35 (.731) since Carter joined the program, tying him with Dominique Kirk (2004-08) as the winningest players in school history ... one of only two players in A&M history to score at least 1,500 points with 400 rebounds (488) and 200 assists (235), joining Bernard King (1,990/490/550) ... owns school record for career three-point field goals (290), No. 4 in Big 12 history ... with 1,502 career points (7th in A&M history), needs 92 points to move into top five ... leads Big 12 in free throw accuracy (.851) ... chasing school record of .865 set by Mike Floyd in 1974-75 ... ranks third in career percentage at .801 ... has played in all 130 career games and is on pace to break the school record for games played (132 by Dominique Kirk, 2004-08) ... A&M is 65-15 when he scores in double figures, including an 18-4 mark this season.
• Bryan Davis: All-Big 12 candidate ... see page 10 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... second on team in rebounding (6.2) and blocks (35), and is third in scoring (10.4) ... 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 (85) ... team is 25-5 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 ... leads team in assists (3.0), ranks second in scoring (11.1) and is third in steals (21) ... has committed just 45 turnovers (with 87 assists) in 879 minutes of action this season (one every 19.5 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 37-6 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 11.6 points while making just 34.1 percent from the field and 28.4 percent from three-point range ... opponents' top-scoring guard has scored below his average in all but two Big 12 games ... 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 in two games against Roland this year ... Oklahoma State's James Anderson averaged only 9.5 points in two games against Roland ... scored 13 points, making 3-of-6 three-pointers, against UNC Wilmington ... team is 21-4 in his career when he scores at least 7 points, including a 9-2 mark this year.
• 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 (11.5) while leading in rebounding (8.4), blocks (26) and field goal accuracy (.642) ... has had nine double-doubles (fifth most in the Big 12), including five in league play ... ranks second in Big 12 in blocked shots (1.9) and offensive rebounds (3.8) ... sixth in total rebounds (8.4) in league play ... leads the team in field goal percentage at .659, third-best nationally (min. 175 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 36 ... 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 26-5 in his career when he scores at least 6 points and are 28-4 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 ... leads Big 12 in three-point percentage (.463) in league play... one of the top players off the bench in the Big 12, averaging 8.4 points in conference play ... 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 18 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 (41 assists) in 643 minutes, an average of just one every 37.8 minutes ... A&M is 9-2 this year when he scores in double figures.
• B.J. Holmes tied it with :02 left ... also hit a "clutch" jumper in the final minute against Stephen F. Austin to 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 13-1 in his career when he scores at least 5 points and are 14-2 when he makes at least one three-pointer, including an 8-0 mark this season.
• DASH HARRIS: Has emerged as one of the team's best defenders ... Aggies are 8-0 when he has at least 3 assists, with a 3-0 mark in Big 12 play ... see page 12 for 2008-09 highlights and game-by-game stats ... tied career-high with 6 points against Iowa State and made 2-of-2 from three-point range, his first treys of the year ... has handed out 41 assists in the last 17 games ... dished out a career-best 5 assists with 0 turnovers in win vs. Texas ... had monster dunk and made free throw to complete key three-point play in comeback win at Nebraska ... also had 5 assists vs. Texas Tech, Rice and McNeese State ... had 4 assists and a career-high 6 points vs. North Dakota ... ranks second on the team with 56 assists ... .
• David Loubeau: Preseason honorable mention freshman All-America by Collegeinsider.com ... see page 13 for 2008-09 highligh9-19, ts and game-by-game stats ... ranks second among Big 12 freshmen in offensive rebounding (2.1) 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 14-0 this season with it scores at least 70 points, including 6-0 in Big 12 play ... the Aggies are one of the most balanced teams in the Big 12 with four players averaging in double figures and five averaging between 8.4 and 13.9 points in league play ... 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 19.4 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 77.6 points while making .477 from the field and .435 from three-point range ... 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 11.3 in its conference wins ... A&M is averaging 22.3 bench points in its Big 12 wins, but only 15.0 in its losses.

Field Goal Shooting
nThe Aggies are 16-1 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 38-5 when it makes at least 43 percent from the field, with a 20-0 mark when it makes better than 50 percent.

Efficiency
A&M is 20-3 when it has just 9 assists or more this season ... the Aggies are 13-0 when they have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, including a 5-0 mark in league play ... A&M had 19 assists against Iowa State, its most since it had 21 against Kent State in late November ... A&M is 37-6 when Donald Sloan has at least 3 assists in his career, including a 14-2 mark this year ... the Aggies are 8-0 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 13.1 turnovers, seventh fewest in the league ... A&M is 16-3 when it has 13 or fewer turnovers ... under Mark Turgeon, the Aggies are 34-7 with 13 or fewer turnovers ... the Aggies are 16-1 when their opponents have fewer than 14 points off turnovers, including a 5-1 mark in Big 12 play (only loss was at Oklahoma) ... A&M has allowed an average of 17.8 points off turnovers in its losses, but only 9.8 in its victories (in Big 12 play, A&M has given up 17.4 in its losses and only 10.9 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.

Dominating Inside
A&M has outrebounded eight of its last nine opponents with an average margin of +9.4 in that span ... the Aggies have posted a +13.7 average margin in the last three games ... A&M had a +14 rebounding margin in the narrow loss at Oklahoma, the Sooners' largest deficit of the year ... A&M is 17-3 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 rebounding margin (+4.9) ... A&M is averaging 29.5 points in the paint and have scored at least 18 points in the paint in every game ... the Aggies are 17-1 this season when scoring at least 27 points in the paint, but are only 4-7 when scoring 26 points or fewer in the paint ... under Turgeon, A&M is 39-5 when scoring at least 27 points in the paint.

From the Line
A&M made 71.7 percent from the free throw line in non-conference play, but ranks last in the league in Big 12 play at 65.9 percent ... the Aggies lead the league in free throw attempts (349)  ... the Aggies were a dismal 30-of-51 in the win at Texas Tech, resulting in a relatively close game, and were just 3-of-10 at Nebraska ... 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 Oklahoma 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 67.2 percent (72.5 percent if you exclude the recent Texas Tech and Nebraska games) and out-scored their opponents by an average of 8.0 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 and 13-of-16 (.813) in the win against Iowa State... 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 is the only Big 12 team that has made more free throws (498) than its opponents have attempted (466) ... A&M averages 24.9 free throw attempts per game in Big 12 play (most in the league), 8.1 more than its opponents ... the Aggies have an average scoring margin of +0.9 in league play ... when it has more free throw attempts than its opponent, A&M is 20-6.

Defensive Notes
Scoring
A&M is 11-0 when its opponent scores 64 points or fewer this season ... the Aggies are ranked fourth in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 64.9 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 except Iowa State (69) has scored under its season average against A&M ... under Mark Turgeon, A&M is 39-9 when its opponent scores 70 or fewer points.

Field Goal Shooting
The Aggies are allowing .431 field goal accuracy for the year and .442 in Big 12 play, fifth best in the league ...  A&M is 15-3 this season when its opponent makes under 45 percent from the field and is 6-5 when the opponent shoots better than that mark ... the Aggies are 12-1 when their opponent make under 41 percent ... under Turgeon, the Aggies are 30-2 when their opponent makes under 41 percent from the field ... A&M ranks fifth in the Big 12 in three-point percentage defense at .353 in league play.

Production in Wins/Losses
In their Big 12 wins, the Aggies have allowed an average of 67.1 points and their opponents have made 43.1 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from three-point range ... in its league losses, A&M has allowed 70.7 points on 45.4 percent shooting, including 38.5 percent from three-point range.

Blocked Shots
In Big 12 play, A&M ranks fifth in the league in blocked shots with 3.8 per game ... Chinemelu Elonu ranks second in the Big 12 in blocks for the season (1.7) and in league play (1.9) ... Bryan Davis ranks fifth overall (1.2) and sixth in conference play (1.1) ... Davis ranks eighth on the A&M career chart (85) while Elonu is ninth (74) ... 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 year ... 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).

Comeback Kids and Close Losses
A&M came back from an 18-point deficit to win at Nebraska, possibly the largest comeback in school history ... A&M rallied from 14-point deficits to beat Arizona and Alabama ... after trailing by 18 at Baylor, A&M pulled within two points in the final minute before losing ... A&M also rallied from a 15-point deficit at Oklahoma to take a nine-point lead before falling ... A&M is 12-5 in games decided by 10 points or fewer ... four of A&M's seven league losses were by six points or fewer ... the Aggies' last three Big 12 losses were one possession games in the final minute ... A&M is 19-1 when it has the lead going into the final five minutes, losing only at No. 2 Oklahoma (they are 39-3 in two seasons under Mark Turgeon).