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Aggies Challenge No. 12 Missouri on Senior Day at Reed ArenaAggies Challenge No. 12 Missouri on Senior Day at Reed Arena
Men's Basketball

Aggies Challenge No. 12 Missouri on Senior Day at Reed Arena

COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M closes the regular season against No. 12-ranked Missouri on Saturday at 1 p.m. Seniors Josh Carter and Bryson Graham will be honored in "Senior Day" festivities before th

March 6, 2009

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COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M closes the regular season against No. 12-ranked Missouri on Saturday at 1 p.m. Seniors Josh Carter and Bryson Graham will be honored in "Senior Day" festivities before the game.

GAME #31
Texas A&M Aggies (22-8, 8-7 Big 12)
vs.
#12/15 Missouri Tigers (25-5, 12-3 Big 12)
              
Saturday, March 7, 2009
1:05 p.m. (CST
College Station, Texas
Reed Arena (12,989 cap.)

Television
ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Ron Franklin
Analyst: Fran Fraschilla
Check Local Listings
Direct TV: Channel 209
Dish Network: Channel 144

Radio
Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Dave South
Analyst: Al Pulliam
Sirius Satellite Radio: Channel 113
www.aggieathletics.com
Texas A&M Sports Network Stations
Atlanta                             KPYN-AM         900
Athens                             KLVQ-AM         1410
Austin                           KJCE-AM          1370
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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: 22-8 (8-7 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI (SOS): Unranked / 33 (49)

  • Last Game: Won at Colorado (72-66) on Wednesday

Current Streak: Won five straight
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
            Record: 200-138 (11th year)
            at Texas A&M: 47-19 (2nd year)
            vs. Missouri: 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                11.2     3.6       3.1
3          Derrick Roland          G         6-4      185     Jr-2L                6.1       2.6       --
23        Josh Carter               F          6-7      200     Sr-3L               14.1     4.4      --
0          Bryan Davis               F          6-9      240    Jr-2L               10.3      6.3      --
41        Chinemelu Elonu      C         6-10    235     Jr-2L                10.2      7.7       --
           
COLORADO BUFFALOES
www.mutigers.cstv.com
Record: 25-5 (12-3 Big 12)
Ranking/RPI (SOS): 12 (coaches), 15 (AP) / 11 (45)
Last Game: Beat No. 4 Oklahoma (73-64) on Wednesday
Current Streak: Won eight of last nine
            Head Coach: Mike Anderson (Tulsa `82)
            Record: 148-74 (7th year)
            at Missouri: 59-33 (3rd year)
            vs. Texas A&M: 0-2

PROJECTED MISSOURI STARTERS
No.       Player                                      P          Ht.        Wt.      Cl-Ex    PPG     RPG     APG
4          J.T. Tiller                                 G         6-3      200     Jr-2L   7.9       3.2       3.6
11        Zaire Taylor                            G         6-4      189     Jr-Tr    5.6       3.0       3.4
24        Kim English                           G         6-6      200     Fr-Hs  6.6       1.7       --
1          DeMarre Carroll                    F          6-8      225     Sr-1L  17.0    7.4       --
5          Leo Lyons                              F          6-9      244     Sr-3L  14.6    5.9       --
                                        
Additional Information:
Big 12 Conference: http://big12sports.com/
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/

Series Notes

  • Missouri leads, 11-6, but A&M has won four straight since a 74-68 Tigers' victory in the first-round of the 2004 Big 12 tournament in Dallas.
  • A&M has a 4-3 edge in games played in College Station, with a 3-2 mark at Reed Arena. A&M beaten Missouri three straight times at home, with the Tigers' last win in College Station coming by a 97-90 margin in 2000-01.
  • The Aggies beat the Tigers, 77-69, last year in Columbia and posted a 94-78 victory two years ago in College Station.

Key Game Notes

  • The Aggies have won five straight and are coming off a 72-66 victory at Colorado on Wednesday, their third straight road win. 
  • Missouri has won eight of its last nine games and is coming off a 73-64 win against No. 4 Oklahoma at home Wednesday.
  • The Aggies are 15-2 at home, including a 5-2 mark in Big 12 play, and have won two straight. The Tigers are 5-3 in true road games, with a 4-3 record in conference play.
  • Saturday's game is "Senior Day" at Texas A&M as Josh Carter and Bryson Graham play their final home game. Carter, who had his 100th career start on Wednesday against Colorado, will play in his 132nd career game, tying Dominique Kirk's (2004-08) school record. Carter is the winningest player in school history with a 96-35 record (.733). Graham has suffered a series of knee injuries since arriving at A&M, but started in the win against Iowa State and is a second-team Academic All-Big 12 pick. Both players are on schedule to graduate.
  • The win against Colorado handed Mark Turgeon the 200th victory of his coaching career. Turgeon is 200-138 in his 11th year as a college head coach. He is 47-19 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 48-18 mark after 66 games in 2003-06. Billy Gillispie had a 47-19 start at A&M in 2004-07.

Tough Competition

  • A&M's RPI is 33. The Aggies' strength of schedule dropped 12 spots to 49 after playing Colorado, but should jump considerably after playing Missouri, which has an RPI of 11.
  • 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 80.
  • 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 (55 RPI) and No. 18-ranked LSU (33 RPI). The only loss was to Tulsa (61 RPI) at a neutral site. The lowest ranked team to beat the Aggies has been Kansas State (77 RPI).

About Missouri

  • The Tigers are in their third season under Head Coach Mike Anderson. Associate Head Coach Melvin Watkins served as head coach at A&M for six seasons (1998-04).
  • Missouri finished 16-16 last year and placed 10th in the Big 12 with a 6-10 mark.
  • The Tigers' lone non-conference losses were against Xavier (75-71) and Illinois (75-59). Their three Big 12 losses have been road games at Nebraska (56-51), Kansas State (88-72) and Kansas (90-65).
  • Senior forward DeMarre Carroll (6-8) averages a team-best 17.0 points per game and also leads the Tigers in rebounding (7.4) and field goal percentage (.570). Senior forward Leo Lyons adds 14.6 points per contest.
  • Missouri leads the Big 12 in scoring margin (+15.5), three-point defense (.313), assists (18.8), steals (10.9), turnover margin (+7.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5). The Tigers rank second in the league in scoring offense (81.7).

Last Year in Columbia
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP, Feb. 9, 2008) -- Josh Carter scored 14 points apiece. Davis added 11 rebounds. Missouri was led by Leo Lyons' 24 points and four rebounds.

Last Time in College Station
COLLEGE STATION (AP, March 3, 2007) -- Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 26 points as the sixth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies posted a 94-78 victory over the Missouri Tigers on Senior Day. Acie Law IV and Josh Carter each added 20 points for Texas A&M. Stefhon Hannah scored 17 points and Keon Lawrence and Marshall Brown each added 13 for Missouri.
 
Colorado Recap
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- Josh Carter scored 18 points, Mark Turgeon career. In his 11th season as a head coach, and his second at A&M, Turgeon is 200-138. Mark Turgeon. "That's the sign of a good team." "Colorado played great tonight. We're just happy to get the win," Carter said. "Whenever you get a road win, it looks great on your resume. It's huge. We know to get where we want to be, we had to get this win."

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.
  • &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 47-19 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 48-18 after 66 games in 2003-06 and Billy Gillispie was 47-19 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 20 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 135-63 (.681).

Player Notables

  •  
    • Josh Carter: All-Big 12 candidate ... will play in his 132 career game on Saturday, tying Dominique Kirk's (2004-08) school record ... A&M is 96-35 (.732) with Carter in the lineup, making him the winningest player in school history ... Carter started in his 100th career game on Wednesday at Colorado ... 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 10 straight games ... has made 18-of-27 (.667) three-pointers in the last four games ... needs five rebounds to become the first player in A&M history to score at least 1,500 points (1,520) with 500 rebounds (495) and 200 assists (235) ... owns school record for career three-point field goals (294), No. 4 in Big 12 history ... ranks seventh in career scoring at A&M and needs 74 points to move into top five ... second in the Big 12 in season free throw accuracy (.846) and in three-point field goals per game (2.7) in league play ...A&M is 66-15 when he scores in double figures, including a 19-4 mark this season ...has averaged 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds (.537 FG/.583 3-pt. FG) in team's five-game winning streak.
    • Bryan Davis: All-Big 12 candidate ... second on team in rebounding (6.3) and blocks (36), and is third in scoring (10.3) ... ninth in the Big 12 in rebounding, fifth in blocked shots ... had 9 points and 9 rebounds in win at Colorado ... 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 (86) ... team is 25-5 in his career when he scores in double figures.
    • Donald Sloan: All-Big 12 candidate ... had 14 points and 5 assists in win at Colorado (7 points in final 4:00) ... leads team in assists (3.1), ranks second in scoring (11.2) and is third in steals (21) ... has just 46 turnovers (with 92 assists) in 908 minutes of action this season (one every 19.7 minutes) -- last year, he averaged a turnover every 13.3 minutes ... is 25-of-30 (.833) on free throws in "crunch time" this season (games within 10 points in the final two minutes) ... making 74.8 percent from the free throw line, a marked improvement over last season's .673 mark ... leads the team in free throws made (92) and attempted (123) ... Aggies are 38-6 in his career when he hands out at least 3 assists.
    • Derrick Roland: Big 12 All-Defense candidate ... scored 12 points (8-8 FT) in win at Colorado ... has made 18 of his last 20 free throws ... one of the country's top defenders ... normally guards the opponents' top scoring guard ... in Big 12 play, his primary assignment has made just 36 percent from the field and 29 percent from three-point range ... opponents' top-scoring guard has scored below his average in all but three 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 ... team is 22-4 in his career when he scores at least 7 points, including a 10-2 mark this year.
    • Chinemelu Elonu: All-Big 12 candidate / Big 12 All-Defense candidate / Big 12 Most-Improved candidate ... 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 (10.9) while leading in rebounding (8.4), blocks (26) and field goal accuracy (.633) ... has had nine double-doubles (fifth most in the Big 12), including five in league play ... ranks second in Big 12 in blocked shots (1.7) and offensive rebounds (3.6) ... sixth in total rebounds (8.4) in league play ... leads the team in field goal percentage at .654, 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 37 ... younger sister, Adaora Elonu (uh-DOOR-uh) is a 6-1 freshman forward for the nationally-ranked 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 29-4 when he has at least 5 rebounds.
    • B.J. Holmes: Big 12 All-Reserve candidate .... leads Big 12 in three-point percentage (.475) in league play... scored 10 of his 16 points in final 6:00 in win at Colorado ... one of the top bench players in the Big 12, averaging 8.9 points in league play ... had 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 threes vs. Tech, tying Big 12 record for consecutive treys ... had streak of 20 straight games with at least one three-pointer (third longest in school history) earlier this season ... has been the Aggies' top scorer off the bench a team-high 19 times ... scored 16 points 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 (42 assists) in 664 minutes, an average of just one every 39.1 minutes ... A&M is 10-2 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 ... tied career-high with 6 points against Iowa State and made 2-of-2 from three-point range, his first treys of the year ... dished out 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.
    • David Loubeau: Preseason honorable mention freshman All-America by Collegeinsider.com ... ranks second among Big 12 freshmen in offensive rebounding (2.0) in league play ... had 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 17 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 15-0 this season with it scores at least 72 points, including 7-0 in Big 12 play ... A&M is 29-1 under Mark Turgeon when it scores at least 72 ... the Aggies are one of the most balanced teams in the Big 12 with four players averaging in double figures and five averaging between 8.7 and 14.1 points ... A&M is 12-2 when it has four or more players score in double figures and is 18-3 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 19.3 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 76.9 points while making .477 from the field and .434 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 12.3 in its conference wins ... A&M is averaging 21.6 bench points in its Big 12 wins, but only 15.0 in its losses.

Field Goal Shooting
The Aggies are 17-1 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 39-5 when it makes at least 43 percent from the field, with a 20-0 mark when it makes better than 50 percent ... A&M ranks third in the Big 12 in three-point accuracy (.383) and is fifth in field goal accuracy (.441) in league play.

Efficiency
A&M is 21-3 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 38-6 when Donald Sloan has at least 3 assists in his career, including a 15-2 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 ... A&M had 16 first-half turnovers at Colorado, but had only three in the second half of comeback win ... 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 10.6 in its victories (in Big 12 play, A&M has given up 17.4 in its losses and only 12.9 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.

Dominating Inside
A&M has outrebounded nine of its last 10 opponents with an average margin of +9.5 in that span ... the Aggies have posted a +12.8 average margin in the last four games ... A&M had a +14 rebounding margin in the narrow loss at Oklahoma, the Sooners' largest deficit of the year ... A&M is 18-3 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 third in the league in rebounding margin (+5.2) ... A&M is averaging 29.4 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 5-7 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 66.2 percent ... the Aggies are second in the league in free throw attempts (376)  ... 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 67.6 percent (72.5 percent if you exclude the recent Texas Tech and Nebraska games) and out-scored their opponents by an average of 8.4 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 82-of-101 (.812) from the line in the last two minutes of "close games," 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 (517) than its opponents have attempted (481) ... A&M averages 25.1 free throw attempts per game in Big 12 play (most in the league), 9.0 more than its opponents ... the Aggies have an average scoring margin of +1.2 in league play ... when it has more free throw attempts than its opponent, A&M is 21-6.

 

Defensive Notes
Scoring
A&M is 11-0 when its opponent scores 64 points or fewer this season ... the Aggies are ranked third in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 65.0 points per game ... one of the nation's top scoring teams, Oklahoma State (82.3) 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 (77.9) averaged just 72.5 points in two games against the Aggies ... every Big 12 opponent except Iowa State (69) and Colorado (66) has scored under its season average against A&M ... under Mark Turgeon, A&M is 40-9 when its opponent scores 70 or fewer points.

Field Goal Shooting
The Aggies are allowing .427 field goal accuracy for the year and .444 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 7-5 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 67.0 points and their opponents have made 43.6 percent from the field and 32.9 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 3.7 per game ... Bryan Davis ranks fifth overall (1.2) and sixth in conference play (1.1) ... Davis ranks eighth on the A&M career chart (86) 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 21 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).

Comebacks and Close Losses
A&M came back from an 18-point deficit to win at Nebraska, the largest known comeback victory in school history ... A&M rallied from 14-point deficits to beat Arizona and Alabama and came back from 11 down to win at Colorado ... 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 13-5 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).