Jan. 11, 2010
College Station, TX - Texas A&M faces the No. 12-ranked Kansas State Wildcats Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Manhattan, Kan. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Game 16
Texas A&M Aggies
(12-3, 1-0 Big 12 Conference)
vs.
#13/12 Kansas State Wildcats
(13-2, 0-1 Big 12 Conference)
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010
6:03 p.m. (CT)
Bramlage Coliseum (12,528 cap.)
Manhattan, Kan.
TELEVISION: ESPN2
Jon Sciambi, play-by-play
Doug Gottlieb, commentary
Dish Network Channel 144
Direct TV Channel 209
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
http://www.aggieathletics.com/multimedia/aggies-on-the-radio.html
Dave South, play-by-play
Al Pulliam, commentary
Sirius Satellite Radio: 122
Texas A&M Basketball Digital Media
Texas A&M Media Almanac (complete bios, history and records): http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/352a4862
Mark Turgeon's Virtual Guide to Texas A&M Basketball: http://coachturgeon.com/
Aggie Basketball Fast Break blog: http://blogs.aggieathletics.com/fastbreak/
Texas A&M Aggies
http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/tam-m-baskbl-body.html
Record: 12-3 (1-0 Big 12)
Ranking: RV (AP); RV (ESPN/USA Today)
RPI: #35 (CBSSports.com)
Last Game: Beat Nebraska (64-53) Saturday at home
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon's (Kansas `87)
               Record: 214-143 (12th year)
               at Texas A&M: 61-24 (3rd year)
               vs. Kansas State: 3-4
Projected Texas A&M Starters
No.        Player                                  Pos.      Ht.         Wt.        Cl.          PPG      RPG      APG
5             Dash Harris                        G            6-1         175        So          4.8        3.2         3.3     Â
15          Donald Sloan                     G            6-3         205        Sr           18.0      4.0         2.5        Â
22          Khris Middleton                G            6-7         215        Fr           4.9       3.3         --
45          Nathan Walkup                 F             6-7         210        Jr          6.3        3.5         --
0             Bryan Davis                        F             6-9         250        Sr           9.0        7.7         --
Off the Bench
2           Derrek Lewis                    G            6-5        195        Jr           1.8         0.3         --
10          David Loubeau                 F             6-8         230        So          7.9        4.1         --
11          B.J. Holmes                        G            5-11      175        Jr            10.1      2.3         --
21          Ray Turner                        F             6-8         220        Fr           1.7         2.7         --
23          Naji Hibbert                       G            6-6         200        Fr           3.1         2.5         --
Kansas State Wildcats
http://www.kstatesports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=400&SPID=213&SPSID=3084
Record: 13-2 (0-1 Big 12 Conference)
Ranking: #13 (AP), #12 (ESPN/USA Today)
RPI: 9 (CBSSports.com)
Last Game: Lost at Missouri (74-68) Saturday
Head Coach: Frank Martin (Florida International `93)
              Record:  56-26 (3rd year)
               at  Kansas State: 56-26 (3rd year)
               vs. Texas A&M: 2-1
Projected Kansas State Starters
No.        Player                                  Pos.      Ht.         Wt.        Cl.          PPG      RPG      APG
0           Jacob Pullen                      G           6-0      200        Jr            20.1       2.5         3.5
21         Denis Clemente               G            6-1         180        Sr           14.3       2.5       4.1        Â
23          Dominique Sutton        F            6-5        218       Jr            7.8        5.8        2.1     Â
24          Curtis Kelly                        F          6-8         239        Jr            11.3      6.1        --
15          Luis Colon                          C             6-10      265       Sr            3.0        4.7         --
Big 12 Conference: http://www.big12sports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&KEY=&SPID=13134&SPSID=106110
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.com/statistics/index.html
Series Notes
- Kansas State leads the series, 15-6, but the teams have split the last four games, 2-2. The Wildcats have a narrow 5-4 lead over the last seven years.
- Kansas State is 9-0 against A&M in Manhattan, with an 8-0 record at Bramlage Coliseum.
- Five of the last six games in the series have been decided by six points or fewer. Kansas State posted a 65-60 win last year in College Station. A&M last beat the Wildcats in the 2008 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, posting an important 63-60 victory that locked up an NCAA Tournament berth. Â
Game Notes
- A&M is 1-1 in true road games while Kansas State is 9-0 at home. The Aggies have won three straight Big 12 road games dating back to last season (Texas Tech, Nebraska and Colorado).
- The Aggies have won three straight games and are coming off a 64-53 win Saturday at home against Nebraska. Kansas State ended a 10-game winning streak with a 74-68 loss Saturday at Missouri.
- Bramlage Coliseum is the only Big 12 arena in which the Aggies have not won. A&M is 0-8 at Bramlage, including an 0-7 mark since Big 12 play began in 1997.
Rugged Schedule
- A&M is 2-2 against ranked teams this season, only the second time in school history the Aggies have beaten two nationally-ranked opponents in non-conference play. The 1978-79 team posted four non-conference wins against ranked opponents. Kansas State is A&M's fifth nationally-ranked opponent. Only three schools in the country have played more (Ohio State, Presbyterian and Marquette - all with six) ranked opponents through Tuesday.
- A&M played four nationally-ranked non-conference opponents (which doesn't even include New Mexico, which entered the rankings the next week), twice as many ranked non-conference foes as any other Big 12 team.
- The Aggies' three losses this season have all been to teams that have been ranked in the top 25 for multiple weeks this season (West Virginia, Washington and New Mexico). A&M's schedule through the end of December was ranked as the seventh toughest nationally - and the toughest in the Big 12 - by CBS Sports.Â
- The Aggies play two top-15 teams this week. After playing at No. 13/12 Kansas State Tuesday, the Aggies play top-ranked Texas Saturday in Austin.
- The last time A&M played ranked teams in consecutive road games was in 2006-07, when the Aggies lost at No. 9 LSU (64-52) and No. 1 UCLA (65-62). Although played in Los Angeles, the UCLA game was technically a neutral site game at the Honda Center. In 2005-06, A&M lost consecutive road games at No. 18 Oklahoma (71-63) and No. 7 Texas (83-70). After losing to the Longhorns, the Aggies reeled off eight straight victories
- Texas will be A&M's sixth ranked opponent this season
About Kansas State
- The Wildcats finished 22-12 last year and tied for fourth in the Big 12 (with A&M, Texas and Oklahoma State) with a 9-7 mark. Kansas State is in its third season under Coach Frank Martin.
- Kansas State's only losses have been to Mississippi (86-74) in Puerto Rico and at Missouri (74-68).
- The Wildcats have four players scoring in double figures, led by junior guard Jacob Pullen (20.1).
Sidebars
- A&M Coach Mark Turgeon is a native of Topeka, Kan., where he led Hayden High School to back-to-back state championships in 1982 and 1983. Hayden went 47-3 in Turgeon's career. Turgeon went on to play at Kansas, becoming the first Jayhawk to appear in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Turgeon was an assistant at KU from 1987-92, helping the Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA title. He served as head coach at Wichita State from 2000-07, leading the Shockers to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2006. Turgeon was inducted into the Topeka Sports Hall of Fame last summer. A&M assistants Scott Spinelli and Pooh Williamson served on Turgeon's staff at WSU.
- A&M Director of Operations Mike Rohn is from Colby, Kan. and was the conference player of the year at McPherson (Kan.) College in 1989. He coached in the Kansas junior college ranks for many years before joining Turgeon's staff at Wichita State.Â
- A&M Video Coordinator Stephen Gentry is from Fort Scott, Kan., where he was a two-time all-state player. Gentry went on to play at Gonzaga.
Last Year's Game
COLLEGE STATION (AP/Feb. 7, 2009)-- Jacob Pullen scored 16 points and had one of two key 3-pointers late to lead Kansas State to a 65-60 win over Texas A&M. The win is the fifth straight for the Wildcats (16-7, 5-4 Big 12) who have made an impressive turnaround from an 0-4 start in Big 12 play. The Aggies (17-7, 3-6) had cut the lead to one thanks to a 7-2 run before Pullen and Fred Brown scored consecutive 3-pointers to give Kansas State a 64-57 lead with less than a minute to play. Texas A&M's Donald Sloan hit a 3-pointer after that, but Pullen made one of two free throws and the Wildcats held on for the win. Kansas State's Denis Clemente, who recently scored 44 against Texas, had 12 of his 14 points in the last 13 minutes. The Aggies were led by Josh Carter who had 14 points.
Roland's Value
- Senior guard Derrick Roland will miss the rest of the season after breaking his right leg on Dec. 22 against Washington. Roland was considered by many to be the top perimeter defender in the Big 12. He was the Aggies' No. 2 scorer, a team captain and perhaps the team's top leader.
- To illustrate Roland's importance to the team, because of foul trouble or injury he played fewer than 25 minutes in all three losses. His fewest minutes played came in the close losses to New Mexico (14 minutes, early foul trouble) and Washington (16 minutes, leg injury). He also got in foul trouble against West Virginia (24 minutes) and was on the bench during a key second-half run by the Mountaineers.
Player Notes
- Senior guard Donald Sloan has averaged 20.9 points over the last eight games. He scored 26 vs. Nebraska on Saturday.
- Senior forward Bryan Davis has averaged 9.6 rebounds in the last five games. He scored 11 points with 11 rebounds vs. Nebraska.
- Sophomore guard Dash Harris ranks second in the Big 12 in assists/turnover ratio (2.58). A&M is 17-1 when Harris has at least 3 assists in his career.