Men's BasketballNovember 15, 2010

Aggies, Islanders Battle Tonight in Corpus Christi

Fresh off an impressive season-opening win over Alcorn State, Texas A&M (1-0) hits the road for the first time when the Aggies head south to take on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (1-0). Tip t

Nov. 15, 2010

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Fresh off an impressive season-opening win over Alcorn State, Texas A&M (1-0) hits the road for the first time when the Aggies head south to take on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (1-0). Tip time is 7:05 p.m. at the American Bank Center and the game will be televised by the Southland Conference TV Network.

GAME 2:
Texas A&M AGGIES (1-0)
at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ISLANDERS (1-0)
Monday, November 15, 2010 • 7:05 PM • TV: Southland TV Network/ESPN Full Court
American Bank Center (8,400) • Corpus Christi, Texas

TICKETS: Still available by calling the TAMUCC ticket office at (361) 825-BALL or by visiting goislanders.com.

TELEVISION: Southland TV (Regional)
Play-by-Play - Doug Anderson
Commentary - Ned Fowler

CLEARANCE LIST

National

ESPN Full Court DirecTV 724, Dish 463
FCS Central (Tape Delay) Tuesday, 2:30pm CT
Arkansas
Texarkana KPXJ 21
Louisiana
Shreveport KPXJ 21
Texas
Austin KBVO-TV 51
Beaumont/Port Arthur KUIL 43
Brownsville KRGV 5.3
Bryan/College Station MyTX 23.2
Corpus Christi KTOV 21
Dallas/Ft Worth WFAA 8.2
Harlingen KRGV 5.3
Longview MyTX 18
Lufkin MyTX 18
McAllen KRGV 5.3
Nacogdoches MyTX 18
San Antonio KCWX 2
Texarkana KPXJ 21
Tyler MyTX 18
Waco/Temple MyTX 6.2
Weslaco KRGV 5.3
** The game will also be available online on ESPN3.com. **

RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Play-by-Play - Dave South
Commentary - Al Pulliam
Local - WTAW-AM 1620
Online - www.radioaggieland.com

SERIES • A&M STREAK: A&M-CC leads, 1-0 • Lost 1
in Corpus Christi - never faced
Last Meeting - A&M-CC, 82-80 (Dec. 13, 2003 in College Station)

THE MATCHUP

TEXAS A&M AGGIES

Mark Turgeon

TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI ISLANDERS

KEY GAME NOTES

Texas A&M takes to the road for the first time this season for Monday's game against A&M-Corpus Christi ... it will be one of five non-conference games away from Reed Arena for the Aggies, including three at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando next week and one against Arkansas in Dallas on Dec. 18.
Texas A&M was 9-9 last year away from home ... the Aggies also played their second game of the year on the road last season, an 80-68 win at SMU on Nov. 16.
The Aggies started the season with a strong 88-56 win over Alcorn State Friday night ... A&M shot 45 percent from the floor and hit 34-of-48 free throws (71 percent) en route to victory in a game that featured a school-record 72 combined fouls ... the Aggies out-rebounded the Braves, 52-32.
Monday's game marks the first visit by the Aggie basketball team to Corpus Christi in 65 years ... the last time an A&M hoops squad made the trip was a war-time visit in the fall of 1945 to play Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, a 59-44 loss by coach Marty Karow's cagers ... the Aggies competed in the South Padre Island Invitational two years ago, playing a pair of games in the south Texas resort town.
Monday is the first of 25 scheduled regular-season televised games that the Aggies will play ... 14 of the 25 will be aired nationally by either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU ... only five of A&M's 30 games this year are not slated to be on TV.
Josh Carter poured in 23 in the 2008-09 lid-lifter against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

ABOUT A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI

The Islanders opened the season Saturday with an 81-74 win over Northeastern (Okla.) State in Corpus Christi. Junior transfer Garland Judkins had 16 points in his debut to lead five players in double figures.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi returns 4 starters and 9 letterwinners from a 2010 squad that went 17-15 and finished second in the Southland's West Division at 10-6. The Islanders were 10-2 at home last season.
Leading returnees include junior F Demond Watt (12.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.2 BPG) and junior F Justin Reynolds (9.8 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 1.0 BPG), both preseason all-Southland Conference selections.
TAMU-CC will face three other Big 12 teams this year, including a visit to Oklahoma State on Wednesday ... Islanders will also travel to Kansas (Nov. 23) and Texas Tech (Jan. 2).
A relatively young program, A&M-Corpus Christi's first season of basketball was in 1999-2000.

SERIES NOTES

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leads the all-time series, 1-0 ... the Islanders defeated the Aggies, 82-80, on Dec. 13, 2003 at Reed Arena ... it remains to this day A&M's last regular-season, non-conference loss at home (current streak is 65).

RECAP: TEXAS A&M 88, ALCORN STATE 56

COLLEGE STATION (Nov. 12)--Nathan Walkup scored a career-high 22 points to lead Texas A&M to an 88-56 victory over Alcorn State before 7,010 fans at Reed Arena. It was the season opener for both schools. The Aggies broke away from an early 7-7 tie, scoring the next 14 points in putting together a 45-18 run before halftime. Walkup, a senior, was 4-for-4 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line in the half, which concluded with Texas A&M leading 52-25. Kourtney Roberson, a freshman, added 12 points for Texas A&M. Chris Davenport led Alcorn State with 11 points. The Aggies outrebounded the Braves 52-32.

Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon: "As a team, we were pretty good in the first half. We ran, we got more stops and we gained a little more flow in the first half. We scored in our transition in the first half, and we didn't in the second. We did the same thing in our second half against St. Mary's. We have to start second halves better. Nate played well, and he's been playing well in practice. He was probably on his way to 30 points out there, but we were trying to get everyone in the game and that cut down on his minutes. I thought it was going to be more up and down (rather than all the fouls being called). I thought we were going to score 100. The players have to adjust in a game like that. Thank God we have a lot of bodies. I think we had five illegal screen calls. I'm on these guys every day about turnovers. We have a young team, and the sooner they grow up the better. I thought Kourtney was good. He's got instincts. It's hard finding minutes out there. But he had 16 really good minutes, he had nine rebounds in 16 minutes and went and got 4 offense boards. He's going to be a weapon for us."

POSTGAME NOTES: ALCORN STATE

A&M won its 65th straight regular-season non-conference home game ... the last regular-season non-conference home loss was to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Monday's opponent, on Dec. 13, 2003 ... the Aggies have won 19 of their last 20 home games overall.
Texas A&M won its 10th straight season-opening game and 11th straight home opener.
Nathan Walkup had a career-high 22 points in Friday's win in just 19 minutes of action ... his previous high was 16 in a win over Colorado last year ... 15 of the points came in the first half, and he set his personal best with a thunderous dunk and foul with 17 minutes to play in the game ... it was the eighth double-figure scoring game of Walkup's career.
The game resulted in an A&M school-record 72 combined fouls (35 A&M, 37 Alcorn) ... the previous school mark was 69 in a 5-overtime game against Baylor at Reed Arena in 2008 (31 A&M, 38 Baylor) ... there were four technical fouls and five players fouled out (3 for Alcorn, 2 for A&M).
Texas A&M's 52 first-half points were the most by an Aggie team in over two years ... it was the most first-half points since A&M scored 56 against Texas Tech en route to a 98-54 win over the Red Raiders at Reed Arena on Feb. 27, 2008.
Freshman Kourtney Roberson had an impressive debut, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.
Sophomore Naji Hibbert hit double figures for the second time in his career with 10 points Friday night ... Hibbert was one off his career high of 11, set last year against Prairie View A&M.
Four players scored in double figures for A&M (Walkup 22, Roberson 12, Hibbert 10, Khris Middleton 10).

TEAM NOTES: 2009-10 REVIEW, TRENDS, STREAKS

Texas A&M went 24-10 last season, tying for second in the Big 12 with an 11-5 mark. A&M earned the No. 5 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, falling in overtime to No. 4-seed Purdue, 63-61, in the second round in Spokane, Washington.
Texas A&M returns 10 of 16 letterwinners from last season, including three starters. Returning starters are juniors B.J. Holmes. Sophomores Naji Hibbert (all 34 games) and Ray Turner (20) also saw significant action last season.
A&M lost three seniors, members of the winningest class in school history--Donald Sloan, Bryan Davis and Derrick Roland (all to graduation).
The Aggies bring in a strong group of newcomers, including three freshmen-Daniel Alexander (Dripping Springs), Keith Davis (DeSoto) and Kourtney Robberson (Arcadia, La.). Junior Elston Turner (Missouri City/University of Washington) is not eligible to play this season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Tobi Oyedeji (pronounced O-yuh-day-jee), a member of the incoming Class of '14, was lost tragically following a car accident in Houston on May 16, 2010. A memorial scholarship has been set up in Tobi's honor and he has a locker inside the Aggies' Reed Arena locker room. His good friend, Ray Turner, has switched jerseys to No. 35, Tobi's number, for this season.
A&M has made five straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to this streak, A&M had never played in consecutive NCAA Tournaments and had not been to the NCAAs since 1987. Five of A&M's 11 NCAA appearances, and 6 of its 9 NCAA wins, have come since 2006.
A&M is one of just 12 schools that have made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons.
A&M and Pittsburgh are the only schools in the country to win an NCAA tournament game in each of the last five years.
A&M is one of just three schools to have won a postseason game in each of the last six years (5 NCAAs/1 NIT, joining North Carolina (5 NCAAs/1 NIT) and Memphis (4 NCAAs/2 NITs).
A&M has posted six straight 20-win seasons. Before the 2004-05 season, A&M had only six 20-win seasons in its history.
A&M is 143-56 (.719) in the last six years and 100-38 (.725) in the last four.
A&M, Kansas and Texas are the only Big 12 schools that have won at least 20 games in each of the last six seasons.

HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon

Turgeon is the only coach in school history to lead the Aggies to three straight NCAA Tournaments.
The only coaches with more wins than Mark Turgeon (73) in their first three years at a Big 12 school are his mentors at Kansas, Larry Brown (83 in 1983-86) and Roy Williams (76 in 1988-91). Ironically, Turgeon was a point guard for those teams under Brown and was an assistant coach in Williams' first three seasons with the Jayhawks.
Turgeon was named 2010 Big 12 Coach of the Year by The Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News and Columbia (Mo.) Tribune.
Turgeon is the only coach in Big 12 history to win 24 or more games in each of his first three seasons.
Turgeon's 73 wins at A&M were the most ever by an A&M coach in a three-year period. The previous mark was 70 wins by Billy Gillispie (2004-07).
Turgeon has led the Aggies to three straight 20-win seasons, including three of the top six victory totals in the school's 98-year basketball history.
Turgeon is the only coach in school history to win 23 or more games three times.
Turgeon's 25 wins in 2007-08 tied for the most by a first-year coach in the history of any Big 12 school and were an A&M record for a coach in his debut. Tom Penders went 25-9 in his first year at Texas in 1988-89 prior to the formation of the Big 12.
Turgeon has led his teams to at least 20 wins in six of the last seven seasons (his Wichita State team won 17 games in 2006-07). His teams have advanced to postseason play seven times in the last eight years. Turgeon's record in the last seven years is 159-75 (.680).
Turgeon has led his teams to four NCAA Tournaments in the last five years, winning at least one NCAA game in each appearance.
As a player, assistant coach and head coach, Turgeon has compiled a 26-12 NCAA Tournament record (8-4 as a player, 13-4 as an assistant, 5-4 as a head coach). Turgeon is the only active Big 12 head coach to play and coach in an NCAA Final Four.
In 13 NCAA Tournament appearances as a player, assistant coach and head coach, Turgeon has lost a first-round NCAA game just once (Oregon in 1995 under Coach Jerry Green).

2010-11 SCHEDULE: A LOOK AHEAD

With another strong schedule on the slate, 11 of A&M's possible opponents advanced to the NCAA Tourney in 2010. Baylor and Kansas State made the Elite 8; Washington the Sweet 16; Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin and Cal the Second Round; and Texas, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame and Temple the First Round.
A&M will play in the Old Spice Classic Nov. 25-28 at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Orlando. The three-day, 12-game tournament features teams from eight conferences: A&M (Big 12), Boston College (ACC), Manhattan (MAAC), Wisconsin (Big Ten), Georgia (SEC), Temple (Atlantic 10), Notre Dame (Big East) and Cal (Pacific-10).
A&M will host Pac-10 power Washington in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series on Dec. 11 at Reed Arena. The Aggies advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament while the Huskies made the Sweet 16.
A&M will renew an old rivalry when the Aggies face Arkansas in The Showcase college basketball doubleheader on Dec. 18 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. It will be the first meeting between the longtime Southwest Conference foes since 1991.
Texas A&M will make its final Big 12 basketball road trips to Lincoln and Boulder this spring, with the departure of Nebraska and Colorado to the Big Ten and Pac-10, respectively. The league will go to an 18-game, round-robin format for the 2011-12 season.

ROSTER NOTES

The 16 players on the 2010-11 roster hail from seven different states--eight from Texas and one each from California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
Over half of the roster is upperclassmen (5 seniors, 4 juniors).
None of the three returning starters are seniors (2 juniors, 1 sophomore).
Six of the Aggies' top nine scorers in 2009-10 were non-seniors.
A&M's 2009-10 senior class won 100 games (100-38, .725), surpassing the '08-09 class (98-37, .726) as the winningest in school history. The class is the third straight to break the record. Before this run, the record was 85 wins by the 1982 seniors.

HOME, SWEET HOME

Texas A&M broke its home attendance record three times in 2010, including the current mark of 13,717 vs. Texas (Feb. 27). A&M sold out four games, topping the 13,000 mark in each game. The Aggies' season average of 9,889 ranked second on the school chart behind the record of 10,343 set in Turgeon's first season in 2007-08. A&M has posted its top five single game marks, and two of the top three season averages, under Turgeon.
A&M has won 19 of its last 20 home games, including 10 of its last 11 in Big 12 play. The Aggies are 32-3 at home in the last two-plus seasons with a 13-3 mark in conference games.
A&M has won 73 of its last 80 home games, including 29 of its last 36 in Big 12 play.
The Aggies are the only Big 12 team to win at least 15 home games for the last six consecutive seasons.
The Aggies have won 52 straight non-conference home games, including wins against Arizona, Alabama and LSU. The last loss was to St. Joseph's (58-51) in the 2005 NIT quarterfinals. A&M has won 65 straight regular-season non-conference home games since 2003. A&M is 84-9 all-time in non-conference games at Reed (.903).
The Aggies are 66-6 (.917) at home the last four-plus seasons and are 98-12 (.890) in the last six-plus years.
A&M is 140-53 (.725) in its 13th season at Reed Arena. The Aggies were 41-41 (.500) the first six years at Reed.
The top 18 single-game attendance marks in A&M history have been set in the last five-plus years. The top 14 non-conference attendance marks also have been set in the last five-plus seasons.
A&M has won 17 straight home games against unranked opponents (eight straight in Big 12 play). Under Turgeon, The Aggies are 41-3 against unranked opponents at Reed Arena, including a 12-3 mark against unranked Big 12 teams.

AGGIES INK TWO TEXAS STANDOUTS

COLLEGE STATION (11/10/10)--Jamal Branch and Jordan Green signed national letters-of-intent to play college basketball at Texas A&M, the school announced. "We are excited about our 2011 class so far," Aggie coach Mark Turgeon said. "We feel like we have added two quality, high-character young men that will fill needs for our program. Jordan and Jamal will fit in great with what we have coming back next year, plus Jamal and Jordan will complement each other throughout their careers." Branch (Arlington) and Green (Flower Mound) are highly-rated guards out of the Dallas area and will join the A&M program for the 2011-12 season. "These two guys play well off each other, Jamal being the facilitator and Jordan being the drop-the-hammer, go get buckets kind of guy," said Dave Telep, ESPN.com's college basketball recruiting analyst. "I think these guys together should be the backcourt of the future for Texas A&M."

JAMAL BRANCH (G, 6-3, 170, Arlington/Grace Preparatory Academy): A consensus four-star prospect ... a 6-3, 170-pound point guard who plays at Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington, Texas ... named the best defender in the Class of 2011 by scout.com and ranked No. 47 nationally ... rated the No. 8 point guard in the country and No. 53 overall by ESPN.com ... a member of the ESPNU 100 ... grades at 94 out of 100 by ESPN.com ... the No. 5 prospect in Texas and No. 67 nationally by rivals.com ... is the No. 2 player on the Maroon and White Report's Hoops Hot List for 2011 ... chose Texas A&M over Texas, Kansas and UCLA.

JORDAN GREEN (G, 6-4, 180, Flower Mound/Flower Mound HS): A 6-4, 180-pound shooting guard from Flower Mound High School in Flower Mound, Texas ... rated among the top shooting guards in the class by both ESPN.com and Scout.com ... ranked 12th overall in Texas by rivals.com and 114th nationally ... rated fourth on the Maroon and White Report's Hoops Hot List for 2011 ... is the first player in his school's history to sign a Division I basketball scholarship straight out of high school ... chose Texas A&M over Marquette, Oklahoma State, UNLV and Utah.