Aggies Host Pacific Saturday Night at Reed

Dec. 3, 2010

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M (6-1) puts its three-game win streak on the line when the Aggies host Pacific (4-3) Saturday night at Reed Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised by FS Southwest.

TELEVISION: FOX Sports Southwest
Greg Lucas (play-by-play), Dan Hughes (commentary)
DirecTV: Ch 678
ESPN Full Court: DirecTV 724/Dish 461

RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South (play-by-play), Al Pulliam (commentary)
Local/Internet: WTAW-AM 1620/radioaggieland.com
Satellite Radio: n/a

SERIES HISTORY: PACIFIC
Texas A&M leads, 6-2
In Stockton: tied, 1-1
In College Station: A&M leads, 2-0
At Reed Arena: A&M leads, 1-0
At Neutral Sites: A&M leads, 3-1
Current Win Streak: A&M, 1 game
Longest Texas A&M Win Streak: 4 games
Longest Pacific Win Streak: 1 game
Largest A&M Win: 86-39 (1960-61)
Largest Pacific Win: 63-56 (2005-06)
Mark Turgeon vs. Pacific: never faced
Bob Thomason vs. Texas A&M: 1-2

Last Meeting: A&M, 74-62 (Dec. 2, 2006 in College Station)

THE MATCHUP

TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 6-1, 0-0 Big 12
Ranking: RV (AP)
Sagarin Rating: #38
Streak: Won 3
Last 5 / Last 10: 4-1 / 6-1
Last Game: def. SFA (H), 62-53 (Thursday)
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
Record: 232-151 (13th year)
at Texas A&M: 79-32 (4th year)
vs. Pacific: never faced

A&M Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP/Min
5 Dash Harris G 6-1 175 Jr. 3.1 2.4 3.1 7 / 25.9
10 David Loubeau F 6-8 230 Jr. 10.4 6.0 0.1 7 / 22.9
11 B.J. Holmes G 5-11 175 Sr. 9.6 3.6 4.6 7 / 28.0
22 Khris Middleton F 6-7 215 So. 14.3 4.6 2.6 7 / 27.6
45 Nathan Walkup F 6-7 210 Sr. 10.7 4.7 1.4 7 / 23.3

PACIFIC TIGERS
Record: 4-3, 0-0 Big West
Ranking: NR
Sagarin Rating: #137
Streak: Lost 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 2-3 / 4-3
Last Game: lost to Pepperdine (H), 70-60
Head Coach: Bob Thomason (Pacific '71)
Record: 443-304 (25th year)
at Pacific: 391-278 (23rd year)
vs. Texas A&M: 1-2

Pacific Probable Starters*

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl-Exp.	PPG	RPG	APG	GP/Min
4	Demetrece Young	G	5-11	180	Sr-3L	9.6	2.9	4.0	7 / 36.4
15	Terrell Smith	G	6-4	210	Sr-3L	5.3	4.4	2.6	7 / 29.3
22	Jose Rivera	G	6-3	180	Jr-JC	6.7	1.6	1.9	7 / 25.6
31	Nyika Williams	C	6-8	230	Sr-1L	7.3	4.7	--	7 / 17.3
34	Sam Willard	F/C	6-9	230	Sr-3L	17.7	10.9	1.3	7 / 34.6
* based on last game

Key Game Notes

The Aggies continue a four-game homestand Saturday vs Pacific ... A&M's opponents on the stretch combined for 88 wins last season (SFA - 23, Pacific - 23, Prairie View A&M - 16, Washington - 26).

Texas A&M will play six of its next seven at Reed Arena ... the Aggies will not leave the state of Texas again until they open Big 12 play at Oklahoma on Jan. 8 ... A&M's only game away from College Station over that span is a matchup with former Southwest Conference rival Arkansas at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Dec. 18.

The Aggies have won 54 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 67 straight regular-season non-conference home games since 2003. A&M is 86-9 all-time in non-conference games at Reed (.905).

A&M suffered its first loss of the year on Thanksgiving Day, a two-point setback to a hot-shooting Boston College squad ... since then, the Aggies have won all three games and held their opponents (Manhattan, No. 20 Temple, SFA) to a sparse 32.5 percent shooting from the floor (50-for-154) and 18.8 percent (9-for-48) from 3-point range ... during that span, Aggie foes have averaged 49.7 points per game and been out-rebounded by a margin of 11.3 boards.

The Aggies got their first crack at a ranked opponent this year and picked up a win over Temple Sunday (No. 20 USAT/ESPN, No. 21 AP) ... A&M played 12 ranked teams last season ... the Aggies will play 8 other games against teams ranked in the latest AP Top 25 poll, including Kansas (4th), Kansas State (5th), Missouri (9th), Baylor (11th, 2 games), Texas (19th, 2 games) and Washington (23rd).

In the first NCAA rankings (released early this week), A&M ranked second nationally only to Pittsburgh in rebounding margin (+14.8) and ranked 11th in the country in scoring defense (55.0 ppg) ... the Aggies have out-rebounded every opponent this season.

A&M rebounded from a tough two-point loss to Boston College last week with a 29-point win over Manhattan the next day ... the Aggies never trailed in the game, and held the Jaspers to 7 points over the final 13 minutes ... under Mark Turgeon, the Aggies have won 11 of their last 12 games following a loss.

The Aggies have won 9 of their last 13 games away from Reed Arena dating back to early February of last season ... three of those four losses have been by 4 points or less ... A&M's setbacks in that stretch came at No. 24 Baylor (70-66), against No. 1 Kansas in the Big 12 semifinals in Kansas City (79-66), in overtime to No. 10 Purdue in the NCAA Second Round in Spokane (63-61) and Thursday vs Boston College (67-65).

Texas A&M has outscored its opponents 253-177 in the first half this season and has carried an average lead of 11 points into the locker room.

A&M has won 21 of its last 22 home games, including 10 of its last 11 in Big 12 play. The Aggies are 34-3 at home in the last two-plus seasons with a 13-3 mark in conference games.

The Aggies are 68-6 (.919) at home the last four-plus seasons and are 100-12 (.893) in the last six-plus years.

A&M has won 20 straight home games against unranked opponents (eight straight in Big 12 play). Under Turgeon, the Aggies are 43-3 against unranked opponents at Reed Arena, including a 12-3 mark against unranked Big 12 teams.

TV Tidbits

FOX Sports Southwest will air Saturday's game live from Reed Arena ... fans in the Dallas/Ft Worth market or those in the Dallas Mavericks coverage area can view the game on FS Southwest Plus ... DirecTV subscribers should find the game on FS Houston (Channel 678) ... Dish Network subscribers should check listings for channel number.

Those outside of the coverage area can catch the game on ESPN Full Court's PPV college basketball package ... DirecTV will run the game on Channel 724 and Dish Network on Channel 461.

About Pacific (4-3)

The University of the Pacific (Stockton, California) is 4-3 on the year and 2-2 away from home ... Pacific participated in the Preseason NIT, beating Nevada in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles before falling to the host UCLA Bruins the next day, 57-44 ... most recently, the Tigers fell to Pepperdine at home inside the Spanos Center, 70-60, on Wednesday evening.

UOP has scored two fewer points than its opponents so far this year (430-432), holds a slight edge in rebounding (35-34.6) and is being out-shot by foes, .432 to .283 ... senior Sam Willard leads the way, averaging 17.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game for the Tigers.

Pacific returns 3 starters from a team that went 23-12 last year, its sixth 20-win season in the last seven years ... the Tigers won a share of the Big West regular season championship with a 12-4 mark ... they were chosen to participate in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament for the second straight year, advancing to the championship game ... UOP was picked to finish third this year behind UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State ... Bob Thomason is in his 23rd season as the head coach at his alma mater with 391 wins at the helm.

Series Notes (A&M leads, 6-2)

Texas A&M leads all-time, 6-2, in a series that dates back to 1961 ... the Aggies and Tigers have played twice in College Station, first in 1961 (86-39 win by A&M in G Rollie White Coliseum) and most recently on Dec. 2, 2006 (74-62 Aggie win at Reed Arena) ... A&M fell, 63-56, to Pacific in its last visit to Stockton (2005-06 season) ... the teams are 2-2 in the last four meetings.

The last meeting came on Dec. 2, 2006, as the 8th-ranked Aggies won 74-62 before 9,977 fans at Reed Arena ... Joseph Jones (24 pts, 6 rebs) and Antanas Kavaliauskas (23 pts, 7 ast) led the way for A&M ... current Aggie assistant Dominique Kirk had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

Pacific is the only Big West school on the Aggie schedule this year ... A&M's last game against a Big West foe was Dec. 22, 2007, an 88-66 win over UC Irvine at Reed Arena ... Texas A&M is 8-6 all-time against current Big West schools (6-2 vs Pacific, 1-1 vs UC Irvine, 1-1 vs Long Beach State, 0-2 vs UC Santa Barbara) ... the Aggies have never faced Cal Poly, UC Riverside, UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton or Cal State Northridge.

Texas A&M is the only Big 12 team on the Pacific schedule in 2010-11 ... UOP's last Big 12 matchup was last December at Oklahoma State in a 66-50 loss to the Cowboys.

Up Next

The Aggies will host Prairie View A&M next Wednesday before welcoming in the Washington Huskies on Saturday, Dec. 11 as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

LAST TIME OUT: Texas A&M 62, SFA 53

COLLEGE STATION (Dec. 2)--B.J. Holmes scored 15 points, and Texas A&M overcame a second-half deficit to defeat Stephen F. Austin 62-53 before 5,755 fans at Reed Arena. The Aggies (6-1) trailed 36-31 seven minutes into the second half before rallying. Holmes' 3-pointer gave them a 50-43 lead with 6:54 remaining. Jordan Glynn led the Lumberjacks (4-2) with 20 points and eight rebounds. David Loubeau had nine rebounds for Texas A&M. The Aggies committed 16 turnovers that Stephen F. Austin converted into 19 points.

Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon: "It was a good win, we were a little flat, the whole building was flat, Stephen F. played great. We did what we had to do and made adjustments. We competed in the second half and made decisions and we came out on top. Give our guys credit, Stephen F. Austin made some tough ones, some shot-clock-winding-down shots. We had some guys that were out of it tonight. I thought we were extremely soft at the start of the game. That said, we wore their little guy down eventually and executed and did what we had to do. (Defensively) we were real solid. We put a lot into the scouting. They run a lot of plays, I thought we guarded their sets well. Except for Khris on one close out, I thought we guarded the ball a little better in the later game. We did some things differently in the second half, got B.J. going, ran more plays for him, got more movement. He hit a big three and that got him going. It's what seniors do. BJ is a winner. We're a major work in progress. We have some work to do to get us going."

Postgame Notes: SFA

The Aggies shot 62 percent in the second half, their second-best half of shooting on the year ... A&M shot 68 percent in the second half of their win over A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 15.

A&M outrebounded SFA, 35-28 ... the Aggies have out-rebounded every opponent this season.

The Aggie defense held SFA to 35.3 percent shooting on the night, the third straight opponent and fifth overall to shoot under 36 percent in a game ... A&M is 45-4 all-time (5-0 this year) under Mark Turgeon when holding an opponent to under 40 percent from the floor.

Texas A&M held its third straight opponent to under 54 points ... A&M is 68-12 under Turgeon (6-1 this year) when holding its opponent to under 70 points.

Texas A&M trailed at the half for only the second time this year (Boston College).

A&M has now hit a 3-pointer in 309 consecutive games dating back to January of 2001.

BJ Holmes' 15 points were a season high ... his previous was 14 against Boston College (11/25) ... Holmes also matched his season/career high in assists (7) and season high in rebounds (4) ... Holmes led the team in points for the first time this year and 10th time in his career.

Dash Harris' 11 points were a season high ... it was Harris' fourth 10-plus point effort of his career.

DEFENSE NOTES

Rebounding

Texas A&M has out-rebounded its opponents by an average of 41-27 this season, ranking 2nd nationally (at latest NCAA report) ... the Aggies are 70-13 under Turgeon (6-1 this year) when matching or out-rebounding their foes ... A&M is just 8-17 under Turgeon when being out-rebounded.

Texas A&M has out-rebounded two teams this year by 20 or more boards ... the Aggies beat Alcorn State on the glass by 20 and A&M International by 25 ... A&M did not out-rebound anyone last season by more than 18.

Five players are averaging at least 4.5 rebounds per game ... it's very early, but by comparison just two did so last season--Bryan Davis (8.1) and David Loubeau (4.7).

Forcing Turnovers

Texas A&M's quick defense has already paid big dividends in the early part of the season ... the Aggies have put up two of the highest P.O.T. totals in the Mark Turgeon era in the first seven games ... A&M scored 31 points off turnovers in the win at A&M-Corpus Christi, the second-highest output in the Mark Turgeon era ... the Aggies scored 34 off turnovers last season against North Dakota ... A&M also had 28 points off turnovers in the season opener against Alcorn State, matching the total in the 2007-08 opener against McNeese State (28), Turgeon's first game as head coach.

Texas A&M is averaging 17.4 points off turnovers per game.

Under Turgeon, the Aggies are 50-9 (4-0 this year) when they have more points off turnovers than their opponent.

Texas A&M's 16 steals in the win at A&M-Corpus Christi were the most by an Aggie team in the Mark Turgeon era and the most since a win over Grambling State in December 2006.

Stout "D"

A&M suffered its first loss of the year on Thanksgiving Day, a two-point setback to a hot-shooting Boston College squad ... since then, the Aggies have won all three games and held their opponents (Manhattan, No. 20 Temple, SFA) to a sparse 32.5 percent shooting from the floor (50-for-154) and 18.8 percent (9-for-48) from 3-point range ... during that span, Aggie foes have averaged 49.7 points per game and been out-rebounded by a margin of 11.3 boards.

A&M has held five of its seven opponents, and three straight, under 36 percent shooting from the field ... under Turgeon, the Aggies are 45-4 (5-0 this year) when their opponent shoots under 40 percent and are 71-20 (6-1) when they make under 50 percent.

Texas A&M is 68-12 under Turgeon (6-1 this year) when opponents score under 70 points.

OFFENSE NOTES

Fast-Paced Offense

Texas A&M has outscored its opponents 253-177 in the first half this season and has carried an average lead of 11 points into the locker room.

Texas A&M is 33-2 under Mark Turgeon when scoring at least eight fast-break points (3-0 this year).

The Aggies are 23-3 under Turgeon when scoring at least 80 points and 51-5 when scoring at least 70. A&M has scored 74 or more in four of its six wins this year.

A&M is 64-11 under Turgeon when leading at halftime (5-0 this year), and 13-19 when trailing (1-1).

Make Shots, Win Games

Texas A&M is 54-7 under Turgeon (4-1 this year) when hitting better than 45 percent from the field and a perfect 31-0 (1-0) when hitting at 50 percent or higher.

Strong Down Low

The Aggies' big men down low have been very productive in the early part of the year ... David Loubeau (6.0) and Kourtney Roberson (5.0) lead the team in rebounding and are third (10.4) and sixth (6.6), respectively, in scoring.

Texas A&M has scored at least 40 points in the paint in two games this year ... A&M did so just four times last year ... this season, the Aggies are averaging 29.1 points down low (28.6 average in 2009-10).

Under Turgeon, A&M is 74-24 when scoring at least 20 points in the paint (4-1 this year).

Take Another Chance

The Aggies are averaging 17.6 second-chance points through six games ... A&M only went over 20 in that category one time last year (home vs Texas) but has already done so twice this season.

From Way Downtown

Texas A&M has hit at least one 3-pointer in 309 consecutive games ... the last time the Aggies did not connect from behind the arc was at Colorado on January 13, 2001 (0-for-6).

Balancing Act

The loss of A&M's top three scorers from last year (B.J. Holmes (9.6) and Naji Hibbert (8.0).

A total of 7 Aggie players have combined for 24 double-figure outings thus far (Middleton 6, Holmes 4, Hibbert 4, Walkup 3, Roberson 3, Loubeau 3, Harris 1) through the first 7 games.