No. 11 Aggies Face Nebraska Saturday

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - No. 11/13 Texas A&M returns to the court on Saturday when the Aggies (17-2, 4-1) head north for the final Big 12 meeting with Nebraska (14-5, 2-3). Tipoff at the Devaney Center is set for 1 p.m. and the game will not be televised.

A&M has won 14 of its last 15 games, most recently downing No. 24 Kansas State, 64-56, last Saturday at Reed Arena. The Huskers, who fell at Texas Tech (72-71) last Saturday in their most recent game, are undefeated at home this season.

Fans can catch the action locally on WTAW-AM 1620, statewide across the Texas A&M Sports Network or worldwide free of charge on radioaggieland.com. Satellite subscribers can catch the Husker Sports Network feed on Sirius 121/XM 141.

TELEVISION: None

RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Local/Internet: WTAW-AM 1620/radioaggieland.com
Satellite Radio: Sirius 121/XM 141 (Nebraska broadcast only)

SERIES: NU leads, 11-8
In Lincoln: Nebraska leads, 6-3
At Devaney Center: Nebraska leads, 6-3
In College Station: tied, 4-4
At Reed Arena: tied, 3-3
At Neutral Sites: tied, 1-1
At Big 12 Tournament: A&M leads, 1-0
Current Win Streak: A&M, 3 games
Longest A&M Win Streak: 3 games (current)
Longest Nebraska Win Streak: 5 games
Largest A&M Win: 66-55 (2005-06)
Largest Nebraska Win: 92-60 (1987-88)
Mark Turgeon vs. Nebraska: 3-1
Doc Sadler vs. A&M: 1-4
Last Meeting: A&M, 70-64 (March 11, 2010 in Kansas City)

THE MATCHUP

TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 17-2, 4-1 Big 12
Ranking: 11th (USAT/ESPN), 13th (AP)
NCAA RPI / Sagarin Rating: 16 / 19
Streak: Won 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 4-1 / 9-1
Last Game: def. (#24) Kansas State (H), 64-56 (Saturday)
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
Record: 243-152 (13th year)
at Texas A&M: 90-33 (4th year)
vs. Nebraska: 3-1

A&M Probable Starters

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
5 B.J. Holmes G 5-11 175 Sr. 9.2 2.7 3.5 19 / 28.7
22 Khris Middleton F 6-7 215 So. 15.9 4.8 3.0 19 / 28.1
45 Nathan Walkup F 6-7 210 Sr. 9.9 5.8 1.4 19 / 23.8

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
Record: 14-5, 2-3 Big 12
Ranking: NR
NCAA RPI / Sagarin Rating: 106 / 61
Streak: Lost 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 2-3 / 7-3
Last Game: lost at Texas Tech (A), 72-71 (Saturday)
Head Coach: Doc Sadler (Arkansas '82)
Record: 132-81 (7th year)
at Nebraska: 84-63 (5th year)
vs. Texas A&M: 1-4

Nebraska Probable Starters (based on previous game)

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
0 Toney McCray G 6-6 210 Jr. 7.3 4.5 1.3 19 / 20.2
3 Brandon Richardson G 6-0 190 Jr. 6.2 2.4 1.9 18 / 21.9
21 Jorge Brian Diaz C 6-11 245 So. 10.2 4.5 1.1b 19 / 23.7
25 Caleb Walker G 6-4 205 Jr. 6.2 4.9 0.8 19 / 20.5
34 Lance Jeter G 6-3 225 Sr. 10.6 4.0 4.4 19 / 28.4

About Nebraska (14-5, 2-3)

Series Notes

Sidebars

A&M/NEBRASKA RECAPS

Last Time They Met: (#23) Texas A&M 70, Nebraska 64
KANSAS CITY (March 11, 2010)--Donald Sloan scored 23 points and Bryan Davis had a key three-point play at the 1:01 mark, enabling No. 23 Texas A&M to stave off upset-minded Nebraska 70-64 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament. Nebraska, trailing all game while trying to become the first No. 12 seed in Big 12 history to win two tournament games, cut the lead to 62-58 with 1:35 left on Sek Henry's 3-pointer. Davis then managed to get behind the Nebraska defense for a layup, was fouled by Jorge Brian Diaz and make the free throw to make it 65-58. In Friday's semifinals, the Aggies (23-8) get a rematch with No. 1 Kansas, which beat them last month 59-54. The Huskers (15-18), who lost all but two of their 16 regular-season conference games but beat No. 5 seed Missouri in the first round, will sit out the NCAA tournament for the 12th straight season.

Last Year: Texas A&M 64, Nebraska 53
COLLEGE STATION (Jan. 9, 2010)--Donald Sloan scored 26 points, including several key free throws down the stretch, to give Texas A&M a 64-53 win over Nebraska in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Facing the Big 12's stingiest defense, the Aggies improved to 12-0 this season when holding teams to less than 70 points. Nebraska (12-4) led by one before Texas A&M (12-3) scored nine straight points, six on free throws by Sloan, to take a 51-43 lead with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining. The Cornhuskers cut the lead to six before a 3-pointer by A&M's Nathan Walkup with less then five minutes remaining made it 54-45, and Nebraska didn't threaten again. Nebraska was led Christian Standhardinger, a freshman from Germany, who had 13 points in his debut for the Cornhuskers.

Last Time in Lincoln: Texas A&M 57, Nebraska 55
LINCOLN (Feb. 24, 2009)--Josh Carter's buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave Texas A&M a 57-55 come-from-behind win over Nebraska. The Aggies (20-8, 6-7 Big 12) fell behind by 18 early in the second half. But Nebraska (16-10, 6-7) scored just seven points in the final 14 minutes and made just two field goals in the last 16:52. The Aggies scored 10 of the game's final 11 points. A Nebraska foul gave the Texas A&M the ball out of bounds with 2.6 seconds left. Carter received the inbounds pass and swished a 25-footer from the top of the key as time ran out. Carter led Texas A&M with 11 points and Davis had 10 for the Aggies. Ade Dagunduro led Nebraska with 16 points. Nebraska's Cookie Miller missed a pair of free throws with 19.5 seconds left and the teams each turned the ball over twice before Texas A&M got a final possession.

GAME NOTES

Hot Start

Big 12 Notables

Bouncing Back

Cracking the Top 10

Road Warriors

Thirteen in a Row

LONGEST WIN STREAKS, TEXAS A&M HISTORY
Year(s) Wins
1. 1919-21* 25
2. 1914-16* 20
3. 2010-11 13
4. 2004-05 11
1921-22 11
* spanned two seasons

WIN STREAK STATS
Category
A&M Points/Game 72.2
Opponent Points/Game 57.4
Margin of Victory +14.8
Opponent FG Pct. .386
Opponent 3-Pt FG Pct. .286
Rebound Margin +10.4
Opp. Combined Record (as of 1/17) 127-88 (.591)

Success Against Ranked Teams

Protecting the Ball

Making a Stand

Aggies in the NCAA Rankings

Cashing in From the Charity Stripe

Knocking 'em Down

FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE COMPARISON
Span Record FG Pct. 3-Pt Pct. 50+*
Nov.-Dec. 12-1 44.8 34.4 2
January 5-1 46.0 39.1 2
* games shooting 50 percent or better from floor

Locking it Down

A&M'S LATE-GAME DEFENSIVE STANDS
Opponent Clock Situation Opponent rest of game Result Notable
Kansas State 4:55 left tied (48-48) 2 FG, 2 FT W, 64-56 late 3-ptr came with :12 left & 9-pt lead
Missouri 1:35 left-OT down 2 (87-85) 1 FG, 0 FT W, 91-89 (OT) MU's bucket came on tip-in at end of game
Oklahoma St. 15:08 left up 3 (43-40) 1 FG, 6 FT W, 71-48 OSU scoreless over final 5:41
Nicholls St. 4:09 left up 9 (62-53) 0 FG, 2 FT W, 66-55
McNeese St. 3:43 left up 3 (56-53) 2 FG, 0 FT W, 66-57 last MSU FG came w/:00.1 left in game
Arkansas 6:42 left down 6 (58-52) 0 FG, 2 FT W, 71-62 (OT) UA also scoreless in OT until layup w/:16 left
Washington 5:02 left up 5 (61-56) 2 FG, 2 FT W, 63-62
Pacific 5:19 left up 9 (63-54) 1 FG, 2 FT W, 79-59 FG was 3-pointer with :06 left in game
SFA 3:00 left up 7 (57-50) 1 FG, 0 FT W, 62-53
Temple 6:42 left down 1 (47-46) 1 FG, 2 FT W, 54-51
Manhattan 12:49 left up 5 (43-38) 2 FG, 3 FT W, 74-45

Senior Watch

Elite Poll Company

Balancing Act

Reed Arena Struggles for Foes

Home, Sweet Home

Miscellaneous

Up Next

LAST TIME OUT: (#10) Texas A&M 64, (#24) Kansas State 56

COLLEGE STATION (Jan. 22)--Minutes after Texas A&M was manhandled in an 81-60 loss to Texas earlier in the week, coach Mark Turgeon told the 11th-ranked Aggies they'd have to be much more physical to beat Kansas State. Texas A&M answered his challenge, outmuscling Kansas State in a game with 48 fouls to win 64-56 on Saturday. B.J. Holmes made a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left before Jacob Pullen's shot was blocked by David Loubeau on the other end and the Wildcats had to foul again. Dash Harris made one of two shots to push the lead to 58-53, and the Aggies got the rebound on the miss. Middleton hit six free throws after that to secure the win. It was the fourth loss in five games for Kansas State (13-7, 1-4), which was led by Pullen's 21 points. Curtis Kelly added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, off to a terrible start in Big 12 play after being the preseason conference favorite. The Aggies bounced back from the loss to No. 10 Texas, which was their first defeat since Thanksgiving. Texas A&M's free throw shooting was the key in this one with the Aggies making 27 of 37 attempts compared to 11-of-19 shooting from the line for the Wildcats. Middleton led the way in that area, sinking 11 of 12. Middleton was the only Aggies player who scored in double figures, but Holmes, Naji Hibbert and Kourtney Roberson chipped in nine points apiece for Texas A&M. The game was tied at 48 before the Aggies used a 7-2 run to make it 55-50 with just under 1 1/2 minutes left. Pullen got Kansas State within 46-45 with a jump shot with about 10 minutes remaining. Both teams went on scoring droughts after that, with neither one making a field goal for about 5 minutes. The Wildcats tied it on a free throw by Kelly with about 7 minutes left. Harris hit a layup with just more than 5 minutes remaining to break the drought and give the Aggies a 48-46 lead. Kansas State led by six before Texas A&M used a 13-0 run to pull ahead 44-37 with 12 minutes to go. That run was fueled by a pair of 3-pointers by Hibbert that came 5 seconds apart. Hibbert hit one from the left corner before a turnover by the Wildcats gave the Aggies the ball back. He caught the inbounds pass and knocked down a second one from the right corner. The Aggies were up by six after a 3-pointer by Hibbert with about 4 minutes left in the first half. The Wildcats finished the half with a 7-1 run to leave it tied 29-all at the break.

Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon: "That's a really good win for us. I thought Kansas State played well. Defensively, I thought they were really dialed in, they did a great job guarding us. We didn't particularly play well, to be honest, especially offensively. It's an ugly win, but in the end it's a 'W.' I don't think we're very good (right now), I really don't. I'm sitting over there thinking we have a long ways to go. And I think that's the exciting thing about where we are, we're not playing very well. We're making a lot of mistakes, we have a lot of silly fouls. The way we're playing right now is not good enough. That just shows you how good I think that group in there can be. I'm proud of the bench, I thought they were really good today and had a big impact on the game. We talked about just getting back to playing Texas A&M basketball, and our guys know what that is. If our bigs, Kourtney and Ray, come along, then our team will really improve."

Postgame Notes: K-State

ADDITIONAL NOTES: DEFENSE

Rebounding

Forcing Turnovers

ADDITIONAL NOTES: OFFENSE

Fast-Paced Offense

Sharing the Ball

Make Shots, Win Games

Strong Down Low

Take Another Chance

TURGEON QUOTEBOARD (1/24 press conference)

On the success at the free throw line...
"Well, it was kind of a roller coaster on Saturday because we missed three front ends of 1-and-1s. We were just good enough defensively to overcome it. But no, I think the right guys got fouled late. It was good to see B.J. (Holmes) step up and knock them down like he did, and of course Khris (Middleton) has done it most of the year. In the league we have about four guys shooting real well at the foul line and three to four that aren't. We've got to get those three or four that aren't at a little higher percentage as we go forward. It's kind of an individual thing, but I think we're at 72 or 73 (percent) both overall and in the league, and that's better than we have been in the past."

On the practice plan this week with no Wednesday game...
"Well, we'll work on defense, that's what we do. We don't win the game Saturday without good defense in the second half. I thought Dash (Harris) did a tremendous job. Our team defense was better and our rebounding was better. So we'll work on that. We've got to work on our execution. The good thing is we've got a lot of practice time this week. We've got two days this week where we'll just work on us, just get better and work on them individually. We'll start preparing for Nebraska Thursday and Friday. We'll always start on the defensive end and rebounding, and then we just have to get where we start executing better and screening better offensively. We'll tweak a few things to hopefully help that."

On Saturday being last trip to the Devaney Center, and his memories of the place...
"Well, obviously our last game up there was a thriller, with Josh (Carter) hitting the shot to beat them. (It was) A game that quite frankly we weren't very good for about 30 minutes and then were great the last 10 minutes, and it was enough to overcome I think an 18-point deficit. We had great execution down the stretch and Josh hit a big three. You think about where our program's come since that game and what we've done in the league. That was a big game for us. I think we ended up winning three in a row in the league after that, and 11 last year, and of course where we are today. That was a big shot for us. The thing I always know about Nebraska is they have great fans, it'll be sold out I'm sure. They really like their Cornhuskers. I won't miss going there, but I'm looking forward to this last time."

Do you expect to get Nebraska's best shot defensively after their loss to Texas Tech?
"Yeah, (Coach Sadler) and I probably feel about the same about our teams defensively right now. Doc's team is going to guard. They always guard. They have a week to get ready, just like we do, so they'll fine-tune some things defensively. They're going to make you beat them from the outside. They're going to pack it in and we're going to have to make some jump shots to beat them. We understand that. Hopefully with having the weekday off we'll be fresh, our legs will be fresh, and we'll be able to knock down some shots on Saturday."

On the challenge posed by Nebraska...
"I think they have more quality depth than they've had, more experience than they've had. They had young depth last year and they're a little more experienced this year. They're a heck of a team, probably undefeated at home--I haven't looked, but I'm sure they are. Like any Big 12 road game it's going to be a tough one."

On the bench being key in Saturday's win over K-State and if that builds confidence...
"No question (it does). I was really pleased. Naji (Hibbert) has been giving us good minutes. He's played well in I think four of the five Big 12 Conference games, which shows he's getting more consistent, which is something I'm on him about. He shot it well. Kourtney (Roberson) had his best game in a while. Kourtney is a good player and he needs minutes. I thought Keith Davis, in his three minutes, was really good. (He was) 1-for-1 from the field, he screened well, he defended well. And then Ray (Turner) was playing well before he got hurt and got in foul trouble. Ray would have played a lot more minutes Saturday, but he just couldn't. His ankle was bothering him, and we needed him. To see the way our starters shot the ball and to still win the game, it's encouraging. We want to build depth, hopefully what gives us a chance to be near the top of the league is building depth. That makes you a better team when guys don't play well, because you have options. It's a good feeling to sit there on the bench and watch Kourtney play the way he's playing, instead of putting him in for two or three minutes and just trying to get through those two or three minutes and get the starters back in. That's no fun as a coach. You want to be able to sit over there when you sub guys in and feel comfortable with them. And I think we're getting to that point."

On the basketball weekend ahead at Reed Arena, with Big Monday versus Texas and the No. 5 women Sunday versus No. 1 Baylor...
"Hopefully it's a great 36 hours. What (women's coach) Gary (Blair) and his staff have done with their program...to win at Iowa State the way they did, which wasn't an easy environment--I was able to watch part of that game--they deserve a huge crowd Sunday against the No. 1 team in the country. It should be an exciting time. Then of course with us playing Texas on big Monday, it should be great crowd and bring a lot of students out. Hopefully we'll get the students out for the women's game Sunday also. I think that's pretty important. I've watched a lot of teams, and obviously Texas is playing as well as anyone in the country right now. And Baylor on the women's side has proven how good they are. Hopefully it's a great 36 hours for A&M basketball."

When you see what Texas did to Kansas, do you reevaluate what happened to you in Austin on Wednesday?
"No. the one thing about down in Texas was I thought we kept trying hard, we just couldn't do anything about it. That was the discouraging part. I don't compare ourselves to anyone else, I just want to figure it out. But no, what a week for Texas...to beat us the way they did and play the way they did, and then come back and beat Kansas pretty handily, that's a pretty good week."

On such a quick turnaround of playing Texas on Monday, less than two weeks from the first meeting...
"I think it's good, because we'll remember the whipping we took. You don't ever want to get embarrassed. They whipped us pretty good. I think we cut it to 14 in the second half...we were trying, we just couldn't do anything about it. That'll help us. And then game-planning wise, having to go to Nebraska (Saturday) and then play on Big Monday, it'll help your planning. You just went through it all, hopefully you can make the right adjustments to be a little more successful."