Feb. 25, 2011
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -
No. 17 Texas A&M puts its 5-game Big 12 win streak on the line Saturday night when the Aggies (22-5, 9-4) travel to Waco to face Baylor (17-10, 6-7). Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
(#17/21) Texas A&M AGGIES (22-5, 9-4)
at Baylor BEARS (17-10, 6-7)
Saturday, February 26, 2011 • 8:05 PM (CT) • TV: ESPNU HD
Ferrell Center (10,284) • Waco, Texas
TELEVISION: ESPNU HD
Dan McLaughlin, Play-by-Play
Sean Farnham, Commentary
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Local/Internet: WTAW-AM 1620/radioaggieland.com
Satellite Radio: Sirius 122/XM 143 (Baylor broadcast only)
Series: A&M leads, 127-75
Current Win Streak: Baylor, 2 games
In Waco: A&M leads, 50-44
At Ferrell Center: series tied, 11-11
In College Station: A&M leads, 74-29
At Reed Arena: A&M leads, 9-4
At Neutral Sites: A&M leads, 3-2
At Big 12 Tournament: BU leads, 1-0
Longest A&M Win Streak: 11 games
Longest BU Win Streak: 8 games
Largest A&M Win: 52-10 (1919-20)
Largest BU Win: 97-45 (2001-02)
Mark Turgeon vs. Baylor: 3-4
Scott Drew vs. A&M: 6-9
Last Meeting: Baylor, 76-74 (OT) (Feb. 5 at Reed Arena)
THE MATCHUP
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 22-5, 9-4 Big 12
Ranking: 17th (USAT/ESPN), 21st (AP)
NCAA RPI / Sagarin Rating: 27 / 30
Streak: Won 5
Last 5 / Last 10: 5-0 / 6-4
Away from Home: 8-3
Last Game: def. Oklahoma (H), 61-47 (Wednesday)
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas '87)
Record: 248-155 (13th year)
at Texas A&M: 95-36 (4th year)
vs. Baylor: 3-4
A&M Probable Starters
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
5 Dash Harris G 6-1 175 Jr. 4.4 2.6 3.3 27 / 28.0
10 David Loubeau F 6-8 230 Jr. 11.1 4.9 0.4 27 / 25.9
11 B.J. Holmes G 5-11 175 Sr. 9.7 2.8 3.2 27 / 29.7
22 Khris Middleton F 6-7 215 So. 14.7 5.1 3.0 27 / 29.3
45 Nathan Walkup F 6-7 210 Sr. 10.0 5.9 1.3 27 / 24.6
BAYLOR BEARS
Record: 17-10, 6-7 Big 12
Ranking: NR
NCAA RPI / Sagarin Rating: 79 / 69
Streak: Lost 2
Last 5 / Last 10: 2-3 / 5-5
At Home: 14-2
Last Game: lost to (#20) Missouri (A), 77-59 (Wednesday)
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler '93)
Record: 146-124 (9th year)
at Baylor: 126-113 (8th year)
vs. Texas A&M: 6-9
Baylor Probable Starters
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP/Min
5 Perry Jones III F 6-11 235 Fr. 14.1 7.1 0.8b 27 / 33.9
11 J'Mison Morgan C 6-11 265 Jr. 3.1 2.3 1.1b 27 / 12.1
22 A.J. Walton G 6-1 185 So. 7.9 3.2 5.0 26 / 33.0
24 LaceDarius Dunn G 6-4 200 Sr. 20.4 3.9 2.3 24 / 35.1
41 Anthony Jones F 6-10 190 Jr. 8.3 5.4 1.0 27 / 29.2
About Baylor (17-10, 6-7)
Baylor is 17-10 on the year and is tied for sixth in the Big 12 at 6-7 ... the Bears have lost two straight and are coming off a 77-59 loss at No. 20 Missouri Wednesday ... BU is 14-2 at the Ferrell Center this season.
Baylor returns 8 letterwinners and 2 starters from a 2009-10 team that went 28-8 and finished tied for second in the Big 12 at 11-5 ... the Bears advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Duke ... Scott Drew is in his eighth year in Waco with a record of 126-113.
Series Notes
Saturday will mark the 203rd meeting between the rivals on the basketball court ... it is the second most-played rivalry in A&M history, behind Texas (220) ... the Aggies lead the all-time series with Baylor, 127-75 ... A&M leads, 50-44, in games played in Waco ... the series is tied at Ferrell Center, 11-11.
A&M has won 16 of the 30 games between the schools since the formation of the Big 12 ... the teams have split the series each of the last three seasons ... the Aggies have taken 10 of the last 14 meetings.
Baylor built an early lead in a Feb. 5 meeting at Reed Arena and held on for a 76-74 overtime victory over the Aggies.
Last season, A&M upset No. 20 Baylor 78-71 at Reed Arena, and three weeks later the 22nd-ranked Aggies fell to the 24th-ranked Bears, 70-66, at the Ferrell Center.
Last Time They Met: Baylor 76, (#16) Texas A&M 74 (OT)
COLLEGE STATION (Feb. 5)-Anthony Jones' layup with 3.1 seconds left in overtime lifted Baylor to a 76-74 win over No. 16 Texas A&M on Saturday. Perry Jones, who led the Bears (15-7, 5-4 Big 12) with a season-high 27 points, gave them a 74-73 lead with his 3-point play with just over a minute left in overtime. Texas A&M's B.J. Holmes made one of two free throw attempts to tie it at 74. Texas A&M got the ball back, but Middleton was called for a foul for pushing off as he drove to the basket, setting up the shot by Jones. He got the offensive rebound off a missed shot by LaceDarius Dunn just before the shot clock expired and hit the eventual game-winner. A.J. Walton stole the ball from Khris Middleton as the Aggies tried for a desperation shot. Holmes finished with 19 points to lead Texas A&M (17-5, 4-4). Dunn scored 17 for Baylor and Anthony Jones and Quincy Acy had 10 points apiece. The Aggies tied it 69-all on a 3-pointer by Nathan Walkup with 48 seconds remaining. Anthony Jones stepped out of bounds on the other end, giving Texas A&M the ball back with 19 seconds remaining. Walkup had a chance for the win, but his 3-point attempt fell short. The Aggies made just 18 of 30 free throw attempts, including three misses in overtime. Baylor was up by 14 with about five minutes left in the first half before the Aggies used a 15-4 run to cut the lead to 43-40 at halftime. Texas A&M frazzled Baylor with its full-court press in that span, getting three steals off of it including two straight in the last minute. Texas A&M's leading scorer, Middleton, rebounded from a shutout performance in Monday's loss to No. 3 Texas with 18 points and nine rebounds. David Loubeau added 15 points for the Aggies.
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon: "We started another game awful and gave them confidence. I thought Baylor played great. Perry Jones was fantastic. We missed a lot of open ones, missed a lot of free throws. Our defense, it was atrocious until about the 10-minute mark of the game, then it was really good. But it was too late. The bottom line, the way you start the game gave them a ton of confidence. I've got to get our guys playing more aggressively defensively early in the game. We worked hard Wednesday and Thursday, like the season just started, and there was no carry over. You need every game. I just want us to play well, and I think we did down the stretch of this game, we couldn't make enough shots. Hopefully the last ten minutes of the game will carry over. It comes down to making close plays, and when you're lacking confidence, those things happen. All you can do is keep plugging."
Last Time in Waco: (#24) Baylor 70, (#22) Texas A&M 66
WACO (Feb. 24, 2010)-LaceDarius Dunn had 23 points, including consecutive 3-pointers after Baylor had gone 4 1/2 minutes without a field goal and a pair of late free throws, leading the No. 24 Bears past No. 22 Texas A&M 70-66. Texas A&M (19-8, 8-5 Big 12) had cut what was a 13-point deficit to one when B.J. Holmes hit another 3 for A&M, but Dunn responded with another of his own from the right corner with 3:13 left. That was the last of Dunn's four 3-pointers. B.J. Holmes had 11 points for Texas A&M, which had won five of six games with a 78-71 victory over Baylor 2 1/2 weeks earlier.
GAME NOTES
Aggie Trends
A&M is shooting 48.4 percent (122-for-252) on the current 5-game win streak.
Texas A&M is 14-1 this season when leading (or tied) heading in to the locker room ... the Aggies have overcome halftime deficits 7 times.
The Aggies are a perfect 18-0 this year when having the lead with 5 minutes to play.
A&M is 21-2 this year (86-21 all-time under Turgeon) when it holds foes to under 50 percent shooting ... 20-1 (78-13 under Turgeon) when the Aggies hold opponents to under 45 percent from the floor ... and 12-0 (52-4 under Turgeon) when foes shoot less than 40 percent.
One of A&M's goals every game is to make more free throws than the opponent shoots, which emphasizes the need to get to the charity stripe ... this year, that strategy has proven true, as the Aggies are 19-1 when they shoot more free throws then their opponents.
Texas A&M has emerged victorious in 20 of 23 games where the Aggies win the rebounding battle.
Turgeon has called this one of the best passing teams he's ever had ... when Texas A&M totals 10 or more assists, the team is 21-2 this year.
The Aggies are 20-3 this year (82-14 all-time under Turgeon) when holding foes to under 70 points.
Three of A&M's 5 losses this year have come by 9 or fewer points ... two (BC and Baylor) have gone down to the final possession, and a third (Nebraska) was a one-possession game with 1:11 to play.
Texas A&M is averaging 15.5 points off turnovers per game ... under Turgeon, the Aggies are 57-11 (12-2 this year) when they have more points off turnovers than their opponent.
Texas A&M is averaging 13.9 assists per game this year, on pace for its highest average since the 2006-07 season.
Texas A&M has scored at least 40 points in the paint in four games this year ... under Turgeon, A&M is 90-26 when scoring at least 20 points in the paint (20-3 this year).
The Aggies are averaging 13.8 second-chance points through 25 games (10.9 per game last year).
Four players are averaging at least 4.9 rebounds per game-Nathan Walkup (5.9), Khris Middleton (5.1) and David Loubeau (4.9) ... by comparison just one did so last season-Bryan Davis (8.1).
Under Mark Turgeon, the Aggies have won 13 of their last 16 games following a loss.
Texas A&M has won nearly 75 percent of its games since the start of the 2006-07 season (122-43, .739) ... the Aggies are 165-61 (.730) since the beginning of the '04-05 campaign.
Emerging Big 12 Power
Texas A&M recorded its 9th Big 12 victory against Oklahoma (Feb. 23), assuring the Aggies of a winning league season ... it is A&M's third consecutive winning season in Big 12 play ... Mark Turgeon is the first coach in program history to guide the Aggies to three consecutive winning campaigns in Big 12 action ... A&M finished 9-7 in 2009 and 11-5 last year.
The 9 Big 12 wins is already the fourth highest total in school history, with 3 games remaining (13 in 2007, 11 in 2010, 10 in 2006).
Texas A&M won its fifth straight Big 12 game with a victory over Oklahoma (Feb. 23), matching the third-longest Big 12 win streak in school history ... it is already the fifth time under Mark Turgeon that an Aggie team won at least 4 Big 12 games in a row ... before Turgeon arrived in Aggieland, a Big 12 win streak of at least 4 games had happened just three times in school history.
LONGEST BIG 12 WINNING STREAKS, A&M HISTORY
Year Wins
1. 2006 7
2. 2009 6
3. 2011 5
2008 5
2007 5
2011 is the seventh consecutive year that the Aggies have won at least 8 Big 12 games ... A&M had never won more than 6 Big 12 games prior to 2005.
The Aggies won 4 of their first 5 Big 12 games, matching the 2006-07 team for the best Big 12 start in school history.
Texas A&M matched its best-ever finish in Big 12 play last season, tying for second place with an 11-5 record ... it was the Aggies' second-best record in league history, trailing only the 2006-07 squad (13-3) ... A&M was 7-1 at home and 4-4 on the road in conference tilts in 2010.
The Aggies have won 48 Big 12 games since the start of the 2007 league season ... prior to that, A&M had totaled only 43 victories in the first 10 years of Big 12 play.
With a win at Oklahoma on Jan. 8, Texas A&M has now won 4 of its last 5 Big 12 openers after going winless in its first 10 tries.
Racking Up the Ws
Texas A&M has reached the 22-win mark for just the eighth time in the program's 99-year history ... the Aggies' 22 victories rank seventh all-time, and is five shy of the record (27), set in the 2006-07 Sweet 16 season.
MOST SINGLE-SEASON WINS, A&M HISTORY
Year Wins
1. 2006-07 27
2. 1979-80 26
3. 2007-08 25
4. 1978-79 24
2008-09 24
2009-10 24
7. 2010-11 22
2005-06 22
With a 71-66 win over Iowa State on Feb. 16, Texas A&M secured its seventh consecutive 20-win season ... before this stretch, which started with the 2004-05 season, Aggie basketball had six 20-win seasons in its entire history ... A&M's other 20-win campaigns were in 1974-75, 1975-76, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82 and 1985-86.
Mark Turgeon recorded his fourth straight 20-win season at A&M ... Turgeon is the only coach in school history to record 4 straight 20-win campaigns ... he has led his teams to at least 20 wins in now 7 of the last 8 seasons ... only the legendary Shelby Metcalf (6) has more 20-win seasons to his name in Aggie history.
A&M, Kansas and Texas are the only Big 12 schools that have won at least 20 games in each of the last seven seasons.
Late-Season Surge
Over the last three Big 12 seasons (2009-11), Texas A&M is a combined 17-4 in the back half of the Big 12 schedule (final 8 games of each year) ... the Aggies closed league play 6-2 in 2009, 6-2 in 2010 and are currently 5-0 in 2011 with 3 games remaining.
Down to the Wire
Texas A&M is 7-2 this year in "last possession" games (3 or fewer points, or OT) ... the Aggies have a 1-point win over Washington (63-62), a 1-point win at Oklahoma State (67-66), a 2-point win over Missouri (91-89), and 3-point wins over Temple (54-51), Colorado (73-70) and Texas Tech (70-67) ... the Aggies took Arkansas to overtime before emerging victorious, 71-62 ... A&M's 2-point losses this year came to Boston College (65-67) and Baylor (74-76).
Overall, A&M is 8-2 this year in games decided by fewer than 5 points ... and 11-3 this year in games decided by fewer than 10 points.
Protecting the Ball
Texas A&M has done a good job limiting turnovers in conference play ... the Aggies have committed just 148 turnovers (11.4 per game) in Big 12 play, fewest in the league ... A&M, which averaged 14 turnovers per game in non-conference play, has committed 344 on the entire season, the second fewest of any Big 12 team (Colorado, 340).
A&M is averaging 7.4 turnovers in the first half against Big 12 foes ... A&M averages just 4.0 turnovers the rest of the game (including overtime).
The Aggies have allowed Big 12 opponents 108 first-half points off turnovers, but just 52 the rest of the way.
TURNOVER TOTALS, BIG 12 GAMES
Category 1H Total 1H Avg. 2H Total* 2H Avg.*
Turnovers 96 7.4 52 4.0
Opponent Pts off TOs 108 8.3 52 4.0
* includes overtime periods
Road Warriors
Texas A&M is 8-3 away from Reed Arena this season ... in those games, the Aggies are holding opponents to 62.0 points and 42.1 percent shooting per game ... A&M has out-rebounded teams away from home this year by an average of 7 boards (35-28).
The Aggies have won 14 of their last 20 games away from Reed Arena dating back to early February of last season ... three of those six 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), on Thanksgiving Day vs Boston College (67-65) in Orlando, at No. 10 Texas (81-60) and most recently at Nebraska (57-48).
Mark Turgeon has won more Big 12 road games (15) than any Aggie coach in the 15-year history of the league.
A&M's Big 12 wins this year have come in some very tough venues ... Oklahoma was unbeaten (8-0) at Lloyd Noble before the Aggies took a league-opening win in Norman ... both Colorado (12-1) and Oklahoma State (11-1) had experienced just one loss before Texas A&M earned victories on those trips.
BIG 12 ROAD WARRIORS
Opponent Home Record* Losses* Final Score
Oklahoma (1/8) 8-0 - 69-51
Colorado (2/8) 12-1 Kansas 73-70
Texas Tech (2/12) 10-5 TCU, N Mex, BU, TEX, KU 70-67
Oklahoma State (2/19) 11-1 Texas 67-66
* entering A&M game
The Aggies' road losses in Big 12 play this year have come at Texas (Jan. 19) and at Nebraska (Jan. 29) ... those two teams are a combined 32-3 at home this year (combined 12-2 in Big 12 play).
A&M's Big 12 road record (4-2) trails only Texas and Kansas (identical 5-1 marks) ... the Aggies, Horns and Jayhawks are a combined 14-4 away from home in league play, while the other nine teams are a combined 11-49.
Turgeon Ranks No. 2 in Aggieland
Mark Turgeon (95 wins) passed Bob Rogers (92 in six seasons) as the second-winningest coach in school history with a Feb. 16 win over Iowa State ... the win was also the 20th of the season for the Aggies, making Turgeon the first ever coach to lead A&M to 4 straight 20-win seasons ... Shelby Metcalf (438 wins in 26 1/2 seasons) is the Aggies' all-time winningest coach.
WINNINGEST COACHES, SCHOOL HISTORY
Coach Wins Seasons Years
1. Shelby Metcalf 438 28 ½ 1964-90
2. Mark Turgeon 95 3+ 2007-
3. Bob Rogers 92 6 1958-63
4. D.X. Bible 90 7 1921-29
5. Tony Barone 76 7 1991-98
Big 12 Bits
Texas A&M ranks second in Big 12 games in scoring defense (64.8 ppg), trailing only Texas ... the Aggies are second in league play in turnover margin (+1.3) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1).
For the entire season, the Aggies lead the league in rebound margin (+7.7) and rebounding defense (29.2/game) ... are third in offensive rebounds (12.9) and scoring defense (60.6 ppg) ... and fourth in 3-point field goal defense (31.9% by foes), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1) and scoring margin (+9.5).
Senior BJ Holmes ranks third in the Big 12 over the whole season in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2).
Let's Keep Playing
Texas A&M has already played a school-record 4 overtime games this year, and is 3-1 in those contests.
The Aggies have set a school record with 3 OT wins this season.
Texas A&M's back-to-back OT games with Baylor (Feb. 5) and Colorado (Feb. 9) marked just the third time in school history the Aggies have played consecutive overtime games ... the most recent came in the fall of 2003, when A&M went extra with Grambling (2OT) and Houston (OT) ... the only other time it has occurred in school history was in 1984 (SMU and TCU).
A&M's 73-70 win at Colorado on Feb. 9 was the Aggies' first overtime win on the road since an 86-78 win at Alabama in the fall of 2008.
The victory in Boulder marked only the Aggies' second road OT victory in Big 12 history ... the other came at Iowa State in 2006 (86-81) ... A&M is 4-7 all-time in Big 12 overtime games (2-4 home, 2-3 away).
Locking it Down
The Aggies have used quite a few key defensive showings en route to a 22-5 record ... a look at some of the defensive efforts that have led to victories so far this season:
A&M'S LATE-GAME DEFENSIVE STANDS
Opponent Clock Situation Opponent rest of game Result Notable
Texas Tech 3:33 left down 2 (65-63) 1 FG, 0 FT W, 70-67 layup came with :10 left & 3-pt lead
Colorado 3:29 left down 6 (58-52) 0/3 FG, 2/2 FT (reg/OT) W, 73-70 (OT) CU 3-16 (19%) from field over span
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
In the last 3 minutes of games this season, the Aggie defense has held foes to 28.8 percent shooting (42-of-146) from the field and 23.7 percent (14-of-59) from 3-point range.
Battling Back
Texas A&M has erased four double-digit deficits en route to victories this season ... the Aggies have also washed out two more 10-plus deficits in games which they lost by two points.
BIG COMEBACKS (10+ POINT DEFICITS)
Opponent Largest Deficit Score / Time Final
Texas Tech (2/12) 10 8-18 / 12:30, 1st W, 70-67
Missouri (1/15) 12 7-19 / 13:00, 1st W, 91-89 (OT)
McNeese State (12/31) 10 18-28 / 7:51, 1st W, 66-57
Arkansas (12/18) 10 35-45 / 17:26, 2nd W, 71-62 (OT)
Baylor (2/5) 14 25-39 / 6:12, 1st L, 74-76 (OT)
Boston College (11/25) 11 38-49 / 13:50, 2nd L, 65-67
On Feb. 9, A&M trailed Colorado 58-52 with 3:29 to play in Boulder ... the Aggies held Colorado to just 2 free throws for the remainder of regulation, rallying to tie the game at 60 and force OT ... A&M went on to win the game, 73-70 ... the Buffs shot 19 percent (3-of-16) over the final 8:29 (including OT), managing the 3 field goals and 4 free throws.
With 10:30 to play on Feb. 5, the Aggies found themselves down 11 points (63-52) to a hot-shooting Baylor squad ... up to that point in the game, the Bears were hitting 61 percent from the field (25-41) ... over the remainder of the game (including overtime, 15:30), A&M held Baylor to just 27 percent shooting and 13 points ... over the last 10:30 of regulation, Aggie defenders locked the Bears down to just 1-of-8 from the floor and 6 points (4 of those coming from the free throw line) ... the 11-point second-half deficit wasn't the largest of the game for the Aggies, as they found themselves down 14 with 6:12 to play before halftime ... A&M's defense locked down again, holding the Bears to two late field goals and pulling all the way to within one before entering the locker room trailing 43-40.
Reed Arena Struggles for Foes
A&M is 14-2 at home this year, a feat due in no small part to the Aggies' defensive effort all season long ... opponents are shooting 40.4 percent inside Reed and averaging 59.6 points per game.
Only 3 teams have shot better than 45 percent on A&M's home floor-Missouri (52.2), Baylor (51.8) and Texas (50.0).
Only 2 teams have scored more than 70 points on A&M's home floor, with both games going to overtime-Missouri (89) and Baylor (76).
Home, Sweet Home
A&M has won 32 of its last 35 home games, including 15 of its last 18 in Big 12 play ... the Aggies are 45-5 at home since the start of the 2008-09 season with an 18-5 mark in conference games ... those 4 losses have come to Kansas (#1), Texas (#3), Oklahoma (#5), Baylor and Kansas State.
The Aggies are 79-8 (.908) at home since the start of the 2006-07 season and are 111-14 (.888) since the start of the 2004-05 campaign.
A&M has won 27 of its last 28 home games against unranked opponents (11 of last 12 in Big 12 play) ... under Turgeon, the Aggies are 50-4 against unranked opponents at Reed Arena, including a 15-4 mark against unranked Big 12 teams.
The Aggies are the only Big 12 team to win at least 15 home games for the last six consecutive seasons.
A&M is 153-56 (.732) in its 13th season at Reed Arena ... the Aggies were 41-41 the first six years at Reed and are 112-15 since.
The Aggies have won 60 straight non-conference games at Reed Arena ... the streak dates back to the start of the 2005-06 season and includes wins over Arizona, Alabama, LSU and Washington, among others ... the last home non-conference loss for the Aggies was to St. Joseph's (58-51) in the 2005 NIT quarterfinals ... A&M is 92-9 all-time in non-conference games at Reed (.911).
Texas A&M has won 73 consecutive regular-season non-conference home games ... the last non-conference team to beat the Aggies at Reed Arena was Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (82-80) in 2003.
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.
The top 20 single-game attendance marks in A&M history have been set since the start of the 2005-06 season ... the top 15 non-conference attendance marks also have been set in that time span.
Aggies in the NCAA Rankings
In the latest NCAA rankings (as of Feb. 21), A&M ranked 9th nationally in rebounding margin (+7.8) ... the Aggies have out-rebounded 21 of 25 opponents this season ... A&M is 83-13 under Turgeon (19-2 this year) when matching or out-rebounding their foes.
A&M also ranked 24th in the country in scoring defense (61.1 ppg) ... Stephen F. Austin, whom the Aggies beat at Reed Arena on Dec. 2, leads the nation (55.6).
Success Against Ranked Teams
The Aggies are 4-2 this season against ranked opponents, picking up a 54-51 win over Temple (No. 20 USAT/ESPN, No. 21 AP) on Nov. 28 at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, a 63-62 win over Washington (No. 21 AP, No. 22 USAT/ESPN) on Dec. 11 at Reed Arena, a 91-89 home victory over Missouri (No. 12 USAT/ESPN, No. 15 AP) on Jan. 15, and a 64-56 defeat of Kansas State (No. 24 USAT/ESPN) on Jan. 22 ... the Aggies' only losses have come to Texas.
Texas A&M has the second most ranked wins (4) in the Big 12, behind Texas (6) ... only Texas (8) and Kansas State (8) have played more ranked teams than the Aggies (6).
The four wins against ranked opponents ties for the second-most in school history and is one shy of the all-time record, held by the 1978-79 team (5) ... both last year's squad and the 2006-07 Sweet 16 team had 4 wins vs ranked foes.
MOST TOP-25 WINS, SCHOOL HISTORY
Season Wins Teams (ranking)
1. 1978-79 5 Indiana (10), UNLV (15), USF (19), Kentucky (11), Arkansas (11)
2. 2010-11 4 Temple (20), Washington (21), Missouri (12), K-State (24)
2009-10 4 Clemson (19), Minnesota (16), Baylor (20), Texas (21)
2006-07 4 Oklahoma St (12), Kansas (6), Texas (25), Louisville (16)
5. 2005-06 3 Colorado (25), Texas (6), Syracuse (21)
Senior Watch
A&M's senior class needs 6 more wins to become the winningest class in school history ... the Class of 2011 matched the Class of '08 (95-37, .720) with victory No. 95 against Oklahoma (Feb. 23) ... it is just the fourth class in school history to total at least 90 victories ... the Class of 2011 is 95-36 (.725) entering Saturday's game against Baylor, trailing only the 2010 (100-38, .725), and 2009 (98-37, .726) classes in the record books.
An NCAA bid would make the 2011 seniors just the third class in school history to advance to four NCAA Tournaments, joining those from the Classes of 2009 and 2010.
Balancing Act
The loss of A&M's top three scorers from last year (B.J. Holmes (9.7).
A total of 9 players have combined for 82 double-figure outings (Middleton 23, Holmes 15, Walkup 15, Loubeau 13, Hibbert 6, Roberson 6, Harris 2, Turner 1, Lewis 1) through 27 games.
Hot Start
Texas A&M matched the best 20-game start in school history with a 17-3 record to open the year.
BEST 20-GAME STARTS, SCHOOL HISTORY
Season 20-Gm Record Final Record Postseason
1. 2010-11 17-3 ?? ??
2006-07 17-3 27-7 NCAA Sweet 16
1959-60 17-3 19-5 -
4. 2007-08 16-4 25-11 NCAA 2nd Round
1978-79 16-4 24-9 NIT Final 6
1975-76 16-4 21-6 -
7. 2008-09 15-5 24-10 NCAA 2nd Round
2004-05 15-5 21-10 NIT Quarterfinals
1979-80 15-5 26-8 NCAA Sweet 16
Mark Turgeon other A&M teams were 16-4 (2007-08), 16-4 (2008-09) and 14-6 (2009-10) through 20 games.
Of note, the 1919-20 team had the best start (and finish) in school history, completing the year a perfect 19-0.
Thirteen in a Row
Texas A&M rattled off 13 straight wins over just under a two-month span from Nov. 26-Jan. 15 ... the 13-game streak was the longest in 91 years and the third-longest in school history, and included wins over then No. 12 Missouri, then No. 20 Temple, then No. 21 Washington and against Arkansas on a neutral court in Dallas.
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
The 13-game win streak was A&M's longest since the school-record 25-game streak which spanned the 1919-20 and 1920-21 seasons ... it also was the longest in Mark Turgeon coaching career, as his 2006-07 Wichita State team won its first 11 games of the season ... it was the third time a Turgeon-coached A&M team has won at least eight straight games (13 games, 2010-11; 10 games, 2008-09; 8 games, 2007-08).
Over the 13-game win streak, Aggie foes averaged just under 55 points per game and were out-rebounded by a margin of 10.4 boards ... a closer look at the numbers:
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)
Every Aggie opponent on the 13-game streak was held under its season average (not counting overtime periods) ... in addition, only two teams on the streak shot better than their season average (Missouri and Pacific).
In the last 3 minutes of games on the win streak, the Aggie defense held foes to 24.2 percent (16-of-66) from the field.
Cracking the Top 10
Texas A&M earned its first top-10 ranking in over three years this month, checking in at No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll (Jan. 17) ... the last time the Aggies sat in the national top 10 was on Nov. 26, 2007, when they were ranked ninth in both major polls.
It also marked just the fifth time in school history that a Texas A&M team has broken the top 10 in a season, joining the 1959-60, 2006-07 and 2007-08 squads ... A&M's school-record ranking in the polls is No. 6, set in the 2006-07 season.
Up Next
Texas A&M has one home game remaining, March 5 vs Texas Tech ... the Aggies will wrap up road play in the league with a game at Kansas (Wednesday, 8 p.m., ESPN2).
LAST TIME OUT: (#17) Texas A&M 61, Oklahoma 47
COLLEGE STATION (Feb. 23)-Khris Middleton scored 13 points to lead No. 17 Texas A&M to its fifth straight win, 61-47 over Oklahoma Wednesday night. The Aggies were up by four points before a 13-2 run stretched their lead to 51-36 with 6 minutes remaining. Texas A&M got points from six different players in that span on a night with a balanced overall scoring effort. Texas A&M (22-5, 9-4 Big 12) took advantage of a strong start to the second half to take a 10-point lead, but allowed Oklahoma to get back in it before the decisive run. Cade Davis had 21 points for Oklahoma (12-15, 4-9), which dropped its sixth in a row. It was the Aggies' fourth straight win over Oklahoma after they beat the Sooners 69-51 in the first meeting this season. Nathan Walkup chipped in 11 points and had nine rebounds for A&M, and Dash Harris and Kourtney Roberson added eight points apiece. Roberson led a strong effort from A&M's reserves, who outscored Oklahoma's 18-3. Texas A&M limited Oklahoma to just over 33-percent shooting, improving the Aggies to 20-1 this season when holding an opponent to less than 45 percent. The Sooners shot just under 29 percent in the second half after making 40 percent of their shots in the first half. Oklahoma's 47 points were the second-fewest the team has managed this season and just one point off its season low in a 66-46 loss to No. 5 Texas. The Aggies scored the first 11 points of the second half to erase a one-point deficit and take a 36-26 lead with about 15 minutes remaining. Oklahoma got off to a strong start and was up 18-13 with about 10 minutes left until halftime. Texas A&M got on track after that and used an 8-0 spurt to take a 21-18 lead 7 minutes later. The Sooners led 26-25 at halftime.
Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon: "It was a good win. We weren't great early, I thought they played really well and got control of the tempo. I thought we played with a little bit of a panic in the first half, trying to get 6- or 7-point plays, and Oklahoma wasn't going to allow it. At half time, it wasn't about x's and o's, it was about three things. About rebounding, we're a good rebounding team, about playing better, and about having fun out there. I think you saw a lot more smiles on our faces out there. Our defense was so good in the second half and our rebounding was so good, we were able to get away from them. We haven't talked about (getting a Big 12 Tournament bye) yet, we're just going to prepare for Baylor and try to play well. We've become a pretty good road team, hopefully that will continue. We have to get fresh, we looked tired and lethargic in the first half. Obviously we're not going to win the league, but that'd be the next step, talking about trying to get that bye. But we don't talk about it."
Postgame Notes: Oklahoma
Texas A&M recorded its 9th Big 12 victory on Wednesday, assuring the Aggies of a winning league season ... it is A&M's third consecutive winning season in Big 12 play ... Mark Turgeon is the first coach in program history to guide the Aggies to three consecutive winning campaigns in Big 12 action.
The 9 Big 12 wins is already the fourth highest total in school history, with 3 games remaining (13 in 2007, 11 in 2010, 10 in 2006).
Over the last 3 Big 12 seasons (2009-11), Texas A&M is a combined 17-4 in the back half of the Big 12 schedule (final 8 games) ... the Aggies closed league play 6-2 in 2009, 6-2 in 2010 and are a perfect 5-0 this year with 3 games remaining.
A&M's 5-game Big 12 win streak is the second-longest of the Mark Turgeon era (6 in the 2009 season).
The Aggies improved to 22-5 on the season ... A&M's 22 wins is the seventh-highest total in school history ... the school record is 27, set in 2006-07.
Oklahoma's 47 points were the lowest by a Big 12 opponent against Texas A&M since nearly four years ago to the day, Feb. 21, 2007 ... the Aggies defeated Oklahoma State that day, 66-46 ... the previous low by a Big 12 foe this season was 48 by OSU (Jan. 12).
Texas A&M out-rebounded OU by 12 (25-13) in the second half, erasing an 8-board halftime deficit ... for the game, the Aggies won the rebounding battle, 34-30 ... A&M is 20-2 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
A&M overcame a halftime deficit for the 7th time this year (Aggies trailed, 26-25).
The Aggies held OU to its third-lowest shooting percentage of the season (33.3%) ... A&M is 12-0 this year (52-4 all-time under Mark Turgeon) when holding foes to under 40 percent shooting.
Texas A&M has won 4 straight against Oklahoma for the first time in school history ... the Aggies have won 7 of the last 9 meetings with OU, who leads the series, 28-8.
The Aggies swept the Oklahoma schools in Big 12 play for just the second time ever (2007 Big 12 season).
A&M has won 32 of its last 35 home games, including 15 of its last 18 in Big 12 play ... A&M is 45-5 at home since the start of the 2008-09 season.
The Aggies are 14-2 this year at Reed Arena.
TEAM NOTES
Looking for Six
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).
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. 
