March 11, 2011
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -
Fresh off a commanding win over Missouri late Thursday night, No. 21 Texas A&M gets back to the court tonight when the Aggies (24-7) face 10th-ranked Texas (26-6) in the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. (CT) at Sprint Center.
A&M is looking for its first-ever apperance in the tournament's championship game, and will match up with the rival Longhorns for just the second time in the event's history.
The game will be televised regionally by the Big 12 Network and will air locally in Bryan/College Station on the CW Texas (KBTX-DT2, Suddenlink Ch 8). Viewers outside of the areas listed below can watch as part of the ESPN Full Court PPV package on DirecTV or Dish Network, or watch live online at ESPN3.com.
Kansas and Colorado will battle in the first semifinal, set for 6 p.m.
GAME 32: (#21) Texas A&M AGGIES (24-7)
vs (#10) Texas LONGHORNS (26-6)
Friday, March 11, 2011 • 8:30 p.m. (CT)
Sprint Center (18,758) • Kansas City, Missouri
TELEVISION: Big 12 Network
Dave Armstrong, Play-by-Play
Reid Gettys, Commentary
Holly Rowe, Reporter
Bryan/College Station: KBTX-DT2 (3.2) / Suddenlink Cable Ch 8
ESPN Full Court: DirecTV/Dish Network (check listings)
Internet: ESPN3.com
Big 12 Network Clearance List
---TEXAS
Beaumont-Port Arthur TX KUIL-LD
Dallas-Ft. Worth TX KTXA
Houston TX KTBU
San Antonio/Austin TX KCWX
Austin TX KBVO
Bryan-College Station TX KBTX-DT2 (CW TEXAS)
Waco-Temple-Killeen TX KWTX-DT2 (CW TEXAS)
Tyler-Longview-Lfkn & Ncgd TX KFXK
Tyler-Longview-Lfkn & Ncgd TX KFXL-LP
Corpus Christi TX KTOV
Amarillo TX KCPN
Lubbock TX KMYL
Odessa-Midland TX KOSA-DT2
Sherman, TX-Ada. OK TX KXII-DT2
Abilene-Sweetwater TX KIDZ-LP
San Angelo TX KIDY
---ARKANSAS
Little Rock-Pine Bluff AR KARZ
---COLORADO
Denver CO ALTITUDE2
---FLORIDA
Tampa-St. Pete, Sarasota FL BRIGHTHOUSE
Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbrn FL BRIGHTHOUSE-O
---IOWA
Des Moines-Ames IA WOI-DT
Cedar Rapids-Waterloo & Dubq IA KCRG 9.2
Sioux City IA KPTH-DT2
Rochestr-Mason City-Austin IA MEDIACOM-MC
Ottumwa-Kirksville IA MEDIACOM-OT
---KANSAS
Wichita-Hutchinson Plus KS KSAS
Topeka KS KSNT- DT
Joplin-Pittsburg KS KFJX
---KENTUCKY
Paducah-C. Girardeau-Harrbg-Mt VN KY WDKA
---MARYLAND
Baltimore MD MASN
---MISSOURI
St. Louis MO Charter St. Louis
Kansas City MO KMCI
Springfield MO KCZ
Columbia-Jefferson City MO KZOU
---NEBRASKA
Omaha NE KXVO
Lincoln & Hstngs-KrnyPlus NE KLKN
---NEW YORK
Binghamton NY WBPN
---OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City OK KOCB
---WISCONSIN
La Crosse-Eau Claire WI KQEG
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Local/Internet: WTAW-AM 1620/radioaggieland.com
Texas A&M Snapshot
Record: 24-7, 10-6 Big 12 (T-3rd)
Ranking: 21st (USAT/ESPN), RV (AP)
NCAA RPI / Sagarin Rating: 30 / 34
Streak: Won 2
Last 5 / Last 10: 3-2 / 7-3
Last Game: def. Missouri (N), 86-71 (Thursday)
Head Coach: Mark Turgeon (Kansas `87)
Record: 250-157 (13th year)
at Texas A&M: 97-38 (4th year)
at Big 12 Championship: 4-3
A&M 86, Missouri 71: Wrap-Up
The Aggies shot 57.8 percent from the floor, a season high (previous was 54.3 at Oklahoma on Jan. 8) ... it's A&M's highest FG percentage since shooting 62.0 percent against Missouri on March 7, 2009.
A&M held Missouri to 33.9 percent shooting, the second lowest by a Big 12 foe this year (33.3 by Oklahoma on Feb. 23) ... Mizzou shot 52.2 percent in the team's other meeting back on Jan. 15 (91-89 A&M OT victory in College Station).
The Aggies' 13-point halftime edge was the largest against a Big 12 foe this season and largest since holding a 20-point lead at the break over Wagner (Dec. 21).
The Aggies had 20 assists on the night, one shy of their season high (21 vs Pacific).
It was the sixth time this season an Aggie foe has shot under 35 percent from the field.
A&M improved to 9-5 away from home this year and 4-1 in neutral-site games ... the Aggies are now 16-11 under Turgeon in neutral-site contests.
Texas A&M's 86 points matched a school Big 12 Championship record ... the Aggies scored 86 in a win over Colorado in 2006.
Texas A&M shot 57.8 percent from the floor, setting a new school Big 12 Championship record ... the previous high was 55.3 percent in the win over CU in 2006.
Bryan Davis 22, Donald Sloan 20) ... it was the first time in Big 12 tourney history that A&M featured two 20-point scorers.
David Loubeau's 20 points were two shy of his career high (22 at Oklahoma State) ... Loubeau has posted back-to-back 20-point outings (21 vs Texas Tech on Saturday) for the first time in his career.
BJ Holmes' 20 points were a season high and four shy of his career best (24 vs Texas Tech in 2009).
The victory was A&M's eighth in a row over Missouri ... MU's last win over Texas A&M came in the 2004 Big 12 Tournament in Dallas.
The Aggies recorded their first win in three tries over Mizzou in Big 12 tourney matchups.
Big 12 Championship Bites
The Aggies improved to 5-14 all-time in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship ... all 5 wins have come since 2006 ... A&M lost its first 9 games but is 5-5 since.
A&M advanced to the Big 12 semifinals for the fourth time in history and the third in the last four seasons (2008, 2010, 2011) ... the Aggies are 0-3 all-time in semifinal games.
A&M is 4-2 all-time in the event at Sprint Center, with both losses coming to eventual champion Kansas.
The Aggies have matched up with the No. 2 seed just once in history, a 77-71 loss to Kansas three years ago (2008) at Sprint Center ... it was also a semifinal game ... 2011 is the first time A&M has been the No. 3 seed.
A&M/Texas Tidbits
A&M and Texas will meet for only the second time in Big 12 tourney history ... in 2006 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, the fourth-seeded Aggies fell to the top-seeded Longhorns, 74-70.
Texas holds a 5-4 edge in all-time neutral-site meetings between the rivals ... overall, Friday's game will mark the 220th in the series ... it's the most-played rivalry in A&M history and dates back to 1916.
Turgeon Milestone
Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon recorded the 250th win of his career on Thursday night ... Turgeon is 250-157 in 13 years as a head coach and 97-38 in his fourth season at A&M.
The Aggies recorded their fifth victory at the Big 12 Championship ... four of those five have come under Mark Turgeon ... Turgeon is 4-3 at the event.
Rarified Air
Texas A&M recorded its 24th victory of the year, matching the total for each of the last two seasons (24-10 in 2008-09, 24-10 in 2009-10).
Texas A&M has reached the 24-win mark for the fifth straight year and just the seventh time in the program's 99-year history.
The 24 wins ties for the fourth most in school history in a single season ... the record is 27, set in the 2006-07 campaign ... only three teams have totaled more wins than this year's squad (27 by 2006-07, 26 by 1979-80, 25 by 2007-08).
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 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.
Aggie Trends
Over the last 9 games (7-2 record), A&M is holding opponents to 40.2 percent shooting and 62.6 points per game ... 6 of those 9 games have come away from Reed Arena (at Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Colorado and Texas Tech; Missouri at Sprint Center).
Texas A&M is 16-1 this season when leading (or tied) heading into the locker room ... the Aggies' 13-point halftime edge was the largest against a Big 12 foe this season and largest since holding a 20-point lead at the break over Wagner (Dec. 21).
The Aggies are a perfect 20-0 this year when having the lead with 5 minutes to play.
A&M is 23-3 this year when totaling 10 or more assists.
A&M is 23-4 this year (88-23 all-time under Turgeon) when it holds foes to under 50% shooting ... 22-2 (80-14 under Turgeon) when the Aggies hold opponents to under 45% from the floor ... and 14-0 (54-4 under Turgeon) when foes shoot less than 40%.
Texas A&M has emerged victorious in 22 of 25 games this year 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 23-3 this year.
Texas A&M is averaging 13.7 assists per game this year, on pace for its highest average since the 2006-07 season.
Texas A&M has won nearly 75 percent of its games since the start of the 2006-07 season (124-44, .738) ... the Aggies are 167-62 (.729) since the start of the '04-05 campaign.
Road Warriors
Texas A&M is 9-5 away from Reed Arena this season ... in those games, the Aggies are holding opponents to 62.5 points and 41.6 percent shooting per game ... A&M has out-rebounded teams away from home this year by an average of 6.1 boards (34.5-28.4).
The Aggies have won 15 of their last 23 games away from Reed Arena dating back to early February of last season ... three of those eight losses have been by 4 points or less.
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 (97) in their first four years at a Big 12 school are his mentors at Kansas, Larry Brown (108 in 1983-87) and Roy Williams (103 in 1988-92), and current KU coach Bill Self (105 in 2003-07). 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 Big 12 Coach of the Year by The Dallas Morning News for the second straight season.
Turgeon is the only coach in Big 12 history to win 24 or more games in each of his first four seasons.
Saluting the Seniors
A&M's Class of '11--Marshall Carrell, Andrew Darko, BJ Holmes, Derrek Lewis and Nathan Walkup--has a four-year record of 97-38 entering Friday's Big 12 semifinal, the third winningest class in school history (100 by 2010, 98 by 2009).
A&M's senior class needs 4 more wins to become the winningest class in school history ... it is just the fourth class in school history to total at least 90 victories ... the Class of 2011 is 97-38 (.719) entering Friday's Big 12 semifinal, trailing only the 2010 (100-38, .725), and 2009 (98-37, .726) classes in the record books.
Selected Player Updates
10 · David Loubeau
Averaging 17.3 points and 4.8 rebounds over last 4 games ... shooting 67% (26-39) over that span ... 10+ points in 8 of last 10 games ... back-to-back 20 point games for first time in career (21 vs Texas Tech, 20 vs Missouri).
11 · B.J. Holmes
20-point outing vs Missouri was a season high ... third 20-point game of his career and first since Nov. 26, 2009 against Clemson in the 76 Classic (20 pts) ... 5 assists was 7th time this year he's dished out 5 or more assists in a game ... is now just 24 shy of becoming 32nd member of A&M's 1,000-point club (976 for career) ... double-figure scorer 17 times this year ... 181 career 3-pointers tied for third on school's all-time list with current Sacramento King Antoine Wright (A&M 2002-05) ... trails only Josh Carter (299) and Bernard King (232).
22 · Khris Middleton
Double figures in 25 of 31 games this year ... team is 20-5 this year when he hits double digits ... 10+ points in 8 of last 10 games.
32 · KOURTNEY ROBERSON
Averaging 5.3 points and 7.3 rebounds over last 3 games ... averaging just 13.3 minutes over that span.
45 · Nathan Walkup
16 points and 6 rebounds vs Missouri were both career postseason highs ... 10+ points in 16 games this year, and team is 14-2 in those contests. 
