March 26, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Team notes following the 2010-11 Texas A&M basketball season:
TEXAS A&M BASKETBALL 2010-11 SEASON NOTEBOOK
Final Record: 24-9
Final Big 12 Record: 10-6 (T-3rd)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament First Round
Rankings (entering postseason): 20th (USA Today/ESPN Coaches), 24th (AP)
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Games Played: eight players with 33
Starts: Khris Middleton (So.)/B.J. Holmes (Sr.), 33
Points/Game: Khris Middleton (So.), 14.4
Assists/Game: B.J. Holmes (Sr.), 3.2
Rebounds/Game: Nathan Walkup (Sr.), 5.5
Steals/Game: B.J. Holmes (Sr.), 1.3
Blocks/Game: Ray Turner (So.), 0.5
Minutes/Game: B.J. Holmes (Sr.), 30.3
Field Goal Pct.: Kourtney Roberson (Fr.), .582
3-Point FG Pct.: B.J. Holmes (Sr.), .411
Free Throw Pct.: Khris Middleton (So.), .784
NCAA TOURNAMENT: MAKE THAT SIX STRAIGHT
Texas A&M made its sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 12th overall ... prior to this streak, A&M had never played in consecutive NCAA Tournaments and had not been to the NCAAs since 1987 ... 6 of the Aggies' 12 appearances, and 6 of their 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 6 seasons ... the Aggies join Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Texas, Villanova, Wisconsin and Xavier in that elite field.
Texas A&M is 5-4 this season against teams that earned bids to the NCAA Tournament.
RACKING UP THE Ws
Texas A&M finished the season 24-9 ... the Aggies reached the 24-win mark for the fifth straight year and only the seventh in the program's 99-year history.
Only three A&M teams have totaled more wins than the 2010-11 Aggie squad: 2006-07 (27), 1979-80 (26) and 2007-08 (25).
The Aggies recorded their seventh consecutive 20 win season ... before this stretch, which began in 2004-05, A&M had six in its entire history.
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.
EMERGING BIG 12 POWER
Texas A&M opened the 2009 Big 12 campaign with a 3-7 record ... from that point on (starting with an 81-66 win over Texas on Feb. 16 of that year), the Aggies have posted a 27-11 Big 12 record (6-0 to close 2009, 11-5 in 2010 and 10-6 in 2011) ... it's the second-best record over that span among conference teams, trailing only Kansas (34-4).
Only two A&M teams won more Big 12 games than the 2011 Aggies (10): 2007 (13) and 2010 (11).
The Aggies posted back-to-back 10-plus win seasons in Big 12 play for just the second time ever (2006-2007) ... it is only the second time in the last 25 years that an A&M team has accomplished that feat ... prior to '06-07, the last time an Aggie squad recorded consecutive double-digit win seasons in conference play was in 1985 (10) and 1986 (12).
2011 was A&M's third consecutive winning season in Big 12 play ... Mark Turgeon became 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 ... it marked the first time since the late 60s (1967-70) that a Texas A&M team finished above .500 in league action for three straight seasons.
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 ... before Turgeon arrived in Aggieland, a Big 12 win streak of at least 4 games had happened just three times in school history.
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.
Over the last three Big 12 seasons (2009-11), Texas A&M is a combined 18-6 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 6-2 in 2011.
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.
The Aggies have won 49 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.
AGGIE TRENDS
Texas A&M was 16-2 this season when leading (or tied) heading in to the locker room ... the Aggies overcame halftime deficits 7 times.
The Aggies were a perfect 20-0 this year when having the lead with 5 minutes to play.
A&M was 23-6 (88-25 all-time under Turgeon) when it held foes to under 50% shooting ... 22-2 (80-14 under Turgeon) when the Aggies held opponents to under 45% from the floor ... and 14-0 (54-4 under Turgeon) when foes shot less than 40%.
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 ... the strategy proved true in 2011, as the Aggies went 20-2 when they shot more free throws then their opponents.
Texas A&M emerged victorious in 22 of 25 games this year when it won the rebounding battle.
Turgeon called his team of the best passing squads he's ever had ... the Aggies were 23-4 this year when totaling 10 or more assists.
The Aggies were 21-6 (83-17 all-time under Turgeon) when holding foes to under 70 points.
Five of A&M's 9 losses this year have come by 9 or fewer points ... two (BC and Baylor) went down to the final possession, and a third (Nebraska) was a one-possession game with 1:11 to play.
Texas A&M averaged 15.0 points off turnovers per game ... under Turgeon, the Aggies are 58-14 (13-5 this year) when they have more points off turnovers than their opponent.
Texas A&M scored at least 40 points in the paint in four games this year ... under Turgeon, A&M is 92-28 when scoring at least 20 points in the paint (22-5 this year).
Three players averaged at least 5.0 rebounds per game--Nathan Walkup (5.5), Khris Middleton (5.2) and David Loubeau (5.0) ... by comparison just one did so last season--Bryan Davis (8.1) ... it was the first time since the 2001-02 season that at least 3 Aggies averaged at least 5 boards per game.
Texas A&M has won nearly 75 percent of its games since the start of the 2006-07 season (124-45, .734) ... the Aggies are 167-63 (.726) since the start of the '04-05 campaign.
Under Mark Turgeon, the Aggies have won 14 of their last 19 games following a loss.
ROAD WARRIORS
Texas A&M played 7 of its final 11 games away from Reed Arena (at Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Colorado and Texas Tech; Missouri and Texas at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Florida State in Chicago) ... the Aggies went 7-4 over that span.
Texas A&M went 9-7 away from Reed Arena this season ... in those games, the Aggies held opponents to 62.6 points and 42.4 percent shooting per game.
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 road record (4-4) trailed only Kansas (7-1) and Texas (6-2) ... the Aggies, Horns and Jayhawks were a combined 17-7 away from home in league play, while the other nine teams were a combined 12-60.
SUCCESS AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
The Aggies went 4-4 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 (3 times) and Kansas (1) ... 3 of the 4 losses have come away from home.
The four wins against ranked opponents ties for the second-most in school history and was one shy of the all-time record, held by the 1978-79 team (5) ... both the 2006-07 and 2009-10 teams had 4 wins vs ranked foes.
BIG 12 HONORS
Texas A&M placed three on the coaches' All-Big 12 teams, released March 6 ... sophomore Khris Middleton (2nd team), junior David Loubeau (3rd team) and senior BJ Holmes (honorable mention) ... it was the first honor of its kind for all three.
It marked only the third time that the Aggies placed at least three on the coaches' All-Big 12 squads, joining the 2005 (Antoine Wright, Acie Law, Joseph Jones) and 2007 (Acie Law, Joseph Jones, Antanas Kavaliauskas, Josh Carter) teams.
HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
Mark Turgeon (97 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.
Turgeon is the only coach in school history to lead the Aggies to four 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.
Turgeon has led the Aggies to 4 straight 20-win seasons, including 4 of the top 7 victory totals in the school's 99-year basketball history.
Turgeon is the only coach in school history to win 23 or more games four times.
Turgeon has led his teams to at least 20 wins in 7 of the last 8 seasons (his Wichita State team won 17 games in 2006-07) ... his teams have advanced to postseason play 7 times in the last 8 years.
Turgeon has led his teams to 4 straight NCAA Tournaments and 5 in the last 6 years.
As a player, assistant coach and head coach, Turgeon has compiled a 26-13 NCAA Tournament record (8-4 as a player, 13-4 as an assistant, 5-5 as a head coach). Turgeon is the only active Big 12 head coach to play and coach in an NCAA Final Four.
In 14 NCAA Tournament appearances as a player, assistant coach and head coach, Turgeon has lost a first-round NCAA game just twice (Oregon in 1995 under Coach Jerry Green and in 2011 at A&M).
SALUTING THE SENIORS
A&M's senior class (Marshall Carrell, Andrew Darko, BJ Holmes, Derrek Lewis, Nathan Walkup) will go down as the third-winningest in school history ... the group finished their careers with a 97-39 record, trailing only the classes of 2010 (100) and 2009 (98) in victories.
The Class of '11 was the only one in school history to record three consecutive winning seasons in Big 12 play ... was only the third to advance to four straight NCAA Tournaments ... and became just the fourth to record four straight 20-win seasons.
The Class of '11 finished its career a perfect 39-0 in non-conference home games, including wins over LSU, Arizona and Washington ... the class finished its career with a 62-9 record at Reed Arena ... the seniors have played in front of the six largest crowds in school history.
The 2011 seniors led the team to a 13-game win streak, the longest in 91 years and the third-longest in program history.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Texas A&M went 7-2 in "last possession" games (3 or fewer points, or OT) ... the Aggies recorded 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 was 8-2 in games decided by fewer than 5 points ... and 11-5 this year in games decided by fewer than 10 points.
LET'S KEEP PLAYING
Texas A&M played a school-record 4 overtime games this year, going 3-1 in those contests.
The Aggies 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 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).
HOME, SWEET HOME
A&M finished with a 15-2 home record, a feat due in no small part to the Aggies' defensive effort all season long ... opponents shot 40.2 percent inside Reed and averaged 59.2 points per game.
The Aggies are the only Big 12 team to win at least 15 home games for the last seven consecutive seasons.
Only 3 teams shot better than 45 percent on A&M's home floor--Missouri (52.2), Baylor (51.8) and Texas (50.0).
Only 2 teams scored more than 70 points at Reed, with both games going to OT--Missouri (89) and Baylor (76).
A&M has won 33 of its last 36 home games, including 16 of its last 19 in Big 12 play ... the Aggies are 46-5 at home since the start of the 2008-09 season with an 19-5 mark in conference games ... those losses have come to Kansas (#1), Texas (#3), Oklahoma (#5), Baylor and Kansas State.
The Aggies are 80-8 (.909) at home since the start of the 2006-07 season and are 112-14 (.889) since the start of the 2004-05 campaign.
A&M has won 28 of its last 29 home games against unranked opponents (12 of last 13 in Big 12 play) ... under Turgeon, the Aggies are 51-4 against unranked opponents at Reed Arena, including a 16-4 mark against unranked Big 12 teams.
A&M is 154-56 (.733) in 13 seasons at Reed Arena ... the Aggies were 41-41 the first six years at Reed and are 113-15 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 has averaged crowds of 9,000 or better for five straight seasons (averaged 9,000 in 2010-11) ... A&M has posted its top six single game marks, and two of the top three season averages, under Turgeon.
BATTLING BACK
Texas A&M erased four double-digit deficits en route to victories this season (10 points vs Arkansas, 10 points vs McNeese State, 12 points vs Missouri, 10 points at Texas Tech).
In the last 3 minutes of games, the Aggie defense held foes to 30.9 percent shooting (51-of-165) from the field and 23.9 percent (16-of-67) from 3-point range.
CRACKING THE TOP 10
Texas A&M earned its first top-10 ranking in over three years in January, 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.
HOT START
Texas A&M matched the best 20-game start in school history with a 17-3 record to open the year.
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.
Over the 13-game win streak, Aggie foes averaged just 57.4 points per game and were out-rebounded by a margin of 10.4 boards ... they were held to 38.6 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range ... the combined record of the teams on the streak (as of Jan. 17) was 127-88 (.591).
AWARDS AND HONORS (as of March 24, 2011)
Marshall Carrell First-Team Academic All-Big 12
B.J. Holmes Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (coaches)
David Loubeau Third-Team All-Big 12 (coaches)
Preseason All-Big 12 Team (honorable mention)
Khris Middleton Second-Team All-Big 12 (coaches)
Second-Team All-Big 12 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Second-Team All-Big 12 (The Dallas Morning News)
Second-Team All-Big 12 (Yahoo! Sports)
Oscar Robertson/USBWA National Player of the Week (Dec. 20)
Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 19)
Old Spice Classic All-Tournament Team
Mark Turgeon Big 12 Coach of the Year (The Dallas Morning News)
STARTERS ELIGIBLE TO RETURN (3)
G Dash Harris Jr.* 33 games/32 starts, 4.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.1 apg
F Khris Middleton So.* 33 games/33 starts, 14.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.8 apg
F David Loubeau Jr.* 33 games/31 starts, 11.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.4 bpg
OTHER ELIGIBLE RETURNEES (9)
G Naji Hibbert So.* 33 games, 5.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg
F Kourtney Roberson Fr.* 33 games, 5.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg
F Ray Turner So.* 32 games, 4 ppg, 3.2 rpg
C Keith Davis Fr.* 24 games, 1 ppg, 1.3 rpg
G Blake McDonald Fr.* 10 games, 0.3 ppg
G Alex Baird Jr.* 5 games, 0.4 ppg
F Jarod Jahns Jr.* 6 games, no stats
F Daniel Alexander Fr.* redshirted
G Elston Turner Jr.* transfer (ineligible in 2010-11)
* 2010-11 classification
STATS ELIGIBLE TO RETURN
Category Total Ret. Pct.
Starts 165 99 60.0
Minutes 6,699 4,436 66.2
Points 2,254 1,517 67.3
Rebounds 1,194 864 72.4
Assists 444 268 60.3
Blocks 51 43 84.1
3-Point FGs 181 73 40.3
Free Throws 557 400 71.8
LETTERWINNERS LOST (5)
G B.J. Holmes* 33 games/33 starts, 9.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.2 apg
F Nathan Walkup* 33 games/32 starts, 9.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.3 apg
G Andrew Darko 33 games, 2.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.5 apg
G Derrek Lewis 18 games, 1.3 ppg, 0.8 rpg
F Marshall Carrell 12 games, 0.7 ppg
INDIVIDUAL NOTABLES
Senior B.J. Holmes finished his career among the school's all-time leaders in several categories ... Holmes hit 184 treys, which ranks third all-time (Josh Carter, 299; Bernard King, 232) ... his 465 3-point attempts ranks fourth all-time ... Holmes hit 39.6 percent of his career 3-point attempts, ranking third in school history ... he also ranks sixth all-time in games played (130) and seventh in free-throw percentage (.797) ... Holmes ended his career with 993 points.
Senior Nathan Walkup ranks seventh all-time in games played (128) ... Walkup ended his career with 81 3-pointers, grabbed 403 rebounds and scored 656 points.
Sophomore Khris Middleton led the Aggies in scoring a team-high 16 times and in rebounding a team-best 14 times ... Middleton recorded 27 double-figure games and three 20-point outings. 
