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(#24/25) Texas A&M AGGIES (3-1) vs Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ISLANDERS (1-2)
Saturday, November 26, 2011 • 3:05 PM CT • TV: None • LIVE VIDEO: 12th Man TV
Reed Arena (12,989) • College Station, Texas
Media Coverage
TELEVISION: None
LIVE VIDEO: 12th Man TV
Will Johnson, Play-by-Play
Link: facebook.com/AggieAthletics
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Local: WTAW-AM 1620
Satellite Radio: none
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: aggieathletics.com
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
Record: 3-1, 0-0 Big 12
Ranking: 24th (USAT/ESPN), 25th (AP)
Streak: Won 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 3-1 / 3-1
Last Game: def. St. John's (N), 58-57 (11/18)
Head Coach: Billy Kennedy (SE Louisiana '86)
Record: 214-180 (14th year)
at Texas A&M: 3-1 (first year)
vs. A&M-CC: never faced
A&M Probable Starters (based on previous game)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
5 Dash Harris G 6-1 171 Sr. 4.3 2.0 4.3 4 / 24.5
10 David Loubeau F 6-8 234 Sr. 10.5 4.0 0.3 4 / 22.3
13 Jordan Green G 6-4 181 Fr. 5.0 1.5 1.0 4 / 14.3
31 Elston Turner G 6-5 211 Jr. 12.0 3.3 2.3 4 / 28.8
35 Ray Turner F 6-9 232 Jr. 14.5 6.3 --- 4 / 23.0
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
Record: 1-2, 0-0 Southland
Ranking: NR
Streak: Won 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 1-2 / 1-2
Last Game: def. Utah St (H), 58-55 (OT) (Tue.)
Head Coach: Willis Wilson (Rice '82)
Record: 220-246 (17th year)
at A&M-CC: 1-2 (first year)
vs. Texas A&M: 5-6
A&M-CC Probable Starters (based on previous game)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl-Exp. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
1 Hameed Ali G 6-2 170 Fr-HS 2.3 2.0 1.7 3 / 22.7
5 Terence Jones G 6-2 185 Jr-2L 9.0 2.0 1.7 3 / 30.3
11 Chris Hawkins-Mast G/F 6-6 200 Sr-1L 10.3 4.7 0.3 3 / 33.3
22 Myron Dempsey F 6-6 225 Jr-TR 12.3 9.0 1.0b 3 / 32.0
23 Nate Maxey F/C 6-11 215 Fr-HS 4.3 5.7 3.0b 3 / 23.3
Quick Hits
• Texas A&M has won nearly 75 percent of its games since the start of the 2006-07 season (127-46, .734) ... the Aggies are 170-64 (.726) since the start of the '04-05 campaign.
• A&M has won 62 straight non-conference games at Reed Arena (dating back to start of 2005-06 season) and 75 consecutive regular-season, non-conference home games (dating back to 2003) ... A&M-Corpus Christi is the last team to beat the Aggies in a regular-season, non-conference home game (on Dec. 13, 2003).
• A&M is 94-9 (.913) all-time in non-conference games at Reed and 114-14 (.891) overall at home since the start of the 2004-05 season.
• The Aggies are shooting 51.1 percent from the floor, third-best in the Big 12.
• In the season-opening wins over Liberty and Southern, the Aggies shot 55 percent or better in consecutive games for the first time since 2007.
• Nearly 60 percent of Texas A&M's points this season have come in the paint ... in the season's opening week, the Aggies scored 45-plus points in the paint in consecutive games for the first time since 2004.
• The Aggies rank third in the Big 12 in scoring defense (60.8 ppg) and fourth in field-goal pct. defense (37.4).
• A&M was outshot 38 to 3 at the free-throw line against St. John's, yet still won the game ... it marked the fewest FT attempts by an Aggie team since 1979.
• For the first time in league history, Texas A&M has been picked to win the Big 12 Conference men's basketball championship ... the Aggies sat atop the preseason coaches' poll in a tie with Kansas.
• A&M is one of just 12 schools that have made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 6 seasons (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Villanova, Wisconsin, Xavier).
• Texas A&M is one of only 8 schools in the entire country that have won 24 or more games in each of the last 5 seasons (Butler, BYU, Kansas, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, VCU, Xavier).
• Texas A&M opened the year ranked in the top 20 nationally (19th/USAT, 20th/AP) for just the fifth time in school history, but the third time in the last six years ... the Aggies' previous preseason ranked teams were: 1979-80 (14th/AP); 1980-81 (15th/AP); 2006-07 (13th/USAT, 13th/AP); and 2007-08 (14th/USAT, 16th/AP).
A&M-Corpus Christi: A Closer Look
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi returns 1 starter and 2 letterwinners from a team that went 10-21 last season ... the Islanders not only have a new head coach (Willis Wilson), but bring 9 newcomers to the floor this winter.
• TAMU-CC is 1-2 on the season, opening with losses at Oklahoma State (71-39) and at home to Denver (65-58) ... the Islanders rebounded Tuesday with an overtime win against perennial NCAA Tournament team Utah State (58-55) ... A&M-Corpus Christi will face one more Big 12 foe, Texas Tech (Dec. 1 in Corpus Christi).
• Wilson (Rice '82) is in his first season in Corpus Christi, but his 17th as a head coach ... Wilson has longtime ties with Texas A&M as he had frequent meetings on the court when he was head coach of the Rice Owls.
• A relatively young program, A&M-Corpus Christi's first season of basketball was in 1999-2000 ... it has one NCAA appearance under its belt, coming in 2007.
Series History
• The teams have split two previous meetings, with each winning on the road ... A&M posted an impressive 86-65 victory last November 15th at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi ... the Islanders defeated the Aggies, 82-80, on Dec. 13, 2003 at Reed Arena ... it remains to this day A&M's last regular-season, non-conference loss at home (current streak is 75).
Last Time Out: A&M 58, St. John's 57
• NEW YORK (Nov. 18)—Elston Turner hit a 12-foot jumper with 6 seconds to play for his only points of the second half and No. 19 Texas A&M beat St. John's 58-57 in the third-place game of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Nurideen Lindsey of St. John's (3-2) missed two free throws with 2.3 seconds left and Turner grabbed the final rebound to give the Aggies (3-1) the win at Madison Square Garden. Ray Turner had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies.
• POSTGAME NOTES: The win snapped a 2-game losing streak to Big East opponents and was A&M's first over a team from the conference since 2007 ... A&M's last victory against a Big East foe had come against Louisville in the 2007 NCAA Tournament (second round) ... the game was the first ever between the schools ... A&M improved to 3-2 all-time inside Madison Square Garden ... A&M had a total of 3 free throw attempts, the fewest by an Aggie team in records dating back to 1985 ... the Aggies made 2 free throws, their fewest since going 1-for-4 at the line at Kansas State in 2002 (Feb. 12) ... A&M's 16 offensive rebounds were the most since the Aggies grabbed 16 in a 64-56 win over Kansas State last season ... Kourtney Roberson set a new career high with 11 rebounds ... Ray Turner hit double-figures in scoring for the third time in four games this year.
Defense Notables
• Texas A&M has held foes to 60.8 points per game, third-best in the Big 12 (through games of 11/22) ... the Aggies have held three of their opponents to under 60 points and are unbeaten in those games.
• The Aggies have forced an average of 12.5 turnovers per game and converted that into 14 ppg.
• In the 2K Sports Classic semifinal against Mississippi State, the Bulldogs hit 11 of their first 15 shots (73.3%) through the first 10 minutes of the game, racing out to a 31-9 lead ... A&M's defense held MSU to 28.2 percent shooting (11-of-39) for the rest of the game and to 40.7 percent from the floor overall (22-of-54).
Fun with Free Throws
• Texas A&M got to the charity stripe just 3 times in the Aggies' 58-57 win over St. John's at Madison Square Garden (11/18), going 2-for-3 at the line ... the Red Storm, meanwhile, shot 38 FTs (making 23), good for a 35-shot advantage at the line.
• The 3 free throw attempts were the fewest by an Aggie team since Dec. 14, 1979 (32 years), when A&M went 1-for-2 at the line in a 72-67 loss to La Salle at the Cougar Classic in Provo, Utah ... Aggie star Rudy Woods shot both the free throws in the game ... La Salle went 20-for-25 from the line, shooting 23 more free throws than A&M ... the loss was just one of eight all season for the team, which won 26 games and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
• A&M's 2 made free throws were the team's fewest since going 1-for-4 at the line at Kansas State in 2002 (Feb. 12).
Hot Shots
• The Aggies shot 65.4 percent from the floor in the season opener against Liberty, the fifth-best shooting outing in school history ... A&M then connected on 56.6 percent shooting against Southern (11/13).
• A&M shot 55 percent or better just once last season (57.8 vs Missouri, Big 12 tourney quarterfinals) and a total of 4 times in the last 3 seasons combined (once in '10-11, none in '09-10, three times in '08-09).
• In fact, the last time an Aggie team shot 55 percent or better in back-to-back games was Dec. 19 and 22, 2007, against Detroit (57.7) and UC Irvine (63.0) ... that's a span of 92 games.
• A&M is shooting 51 percent so far this year (112-of-219) while holding opponents to just 37.4 percent ... those totals rank third and fourth, respectively, among Big 12 teams.
Picking Up the Pace
• A main goal of coach Billy Kennedy and his staff heading into the season was to play fast and try to score in the first seven seconds of the shot clock ... A&M showed a very fast-paced style in season-opening wins over Liberty and Southern, racking up 32 fast-break points (16.0 average) ... last year's team averaged 6.9 for the season and 7.7 through non-conference play.
• Through four games, the Aggies have hit double figures in fast-break points 3 times (after doing so just 8 times all of last year) ... A&M is averaging 11.0 fast-break points per game.
Getting Physical Inside
• Nearly 60 percent (160 of 282, or 56.7%) of Texas A&M's points this season have come in the paint ... A&M's 48 points in the paint against Liberty (11/9) were the most by an Aggie team since putting up 48 against Angelo State in 2009 (Nov. 13) ... A&M followed with 46 points in the paint against Southern (11/13).
• A&M's season average stands at 40.0 through 4 games (averaged 27.5 overall in 2010-11 and 30.4 in non-conference play).
• Before the first week of the season, the last time A&M scored 45 or more points in the paint in consecutive games was against Louisiana-Monroe (50) and Chicago State (54) in Dec. 2004 ... the Aggies posted back-to-back games with 40 points in the paint just once last year.
• The Aggies' 5-spot trio of Keith Davis, Kourtney Roberson and Ray Turner have had a great start to the season ... the group is averaging 23.5 points and 18.3 rebounds per game and is shooting a combined 63 percent (41-of-65) ... they have also blocked 4 shots and posted 5 steals.
On Point
• Senior Dash Harris leads the team in assists (4.25/game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.43) ... A&M is 42-10 over Harris' career when he has at least 3 assists (3-1 this year, 14-5 as a junior, 15-3 as a sophomore and 10-1 as a freshman).
• True freshman Jamal Branch has had a strong Aggie debut ... the Arlington, Texas product is averaging 7.3 points, 3.5 assists and 3 rebounds per game.
• Combined, the A&M tandem averages 11.6 points, 7.8 assists, 5 rebounds and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.82.
Reed Arena Dominance
• The Aggies have won 62 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 94-9 all-time in non-conference games at Reed (.913).
• Texas A&M has won 75 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.
• The Aggies are the only Big 12 team to win at least 15 home games for the last seven consecutive seasons.
• A&M has won 35 of its last 38 home games, including 16 of its last 19 in Big 12 play ... the Aggies are 48-5 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 82-8 (.911) at home since the start of the 2006-07 season and are 114-14 (.891) since the start of the 2004-05 campaign.
• A&M has won 30 of its last 31 home games against unranked opponents (12 of last 13 in Big 12 play).
• A&M is 156-56 (.736) in 13 seasons at Reed Arena ... the Aggies were 41-41 the first six years at Reed and are 115-15 since.
• Texas A&M has averaged crowds of 9,000 or better for five straight seasons (averaged 9,000 in 2010-11).