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COLLEGE STATION-Texas A&M begins the final stretch of non-conference play on Thursday when the Aggies (8-2) host former Southwest Conference rival Rice (7-4) at Reed Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
Fans can get in for just $5 through the popular Half-Price Holiday Hoops ticket promotion, as they can be purchased at the gate or online at tickets.12thmanfoundation.com. In addition, season ticket holders who have not yet taken advantage can each receive four free tickets to one of the remaining home games in December-call 888-99-AGGIE for more information.
Thursday is also Teacher Appreciation Night, with all teachers in the Bryan/College Station area receiving an email good for one free ticket to the game against the Owls. Tickets must be ordered online and those who did not receive the email and are interested in taking advantage are asked to email the marketing office at avandewalle@athletics.tamu.edu.
Those unable to attend can watch the game live on FOX Sports Southwest (DirecTV 676, Dish Network 416), with Bill Land and Jim Haller calling the action. The game will also be broadcast across the state and worldwide online on the Texas A&M Sports Network.
GAME 11
Texas A&M AGGIES (8-2) vs Rice OWLS (7-4)
Thursday, December 22, 2011 • 7:05 PM CT • TV: FOX Sports Southwest
Reed Arena (12,989) • College Station, Texas
Media Coverage
TELEVISION: FOX Sports Southwest
Bill Land, Play-by-Play
Jim Haller, Commentary
Satellite: DirecTV 676/Dish 416
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Local: WTAW-AM 1620
Satellite Radio: Sirius 137
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: aggieathletics.com
Snapshot: Texas A&M
Record: 8-2, 0-0 Big 12
Ranking: RV (AP), RV (USAT/ESPN)
Streak: Lost 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 4-1 / 8-2
Last Game: lost to (#13) Florida (N), 84-64 (Sat.)
Head Coach: Billy Kennedy (SE Louisiana '86)
Record: 219-181 (14th year)
at Texas A&M: 8-2 (first year)
vs. Rice: 1-0
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. 3.7 2.5 4.5 10 / 26.3
10 David Loubeau F 6-8 234 Sr. 12.0 5.0 0.3b 10 / 25.2
22 Khris Middleton F 6-7 217 Jr. 14.0 5.3 3.7 3 / 24.7
31 Elston Turner G 6-5 211 Jr. 12.9 3.5 2.0 10 / 29.9
35 Ray Turner F 6-9 232 Jr. 11.9 6.0 0.2b 10 / 23.3
Snapshot: Rice
Record: 7-4, 0-0 C-USA
Ranking: NR
Streak: Lost 2
Last 5 / Last 10: 3-2 / 6-4
Last Game: lost to Temple (H), 77-70 (Mon.)
Head Coach: Ben Braun (Wisconsin '75)
Record: 591-456 (35th year)
at Rice: 39-67 (fourth year)
vs. Texas A&M: 0-1
Rice Probable Starters (based on previous game)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
3 Tamir Jackson G 6-3 194 Jr. 14.0 2.7 3.5 11 / 29.1
4 Connor Frizzelle G 6-1 191 Sr. 9.0 1.2 1.3 11 / 26.3
14 Arsalan Kazemi F 6-7 220 Jr. 14.4 12.2 2.8 10 / 28.7
20 Lucas Kuipers F 6-8 217 Sr. 7.6 4.5 0.7 11 / 19.3
31 Dylan Ennis G 6-2 182 Fr. 7.8 4.1 2.8 11 / 21.1
Series History (Texas A&M leads, 106-81)
In College Station: A&M leads, 55-31
At Reed Arena: A&M leads, 1-0
Current Win Streak: A&M, 3 games
Longest A&M Win Streak: 15 games
Longest Rice Win Streak: 15 games
Largest A&M Win: 41 (94-53, 2/13/60)
Largest Rice Win: 43 (68-25, 1/20/45)
Billy Kennedy vs. Rice: 1-0
Ben Braun vs. Texas A&M: 0-1
- The series is the third most-played in school history, with Thursday marking the 188th meeting between the long-time Southwest Conference rivals:
Opponent Games Opponent Games
1. Texas 220 6. Arkansas 147
2. Baylor 203 7. Texas Tech 124
3. Rice 187 8. Houston 83
4. SMU 177 Sam Houston State 83
5. TCU 164 10. Oklahoma State 46
- The teams have played just three times since the break-up of the SWC following the 1995-96 season, with A&M winning all three ... game will mark the Owls' second visit ever to Reed Arena, with the last coming on New Year's Eve in 2007 (a 68-41 Aggie victory).
- A&M and Rice last met on New Year's Eve in 2008 at Tudor Fieldhouse, where a double-double by Bryan Davis (18 pts, 10 rebs) powered the Aggies to a 72-60 win ... only two of A&M's current players saw action in the game, Dash Harris (12 minutes, 5 assists) and David Loubeau (2 minutes).
- 98 miles separate the team's home courts.
Tale of the Tape
A&M Rice
64.4 points/game 79.1
54.7 opp. points/game 64.7
+9.7 scoring margin +14.4
.470 field goal % .474
.348 opp. field goal % .377
.306 3-point % .323
40.0 rebounds 42.1
+8.8 rebound margin +9.2
14.1 assists 14.9
14.4 turnovers 14.4
5.6 steals 9.5
2.6 blocks 4.7
Sidebars
- Head Coach Billy Kennedy spent four seasons at Cal, his final one (1996-97) on the staff of current Rice head coach Ben Braun ... the '96-97 Bears advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament ... Kennedy left after that year for his first head coaching job, at Centenary.
- The Aggie roster features three Houston-area products-Ray Turner (Jones HS), Jarod Jahns (Klein HS) and Blake McDonald (Klein Oak HS) ... in addtion, freshman Jamal Branch spent his first two high school years at Atascocita High School in Humble before moving to the Dallas area.
Milestone Watch
- Senior David Loubeau needs 17 points to become a member of the school's 1,000-point club and 15 rebounds to join A&M's 500-rebound club ... Loubeau (983 points, 485 rebounds) would become just the 32nd player in school history to reach 1,000 points and only the 22nd to grab 500 boards ... if Loubeau reaches both milestones he would be only the 16th player in school history to do so (list on page 6).
- Senior Dash Harris (322 assists, 116 steals) needs 22 assists and 11 steals to move into the career top 10 in both categories.
Quick Hits
- A&M has won 67 straight non-conference games at Reed Arena (dating back to start of 2005-06 season) and 80 consecutive regular-season, non-conference home games (dating back to 2003) ... A&M is 99-9 (.917) all-time in non-conference games inside the facility, which hosted its first basketball game in the fall of 1998.
- Through games of Dec. 18, Texas A&M ranked fourth nationally in field-goal percentage defense, eighth in scoring defense, 11th in 3-point FG% defense and 14th in rebound margin.
- The Aggies lead the Big 12 in five defensive categories: scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense, 3-point FG% defense, defensive rebounding and defensive rebound percentage; A&M ranks second in two others, rebounding and rebound margin.
- Over half of Texas A&M's points this season have come in the paint (340 of 644, or 52.8%) ... by comparison, last season 40 percent of A&M's points came in the paint (973 of 2192, or 40.1%).
- 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).
- 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 has met or exceeded the preseason poll's prognostications in 6 of the last 7 seasons.
- A&M, Kansas and Texas are the only Big 12 schools that have won at least 20 games in each of the last 7 seasons.
Aggie Trends
- The Aggies have held opponents to an average of 48.1 points in 7 games at Reed Arena this year ... in those games, foes are shooting 32.2 percent from the floor and 20.6 percent from 3-point range ... opponents are averaging just 18.1 first-half points at Reed ... Liberty's 59 points in the season opener are the high by a visiting team this year.
- After averaging 15.8 turnovers through the first 6 games, A&M has done a better job of protecting the ball of late ... the Aggies have averaged just 12.3 turnovers over their last four games.
- The Aggies are 8-0 this year when leading at halftime and 8-0 when leading with 5 minutes to play.
- A&M is undefeated when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (7-0).
- The Aggies have held 8 of their opponents under 60 points and are unbeaten in those games.
- A&M has held 6 of 10 opponents under 35 percent shooting ... only Florida (48.1), Mississippi State (40.7), Southern (40.7) and ULM (37.3) have shot better.
- The Aggies are 6-0 this year when shooting more free throws than their opponent and 7-0 when out-rebounding them.
- A&M held four straight opponents under 50 points per game (A&M-Corpus Christi, Alcorn State, SFA, Sam Houston) for the first time since 1959.
- A&M blocked 8 shots against Sam Houston (12/7), the most since February 2009 ... the Aggies also held SHSU to 25.0 percent from the floor, the lowest since December 2007.
- A&M is averaging 2.6 blocks per game this year (26 blocks), up from last year's average of 1.5 (51 in 33 games).
- A&M has won nearly 75 percent of its games since the start of the 2006-07 season (132-47, .737) ... the Aggies are 175-65 (.729) since the start of the '04-05 campaign.
Player Notables
- Junior Elston Turner and senior David Loubeau each scored 20 points in Saturday's loss to No. 13 Florida, marking the first time this year the Aggies have had two players score 20 in a game ... that happened just once last year, in the Big 12 quarterfinals vs Missouri (David Loubeau and BJ Holmes, 20 each).
- Junior Elston Turner is shooting 55% from 3-point range (11-for-20) over his last 4 games ... Turner ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in multiple categories from behind the arc.
- Senior Dash Harris matched a career high with 8 assists vs the Gators ... he leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in assists (4.5/game), and leads the squad, ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 40th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.50).
- Junior Khris Middleton is averaging 18 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals since returning from surgery to repair a partially-torn meniscus (2 games).
- Senior David Loubeau is averaging 16.5 points and 5 rebounds over his last 2 games while shooting 57 percent (13-for-23) from the floor and 78 percent (7-of-9) from the free-throw line.
- Junior Ray Turner ranks second in the Big 12 and 10th nationally in field-goal percentage (64.2%) ... Turner is averaging 14.1 points and 6.6 rebounds at home this year (7 games).
- Sophomore Keith Davis is averaging 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks at home this year.
Reed Arena Dominance
- 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 40 of its last 43 home games, including 16 of its last 19 in Big 12 play ... the Aggies are 53-5 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 87-8 (.916) at home since the start of the 2006-07 season and are 119-14 (.895) since the start of the 2004-05 campaign.
- A&M has won 35 of its last 36 home games against unranked opponents (12 of last 13 in Big 12 play).
- A&M is 161-56 (.742) in 13 seasons at Reed Arena ... the Aggies were 41-41 the first six years at Reed and are 120-15 since.
Last Time Out: Florida 84, A&M 64
- SUNRISE, Fla. (Dec. 17)-Elston Turner matched a career high with 20 points and David Loubeau poured in a season-high 20, but No. 22 Texas A&M was unable to overcome an early 16-point deficit en route to an 84-64 defeat at the hands of No. 13 Florida in the MetroPCS Orange Bowl Classic at BankAtlantic Center. UF's Kenny Boynton scored 22 points, sinking six 3-pointers, and was voted the game's most valuable player. Erving Walker had 16 points and six assists, and Bradley Beal added 16 points for Florida. The Aggies' Khris Middleton, playing in his second game after being sidelined with a knee injury, shot only five for 18. He scored 12 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists. Erik Murphy scored 13 for the Gators, including seven of their first nine points. The margin reached 26 points early in the second half before the Gators cooled off. They shot only 39 percent after halftime, and the Aggies cut the margin to 73-61 with 2:12 left. Texas A&M's comeback bid ended when Walker sank a 3-pointer, then made two free throws.
- POSTGAME NOTES: Elston Turner tied a career high with 20 points, set as a sophomore at Washington against Seattle University (1/26/10) ... Miami Westlake Prep product David Loubeau scored a season-high 20 points ... Loubeau's effort was two points shy of his career high ... Loubeau needs 17 points to reach 1,000 for his career ... Dash Harris matched a career high with 8 assists, set as a sophomore against Akron (12/4/09) ... Khris Middleton tied a career high with 7 assists, set last season against Baylor ... A&M's 17 assists were the second-highest total of the season ... Florida now leads the all-time series, 2-1 ... it marked the first meeting between the schools since the 1992-93 season.
Aggie Hoops Turns 100
- The Aggies are in the midst of the 100th season of basketball at Texas A&M University ... the first team was fielded for the 1912-13 campaign.
- The inaugural team was coached by F.D. Steger and won its first ever game (date unknown) over Marlin (Texas) High School, 78-8 ... the first "collegiate" opponent for the program was later that season with a pair of games against Sam Houston Normal Institute (now Sam Houston State University).
This Week in History
- DEC. 22, 1954: A&M goes 46-of-67 from the free throw line in an 86-84 win over Pepperdine.
- DEC. 28, 1963: Bennie Lenox scores a school-record 53 points in a win over Wyoming.
- DEC. 28, 2006: Texas A&M defeats Grambling, 101-27, at Reed Arena ... the 74-point margin of victory is the largest in school history.
Up Next
- Texas A&M will break for Christmas before returning to action on Thursday, Dec. 29 against Division II power Arkansas Tech at Reed Arena ... tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ... the Aggies will be off on the 23rd, 24th and 25th before returning to College Station for an evening practice on the 26th ... the game marks the final tune-up before opening Big 12 play at Baylor (Jan. 2, 6 p.m.).