Tipoff for the 204th meeting of the Battle of the Brazos is set for 6:02 p.m. (CT) and the game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
GAME 13
Texas A&M AGGIES (9-3, 0-0) at (#6/7) Baylor BEARS (13-0, 0-0)
Monday, January 2, 2012 • 6:02 PM CT • TV: ESPNU HD
Ferrell Center (10,284) • Waco, Texas
Media Coverage
TELEVISION: ESPNU HD
Carter Blackburn, Play-by-Play
Sean Farnham, Commentary
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Local: WTAW-AM 1620
Satellite Radio: XM 91 (Baylor feed)
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: aggieathletics.com
Snapshot: Texas A&M
Record: 9-3, 0-0 Big 12
Ranking: RV (AP)
Streak: Won 1
Last 5 / Last 10 : 3-2 / 7-3
Last Game: def. Arkansas Tech (H), 76-58 (Thu.)
Head Coach: Billy Kennedy (SE Louisiana '86)
Record: 220-182 (14th year)
at Texas A&M: 9-3 (first year)
vs. Baylor: never faced
A&M Probable Starters
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
5 Dash Harris G 6-1 171 Sr. 5.0 2.5 4.4 12 / 26.8
10 David Loubeau F 6-8 234 Sr. 11.6 4.9 0.3b 12 / 24.5
22 Khris Middleton F 6-7 217 Jr. 13.6 4.6 3.4 5 / 24.8
31 Elston Turner G 6-5 211 Jr. 12.8 3.6 2.1 12 / 29.8
35 Ray Turner F 6-9 232 Jr. 12.0 6.4 0.3b 12 / 23.6
Snapshot: Baylor
Record: 13-0, 0-0 Big 12
Ranking: #6 (ESPN/USAT), #7 (AP)
Streak: Won 13
Last 5 / Last 10 : 5-0 / 10-0
Last Game: def. Miss. State (N), 54-52 (Wed.)
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler '93)
Record: 160-127 (10th year)
at Baylor: 140-116 (ninth year)
vs. Texas A&M: 7-9
Baylor Probable Starters (based on previous game)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
1 Perry Jones III F 6-11 235 So. 13.4 6.8 1.1b 8 / 31.8
4 Quincy Acy F 6-7 235 Sr. 12.5 7.5 2.5b 13 / 28.8
5 Brady Heslip G 6-2 180 So. 10.8 1.4 0.9 13 / 25.8
22 A.J. Walton G 6-1 185 Jr. 4.0 3.4 3.9 13 / 20.7
30 Quincy Miller F 6-9 210 Fr. 10.9 5.1 2.3 12 / 24.9
Series History
Texas A&M leads, 127-76
In Waco: A&M leads, 50-45
At Ferrell Center: BU leads, 12-11
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
Current Win Streak: Baylor, 3 games
Longest A&M Win Streak: 11 games
Longest BU Win Streak: 8 games
Largest A&M Win: 42 (52-10, 1919-20)
Largest BU Win: 52 (97-45, 02/03/02)
Billy Kennedy vs. Baylor: never faced
Scott Drew vs. A&M: 7-9
- series is the second most-played in school history, with Monday marking the 204th meeting between the long-time conference rivals:
Opponent Games Opponent Games
1. Texas 220 6. Arkansas 147
2. Baylor 203 7. Texas Tech 124
3. Rice 188 8. Houston 83
4. SMU 177 Sam Houston State 83
5. TCU 164 10. Oklahoma State 46
- the teams have met at least twice in each of the last 81 seasons ... the last time the Aggies and Bears did not play in basketball was the 1929-30 campaign.
- Baylor swept both meetings last season by an average of 4.5 points ... the Bears downed A&M 76-74 in overtime at Reed Arena, then posted a 7-point victory serveral weeks later at the Ferrell Center.
- 8 of A&M's last 9 visits to Waco have been decided by 10 points or less (4-5 record) ... the Aggies have dropped their last three trips to the Ferrell Center by an average of 5 points.
- A&M has played 11 overtime games against Baylor, more than any other opponent.
- 88 miles separate the two arenas.
Last 10 Meetings
Date AM/Op Rk Site Score
2007 J9 8 /- Waco W 61-51
2007 F24 8 /- College Station W 97-87
2008 J23 16/25 College Station (5 OT) L 110-116
2008 M5 Waco W 71-57
2009 J14 -/21 College Station W 84-73
2009 F14 Waco L 68-72
2010 F6 -/20 College Station W 78-71
2010 F24 22/24 Waco L 66-70
2011 F5 16/- College Station (OT) L 74-76
2011 F26 17/- Waco L 51-58
Tale of the Tape
A&M BAYLOR
64.8 points/game 77.6
55.8 opp. points/game 58.8
+9.0 scoring margin +18.8
.466 field goal % .490
.319 opp. field goal % .368
.319 3-point % .415
39.6 rebounds 39.4
+8.2 rebound margin +6.5
14.3 assists 15.2
14.5 turnovers 15.0
5.7 steals 8.8
2.4 blocks 6.8
Quick Hits
- Texas A&M has won 4 of its last 5 Big 12 openers.
- Texas A&M has posted a 27-11 Big 12 record over the last 2 1/2 seasons (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).
- 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 (49-29 since 2006, 43-116 from 1997-2006).
- A&M has finished .500 or better in Big 12 play in each of the past 7 years, one of just 3 teams to do so (Kansas, Texas).
- The Aggies lead the Big 12 in four defensive categories (through Dec. 29): scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense, 3-point FG% defense and defensive rebounding; A&M ranks second in rebound margin and defensive rebounding percentage.
- Through games of Dec. 18 (NCAA numbers did not update over Christmas), 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.
- Over half of Texas A&M's points this season have come in the paint (404 of 778, or 51.9%) ... 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 51.1 points in 9 games at Reed Arena this year ... in those games, foes are shooting 33.9 percent from the floor and 23.8 percent from 3-point range ... opponents are averaging just 20.0 first-half points at Reed ... Rice's 65 points are the high by a visiting team this year.
- A&M is improving from behind the arc ... the Aggies shot 26.8 percent (22-for-82) from 3-point range in their first 6 games ... in the team's last 6 games, A&M has connected at a 37 percent clip (30-for-81) ... over the last 3 games, it's been 38.1 percent (16-for-42).
- 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 13.1 turnovers over their last 6 games ... A&M had a season-low 9 turnovers against Rice (Dec. 22).
- A&M is 5-1 this year when dishing out 15 or more assists (loss is to Florida) ... the Aggies totaled 23 in the win over Arkansas Tech (Dec. 29), the most by an A&M squad since December 2007.
- The Aggies are 9-0 this year when leading at halftime and 9-0 when leading with 5 minutes to play.
- A&M is undefeated when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (8-0).
- The Aggies have held 9 of their opponents under 60 points and are unbeaten in those games.
- A&M has held 7 of 12 opponents under 35 percent shooting (7-0).
- The Aggies are 6-0 this year when shooting more free throws than their opponent and 8-0 when out-rebounding them.
- A&M is averaging 2.4 blocks per game this year (29 blocks), up from last year's average of 1.5 (51 in 33 games).
- The Aggies totaled 23 assists in the win over Arkansas Tech (12/29), the most in a game since December 2007.
- 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 has won nearly 75 percent of its games since the start of the 2006-07 season (133-48, .735) ... the Aggies are 175-66 (.727) since the start of the '04-05 campaign.
Milestone Watch
- Senior David Loubeau (1,002 points, 494 rebounds) became the 32nd player in school history to score 1,000 points in his career on Dec. 29 against Arkansas Tech ... he needs just 6 rebounds to join A&M's 500-rebound club ... would become just the 22nd in school history to grab 500 boards and only the 16th player in school history to join both (list on page 9).
- Senior Dash Harris (330 assists, 117 steals) needs 14 assists and 10 steals to move into the career top 10 in both categories ... Harris is one of only 11 players in school history to dish out 300 assists and is one of just 8 to record at least 300 assists and 100 steals (list on page 9).
Player Notables
- Junior Elston Turner is shooting 48% from 3-point range (15-for-31) over his last 6 games.
- Senior Dash Harris has scored 10+ points in consecutive games for the first time in his career (13 vs Rice, 10 vs Arkansas Tech) ... over his last 3 games, Harris is averaging 9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists and is shooting at a 47% clip.
- Senior Dash Harris leads the team and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in assists (4.4/game) ... he leads the squad, ranks third in the Big 12 and 40th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5) ... he was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list.
- Junior Khris Middleton is averaging 15.5 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists since returning from surgery to repair a partially-torn meniscus (4 games).
- Junior Ray Turner ranks third in the Big 12 and 10th nationally in field-goal percentage (63.9%) ... Turner has posted two double-doubles, including a 15-point, 15-rebound effort against Arkansas Tech (12/29) ... the 15 boards were a career high and the most by an Aggie in a game since March 2010.
- Junior Ray Turner has scored 10-plus points in 9 of A&M's 12 games this year ... the Aggies are 8-1 in those contests.
- Junior Elston Turner is averaging 15 points and 4 rebounds over his last three games.
- Junior Elston Turner and senior David Loubeau each scored 20 points in a Dec. 17 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).
- Redshirt freshman Daniel Alexander shined against Arkansas Tech (12/29) after getting the first significant action of his young career, setting personal bests in points (6) and rebounds (8) in just 16 minutes of action.
- Freshman guard Jamal Branch (#11/Arlington, Texas/Grace Prep) left the team in late December and decided to transfer ... Branch played in 11 games, averaging 4.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
Big 12 Bullets
- Texas A&M is opening Big 12 play on the road for the eighth time in the 16-year history of the Big 12 (1-6 record) ... A&M's last (and only) road win to open Big 12 play came last season in a 69-51 victory at Oklahoma.
- The Aggies have won 4 of their last 5 Big 12 openers overall ... A&M is 4-11 all-time in Big 12 openers.
- Texas A&M has posted a 27-11 Big 12 record over the last 2 1/2 seasons (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).
- 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 (49-29 since 2007, 43-116 from 1997-2006).
- A&M has finished .500 or better in Big 12 play in each of the past 7 years, one of just 3 teams to do so (Kansas, Texas).
- The Aggies are coming off back-to-back 10-plus win seasons in Big 12 play for just the second time ever (2006, 2007 and 2010, 2011) ... 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, the first time the Aggies have accomplished that feat in the Big 12 era (9-7 in 2009, 11-5 in 2010, 10-6 in 2011) ... 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.
Up Next
- Texas A&M returns to Reed for the Big 12 home opener Saturday against Iowa State (3 p.m., Big 12 Network).