A&M is 9-4 on the year and has won 7 of its last 10 games. The Aggies fell in their conference opener on Monday at fourth-ranked Baylor, 61-52.
Iowa State, meanwhile, brings an 11-3 record and a six-game win streak into College Station, including a 77-71 victory over Texas Wednesday night in Ames.
Texas A&M Athletics would like to extend a special offer to military personnel wishing to attend the game by offering free admission to all veterans and families of active duty servicemen and women. Military families, as well as members of the general public, can purchase additional tickets through the special Half-Price Holiday Hoops deal with seats starting at just $5.
Saturday is also Scout Day at Reed, with all scouts getting in free by wearing their uniform. As an added bonus for the youngsters and fans alike, Aggie players will be available for autographs on the floor following the game.
For more information or to get their tickets, veterans can log on to aggieathletics.com, tickets.12thmanfoundation.com or email tlibby@athletics.tamu.edu.
GAME 14
Texas A&M AGGIES (9-4, 0-1) vs Iowa State CYCLONES (11-3, 1-0)
Saturday, January 7, 2012 • 3:01 PM CT • TV: Big 12 Network
Reed Arena (12,989) • College Station, Texas
Media Coverage
TELEVISION: Big 12 Network
Brad Sham, Play-by-Play
Reid Gettys, Commentary
Local: CW Texas (Ch 3.2, Suddenlink Ch. 8)
ESPN Full Court: DirecTV 724/Dish 459
Clearance List (* indicates scheduled HD feed)
National/Satellite
ESPN Full Court DirecTV 724 Dish 459
Altitude* DirecTV 681 Dish 410
YES Network* DirecTV 631 Dish N/A
Arkansas
Little Rock/Pine Bluff* KARZ MNT
Ft Smith/Fayetteville/Spgdl/Rgrs KFTA FOX
Colorado
Denver* ALTITUDE RSN
California
Los Angeles* KDOC IND
Iowa
Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Dubuque KFXA FOX
Des Moines/Ames* WOI-DT ABC
Sioux City KPTH-DT2 FOX
Kansas
Pittsburg/Joplin* KFJX FOX
Topeka* KTMJ FOX
Wichita/Hutchinson* KSAS FOX
Kentucky
Paducah/C Girardeau/Harrbg/Mt Vn WDKA MNT
Missouri
Columbia/Jefferson City KQFX FOX
Kansas City* KMCI IND
St. Louis KPLR 11.2 TTV
Springfield* KCZ CW
Nebraska
Omaha* KXVO CW
New York
New York* YES Network RSN
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City KOCB CW
Tulsa KTUL-DT3 ABC
Texas
Abilene/Sweetwater KIDZ-LP FOX
Amarillo KCPN MNT
Austin* KBVO MNT
Beaumont/Port Arthur* KBMT ABC
Bryan/College Station* CW TEXAS CW
Corpus Christi KIII-D2 MNT
Dallas/Ft Worth* KTXA IND
Lubbock* KMYL MNT
Odessa/Midland KOSA-DT2 CBS
San Angelo KIDY FOX
San Antonio* KCWX CW
Sherman/Ada KXII-DT2 CBS
Tyler/Longview/Lufkin/Ncgd* KFXK FOX
Tyler/Longview/Lufkin/Ncgd KFXL-LP FOX
Waco/Temple/Killeen* CW TEXAS CW
Wisconsin
La Crosse/Eau Claire KQEG FMN
Milwaukee WMLW IND
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam Commentary
Local WTAW-AM 1620
Satellite Radio TBA
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: aggieathletics.com
Snapshot: Texas A&M
Record: 9-4, 0-1 Big 12 (T-6th)
Ranking: RV (AP)
Streak: Lost 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 2-3 / 7-3
Last Game: lost to (#4) Baylor (A), 61-52 (Mon.)
Head Coach: Billy Kennedy (SE Louisiana '86)
Record: 220-183 (14th year)
at Texas A&M: 9-4 (first year)
vs. Iowa State: 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 2.8 4.4 13 / 27.6
10 David Loubeau F 6-8 234 Sr. 11.3 4.8 0.4 13 / 24.3
22 Khris Middleton F 6-7 217 Jr. 13.7 4.5 3.2 6 / 25.5
31 Elston Turner G 6-5 211 Jr. 13.5 3.5 2.1 13 / 30.2
35 Ray Turner F 6-9 232 Jr. 11.2 6.2 0.4 13 / 23.2
Snapshot: Iowa State
Record: 11-3, 1-0 Big 12 (T-1st)
Ranking: NR
Streak: Won 6
Last 5 / Last 10: 5-0 / 8-2
Last Game: def. Texas (H), 77-71 (Wed.)
Head Coach: Fred Hoiberg (Iowa State '95)
Record: 27-19 (second year)
at ISU: 27-19 (second year)
vs. Texas A&M: 0-1
Iowa State
Probable Starters (based on previous
game)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
2 Chris Babb G 6-5 225 Jr. 10.4 4.7 1.9 14 / 31.4
4 Chris Allen G 6-3 205 Sr. 12.6 2.4 2.9 14 / 28.4
11 Scott Christopherson G 6-3 195 Sr. 10.4 2.8 1.9 14 / 28.9
24 Percy Gibson C 6-9 245 Fr. 4.8 2.8 0.4b 13 / 11.6
30 Royce White F 6-8 270 So. 13.1 8.7 3.8 14 / 29.9
Series History
Texas A&M leads, 10-7
A&M streak: Won 8
In College Station: A&M leads, 5-3
At Reed Arena: A&M leads, 5-2
In Ames: A&M leads, 4-3
At Hilton Coliseum: A&M leads, 4-3
At Neutral Sites: tied, 1-1
At Big 12 Tournament: tied, 1-1
Longest A&M Win Streak: 8 (current)
Longest ISU Win Streak: 5 (1997-01)
Largest A&M Win: 24 (73-49, 01/31/07)
Largest ISU Win: 27 (97-70, 03/13/03)
Billy Kennedy vs. ISU: never faced
Fred Hoiberg vs. A&M: 0-1
- the Aggies have won 8 straight dating back to the 2005 season ... all 17 meetings have come in the Big 12 era (15 regular season, 2 conference tournament).
- the last 2 games have been decided by a total of 9 points (5 last season, 4 in 2010).
- A&M is 5-2 against the Cyclones at Reed and has won 4 in a row ... ISU's last win at Reed came in 2001, when the 17th-ranked Cyclones won, 72-53, en route to the Big 12 title.
Date AM/Op Rk Site Score
1997 F1 -/11 College Station L 57-71
1998 J17 Ames L 59-68
1999 J16 College Station L 43-64
2000 J26 Ames L 58-65
2001 J28 -/17 College Station L 53-72
2002 J29 Ames W 52-50
2003 F19 College Station W 66-54
2003 M13 Dallas L 70-97
2004 J28 Ames L 82-91
2005 F22 College Station W 75-59
2006 J21 Ames (OT) W 86-81
2007 J31 8 /- College Station W 73-49
2008 F5 18/- Ames W 69-51
2008 M13 Kansas City W 60-47
2009 F28 College Station W 87-69
2010 F20 23/- Ames W 60-56
2011 F16 17/- College Station W 71-66
Tale of the Tape
A&M ISU
63.8 points/game 76.4
56.2 opp. points/game 67.3
+7.6 scoring margin +9.1
.450 field goal % .460
.359 opp. field goal % .426
.314 3-point % .385
39.5 rebounds 37.4
+7.3 rebound margin +5.7
13.9 assists 14.7
14.4 turnovers 13.2
5.6 steals 5.7
2.5 blocks 3.1
Last Meeting:
(#21) Texas A&M 71, Iowa State 66
COLLEGE STATION (Feb. 16, 2011)-Nathan Walkup scored 19 points and No. 21 Texas A&M held off Iowa State 71-66 on Wednesday night for the Aggies' 20th win of the season. The Aggies (20-5, 7-4 Big 12) were up by seven before Iowa State cut the lead to 66-62 on a 3-pointer by Scott Christopherson with 1 1/2 minutes remaining. Texas A&M's Khris Middleton made three free throws in the next minute to push the lead back to seven, and the Aggies held on. The victory was Texas A&M's third straight overall and eighth in a row over the Cyclones. Iowa State (14-12, 1-10), which was led by Jake Anderson's 18 points, dropped its eighth consecutive game. Iowa State erased a 10-point deficit with a 13-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Diante Garrett to take a 48-47 lead with about 14 minutes remaining. But the Aggies answered with a 10-4 spurt to regain the lead for good. Texas A&M had two 3-pointers in that run, including one from Walkup. Middleton added 14 points for Texas A&M and David Loubeau and Dash Harris chipped in 11 apiece. One of the highlights of the night came from Walkup, who brought the crowd to its feet with a one-handed dunk that ended with him falling to the court after he was tripped up and fouled with about 3 minutes left. He missed the free throw, but added two more points when he got an offensive rebound and putback to make it 66-59 a few seconds later. Iowa State's 15 turnovers were just three more than Texas A&M committed. The difference was that the Aggies scored 20 points off Cyclones miscues, while Iowa State managed just seven off Texas A&M's errors. Freshman Calvin Godfrey returned to the Iowa State lineup after missing the previous three games for violating team rules. He had 11 points but fouled out with about 3 minutes remaining. The return of Godfrey was offset by the absence of Jamie Vanderbeken, who sat out with a sprained left ankle, leaving the Cyclones with just seven scholarship players. The Cyclones finished with 11 3-pointers. Iowa State was up by two points with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half before Texas A&M used a 17-4 run to take a 29-18 lead 4 minutes before halftime. The Cyclones went more than 4 minutes without scoring in that span. Texas A&M led 35-28 at halftime after Anderson hit a 3 just before the buzzer. The Aggies wore uniforms with camouflage accents as part of military appreciation night and they gave away free tickets to veterans and active military personnel.
Quick Hits
- Texas A&M has won its last 5 Big 12 home openers ... the Aggies are 6-9 all-time in their first Big 12 home game.
- A&M is 19-5 at home in Big 12 play over the last 3 years (losses to Kansas (#1), Texas (#3), Oklahoma (#5), Baylor, K-State).
- Texas A&M has posted a 27-12 Big 12 record over the last 2 1/2-plus seasons (6-0 to close 2009, 11-5 in 2010, 10-6 in 2011 and 0-1 in 2012) ... it's the second-best record over that span among conference teams, trailing only Kansas (35-4).
- 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 (49-30 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 five defensive categories (through Jan. 6): scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense, 3-point FG% defense, defensive rebounding and defensive rebound percentage; A&M ranks third in rebound margin.
- Through games of Jan. 1, Texas A&M ranked third nationally in field-goal percentage defense, 10th in scoring defense, 11th in 3-point FG% defense and 13th in rebound margin.
- Half of Texas A&M's points this season have come in the paint (422 of 832, or 50.7%) ... 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 7 games, A&M has connected at a 35 percent clip (37-for-106).
- 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 7 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 8-1 when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (loss to Baylor, who shot 39.2%).
- The Aggies have held 9 of their opponents under 60 points and are unbeaten in those games.
- A&M has held 7 of 13 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 2.5 blocks per game this year (32 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 (133-49, .731) ... the Aggies are 175-67 (.723) since the start of the '04-05 campaign.
Milestone Watch
- Senior David Loubeau (1,010 points, 498 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 2 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 (334 assists, 118 steals) needs 10 assists and 9 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
- Over his last 7 games, junior Elston Turner is shooting 46.5% from 3-point range (20-for-43).
- Junior Elston Turner is averaging 16.5 points and 3.8 rebounds over his last four games ... Turner scored a career-high 21 points against No. 4 Baylor (1/2) ... Turner is in the top 10 of the Big 12 rankings in scoring, 3-point field goals and 3-point percentage this season.
- Over his last 4 games, senior Dash Harris is averaging 8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5 assists and is shooting at a 42% clip ... Harris recently scored 10+ points in consecutive games for the first time in his career (13 vs Rice, 10 vs Arkansas Tech).
- 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 35th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.52) ... he was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list.
- Junior Khris Middleton is averaging 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists since returning from surgery to repair a partially-torn meniscus (5 games).
- Junior Ray Turner ranks 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 13 games this year ... the Aggies are 8-1 in those contests.
- 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 has won its last 5 Big 12 home openers ... the Aggies are 6-9 all-time in their first Big 12 home game.
- A&M is 19-5 at home in Big 12 play over the last 3 years (losses to Kansas (#1), Texas (#3), Oklahoma (#5), Baylor, K-State).
- Texas A&M has posted a 27-12 Big 12 record over the last 2 1/2-plus seasons (6-0 to close 2009, 11-5 in 2010, 10-6 in 2011 and 0-1 in 2012) ... it's the second-best record over that span among conference teams, trailing only Kansas (35-4).
- 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 10+ 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 heads to Austin to battle Texas in the first half of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown ... tipoff on Wednesday is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.