Saturday is faculty/staff appreciation day, where A&M faculty and staff members can purchase up to 8 tickets each at a discounted rate by logging on to tickets.12thmanfoundation.com. Click on the "home game tickets" link on the men's basketball portion of the site for details.
GAME 18:
Texas A&M AGGIES (10-7, 1-4) vs Oklahoma SOONERS (12-5, 2-3)
Saturday, January 21, 2012 • 3:01 PM CT • TV: Big 12 Network
Reed Arena (12,989) • College Station, Texas
Media Coverage
TELEVISION: Big 12 Network
Mitch Holthus, Play-by-Play
Reid Gettys, Commentary
Local: CW Texas (KBTX-DT 3.2)
ESPN Full Court: DirecTV 724/Dish 459
Big 12 TV Clearance List
Saturday's game will air regionally on the Big 12 Network. Clearance list is below:
National/Satellite
ESPN Full Court DirecTV Dish
Arkansas
Little Rock/Pine Bluff KARZ MNT
Ft Smith/Fayetteville/Spgdl/Rogers KFTA FOX
California
Los Angeles KDOC IND
Iowa
Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Dubuque KFXA FOX
Des Moines/Ames WOI-DT ABC
Rochester/Mason City/Austin NIMT MNT
Kansas
Pittsburg/Joplin KFJX FOX
Topeka KSNT-DT NBC
Wichita/Hutchinson Plus 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
Mississippi
Meridian WTOK ABC
Nebraska
Omaha KXVO CW
New York
New York YES Network RSN
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City KOCB CW
Tulsa KTUL-DT ABC
Texas
Abilene/Sweetwater KIDZ-LP MNT
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
Houston KUBE IND
Lubbock KJTV FOX
Odessa/Midland KOSA-DT2 MNT
San Angelo KIDY FOX
San Antonio KCWX CW
Sherman/Ada OK KXII-DT2 MNT
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
West Virginia
Parkersburg WTAP-DT3 MNT
RADIO: Texas A&M Sports Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
Local: WTAW-AM 1620
Satellite Radio: Sirius 113/XM 193
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: aggieathletics.com
Snapshot: Texas A&M
Record: 10-7, 1-4 Big 12
Ranking: NR
Streak: Lost 1
Last 5 / Last 10: 1-4 / 4-6
at Home: 9-2
Last Game: lost to (#5) Missouri (A), 70-51 (Mon.)
Head Coach: Billy Kennedy (SE Louisiana '86)
Record: 221-186 (14th year)
at Texas A&M: 10-7 (first year)
vs. Oklahoma: never faced
A&M Probable Starters (based on previous game)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
4 Keith Davis C 6-10 231 So. 1.2 4.0 0.8b 17 / 16.8
5 Dash Harris G 6-1 171 Sr. 5.5 2.6 4.0 17 / 28.6
10 David Loubeau F 6-8 234 Sr. 10.2 4.4 0.5 17/ 25.5
22 Khris Middleton F 6-7 217 Jr. 13.2 5.6 2.6 10 / 27.5
31 Elston Turner G 6-5 211 Jr. 13.2 3.3 1.8 17 / 30.9
Snapshot: Oklahoma
Record: 12-5, 2-3 Big 12
Ranking: NR
Streak: Won 2
Last 5 / Last 10: 2-3 / 6-4
on the Road: 0-2
Last Game: def. Texas Tech (H), 64-55 (Tue.)
Head Coach: Lon Kruger (Kansas State '75)
Record: 491-309 (26th year)
at Oklahoma: 12-5 (first year)
vs. Texas A&M: 1-3
Oklahoma Probable
Starters (based on previous game)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG APG GP / Min
1 Sam Grooms G 6-1 203 Jr. 6.4 3.2 5.3 17 / 29.5
2 Steven Pledger G 6-4 222 Jr. 17.3 4.0 1.6 16 / 31.8
4 Andrew Fitzgerald F 6-8 247 Jr. 13.1 5.5 0.6b 17 / 26.2
14 Carl Blair G 6-2 205 Jr. 4.5 2.1 2.8 17 / 16.8
24 Romero Osby F 6-8 232 Jr. 11.5 8.3 1.1b 17 / 28.5
Series History: OU
leads, 28-8
A&M streak: Won 4
In College Station: Oklahoma leads, 11-5
At Reed Arena: Oklahoma leads, 8-5
In Norman: Oklahoma leads, 14-3
At Lloyd Noble Center: Oklahoma leads, 14-3
At Neutral Sites: Oklahoma leads, 3-0
At Big 12 Tournament: Oklahoma leads, 1-0
Longest A&M Win Streak: 4 games (current)
Longest Oklahoma Win Streak: 14 games
Largest A&M Win: 18 (69-51, 01/08/11)
Largest Oklahoma Win: 48 (128-80, 12/29/88)
Billy Kennedy vs. Oklahoma: never faced
Lon Kruger vs. A&M: 1-3
- Texas A&M has won four straight against OU and 7 of the last 10 overall ... all but one of the Aggies' wins in the series, which dates back to 1960, have come in the last 4 years.
- A&M opened Big 12 play in Norman last year and came away with a 69-51 win, their largest victory ever against the Sooners.
- OU has lost in 4 of its last 5 trips to Reed Arena, with its lone win in the span coming in 2009 when the No. 5-ranked Sooners escaped with a 69-63 victory.
- Oklahoma's last win in the series came in 2009 (No. 2 OU 77, A&M 71 in Norman).
- Of the last 13 meetings between the schools, 8 have been decided by single digits.
Last 10 Meetings:
Date AM/Op Rk Site Score
- complete series history can be found in media fact book -
2007 J27 6 /- College Station W 70-61
2007 F17 6 /- Norman W 56-49
2008 F2 23/- College Station W 60-52
2008 M1 Norman L 37-64
2009 J17 -/ 5 College Station L 63-69
2009 F4 -/ 2 Norman L 71-77
2010 J19 College Station W 65-62
2010 M6 23/- Norman W 69-54
2011 J8 16/- Norman W 69-51
2011 F23 17/- College Station W 61-47
Tale of the Tape
A&M OU
61.7 points/game 73.3
58.2 opp. points/game 66.4
+3.5 scoring margin +6.9
.434 field goal % .436
.371 opp. field goal % .408
.306 3-point % .376
37.6 rebounds 39.5
+4.7 rebound margin +5.5
12.4 assists 13.8
14.3 turnovers 12.9
5.5 steals 7.0
2.8 blocks 3.8
Quick Hits
- The Aggies lead the Big 12 in three defensive categories (through Jan. 17): scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense, 3-point FG% defense and defensive rebound percentage; A&M ranks third in defensive rebounds.
- Through games of Jan. 15, Texas A&M ranked 10th nationally in field-goal percentage defense, 14th in 3-point FG% defense and 15th in scoring defense.
- The Aggies have held each of their last two opponents, Missouri and Texas Tech, to their second-lowest shooting percentages of the year ... A&M's opponents are shooting 41.1 percent from the floor in Big 12 play, third-best in the league.
- On Monday, A&M held the fifth-ranked Tigers-who came into the game ranked second nationally in shooting-to 40.4 percent from the floor, MU's second-lowest output of the year ... Missouri shot just 30 percent from the floor in the second half ... the Aggies held Tech to 33.3 percent shooting on Jan. 14, the Red Raiders' second-lowest output of the year ... Tech did not make a field goal until the 9:43 mark of the first half
- The Aggies also forced Tech into a season-high 23 turnovers ... A&M's 21 points off turnovers in the game were the most by an Aggie team this season.
- Texas A&M has placed 9 players in double figures over the last two games, including a season-high five vs Texas Tech.
- A&M's losses this year have come to teams with a combined 98-26 (.790) record (thru games of 1/17) ... four of the setbacks have come to teams currently ranked in the top 15, all away from home (#3 Baylor, #5 Missouri, #14 Florida, #15 Miss. State).
- The Aggies' conference road losses this year have come to Baylor, Texas and Missouri, squads that have combined to go 32-0 at home this season.
- A&M has already played two games against top-5 ranked opponents in Big 12 play-both on the road-through the first five games of the conference season ... the most top-10 foes the Aggies have ever faced in a Big 12 season is two ... A&M's next road venture is against another likely top-5 team in Kansas on Monday.
- Texas A&M has posted a 28-15 Big 12 record since February of 2009 (6-0 to close 2009, 11-5 in 2010, 10-6 in 2011) ... it's the second-best record over that span among conference teams, trailing only Kansas (39-4).
- The Aggies have won 50 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 (50-33 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).
- Nearly half of Texas A&M's points this season have come in the paint (492 of 1049, or 46.9%) ... 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, Kansas and Texas are the only Big 12 schools that have won at least 20 games in each of the last 7 seasons.
Scouting Oklahoma
- Oklahoma is 12-5 on the year and 2-3 in Big 12 play ... the Sooners dropped their first three league games (at Missouri, Kansas, at Oklahoma State) before rebounding with back-to-back home wins over No. 18 Kansas State and most recently Texas Tech (64-55 Tuesday).
- OU is one of the league's best free-throw shooting teams, ranking second in the Big 12 at 74.6 percent ... the Sooners are also a strong rebounding squad, ranking second in the Big 12 with 39.5 boards per game ... junior G Steven Pledger leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game ... two others average double figures, including junior F Andrew Fitzgerald (13.1 ppg) and junior F Romero Osby (11.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg).
- Lon Kruger is in his first year as the head coach at Oklahoma ... Kruger has 491 career wins on the collegiate level, making successful stops at Pan American, Kansas State, Florida, Illinois and most recently UNLV.
Sidebars
- OU assistant Lew Hill was on Melvin Watkins' staff at Texas A&M for his six seasons (1998-04).
- Aggie G Naji Hibbert and Sooner F Andrew Fitzgerald both hail from Baltimore and teammates in AAU ball (Team Melo).
- A&M's first-year strength coach Darby Rich spent five seasons in the same position at Oklahoma.
Aggie Trends
- Texas A&M has come out of the gate strong in its last three games ... over the first 10 minutes of games against Texas Tech, Missouri and Texas, the Aggies have combined to out-score their foes 42-27 ... a closer look at the numbers:
A&M in first 10 minutes of play (last 3 games):
Opponent A&M FG% Opp FG% Opp TOs
@ Texas 40.0 (4-10) 22.2 (2-9) 4
Texas Tech 54.5 (6-11) 0.0 (0-8) 6
@ Missouri 46.7 (7-15) 30.8 (4-13) 4
TOTAL 47.2 (17-36) 20.0 (6-30) 14
- Texas A&M's starting rotation has seen an increase in court time of late ... in Big 12 play, A&M starters are averaging 28.7 minutes a game (after averaging 25 a game in non-conference play) ... all five starters played at least 30 minutes against Texas (Jan. 11), the first time that's happened on an Aggie team since March 2007 (Big 12 quarterfinal vs Oklahoma State).
- The Aggies are averaging 3.6 blocks in Big 12 play (2.4 average in non-conference play).
- A&M has seen its free-throw percentage take a slight up-turn in Big 12 play ... the Aggies shot 61.6 percent from the line in non-conference play, but has shot 67.6 percent in Big 12 action ... A&M has connected at a 67 percent clip or better from the charity stripe in 4 of its 5 league contests.
- In its last two games, Texas A&M is shooting 71 percent from the free throw line (30-for-42).
- 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 10-0 this year when leading at halftime and 10-0 when leading with 5 minutes to play.
- A&M is 9-1 when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (loss to Baylor, who shot 39.2%).
- The Aggies have held 10 of their opponents under 60 points and are unbeaten in those games.
- A&M has held 8 opponents under 35 percent shooting (8-0).
- The Aggies are 6-0 this year when shooting more free throws than their opponent and 8-1 when out-rebounding them (loss is to Texas).
- A&M is averaging 2.8 blocks per game this year (47 blocks), up from last year's average of 1.5 (51 in 33 games).
- A&M has won 42 of its last 47 home games, including 17 of its last 21 in Big 12 play ... the Aggies are 55-7 at home since the start of the 2008-09 season with a 20-6 mark in conference games.
- The Aggies are 89-12 (.881) at home since the start of the 2006-07 season and are 122-17 (.878) since the start of the 2004-05 campaign.
- A&M has won 37 of its last 40 home games against unranked opponents (13 of last 15 in Big 12 play).
- A&M has won nearly 75 percent of its games since the start of the 2006-07 season (134-52, .720) ... the Aggies are 176-70 (.715) since the start of the '04-05 campaign.
Milestone Watch
- Senior Dash Harris (345 assists, 129 steals) moved into the top 10 in school history in career assists and steals in the win over Texas Tech (Jan. 14) ... he is one of only 8 players in school history to record 300 assists and 100 steals (list on page 9).
- Senior David Loubeau (1,036 points, 509 rebounds) became only the 16th player in school history to score 1,000 career points and grab 500 career rebounds ... Loubeau reached the points milestone against Arkansas Tech and the rebounds milestone against Iowa State ... he is the 32nd member of the school's 1,000-point club and the 22nd of the 500-rebound club.
Player Notables
- Over his last 6 games, senior Dash Harris is averaging 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists ... Harris has scored in double figures in 4 of his last 7 outings.
- Senior Dash Harris leads the team and ranks seventh in the Big 12 in assists (4.0/game) ... he leads the squad, ranks third in the Big 12 and 43rd nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) ... he was named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list.
- Senior Dash Harris is second in the league in steals in conference games (2.4/game).
- Junior Elston Turner has scored 10-plus points in 14 of 17 games this year ... he did so just 9 times in 66 games in two seasons at Washington ... Turner scored a career-high 21 points against No. 4 Baylor (1/2) ... he is in the top 10 of the Big 12 rankings in minutes, 3-point field goals and 3-point field goal percentage this season.
- In three games against ranked opponents, junior Elston Turner is averaging 18 points and 3 rebounds.
- Junior Khris Middleton is averaging 14 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists since returning from surgery to repair a partially-torn meniscus (9 games) ... Middleton recorded his first career double-double (19 pts, 10 rebs) at Texas (Jan. 11).
- Junior Naji Hibbert has hit 6 of his last 13 field goal attempts (46.2%), including 4 of 7 from behind the arc (57.1%) ... Hibbert began the year 9-for-30 (30%) from the field and 1-of-13 (7.7%) from long distance.
- Junior Ray Turner has posted three double-doubles-the first of his career-including a 13-point, 12-rebound effort against Iowa State (1/7) ... his 15 boards vs Arkansas Tech (12/29) were a career high and the most by an Aggie in a game since March 2010.
- Junior Ray Turner is averaging 8.5 points and 7.3 rebounds off the bench in Big 12 play (4 games).
- Junior Ray Turner is averaging 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds at home, both team highs (11 games).
- Junior Ray Turner has scored 10-plus points in 12 of A&M's 17 games this year ... the Aggies are 9-3 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.
Running the Big 12
Marathon
- Throughout A&M's recent stretch of basketball success, the power, toughness and top-to-bottom strength of the Big 12 has proved to be a grind ... several of the Aggie teams that have made up the stretch of postseason runs have struggled out of the gate in league play yet continued to battle and improve as the season went along. A look at some of those squads:
Year Head Coach (Year) Big 12 Start Final Big 12 Record Postseason
2004-05 Billy Gillispie (1st) 1-3 8-8 NIT (Quarterfinals)
2005-06 Billy Gillispie (2nd) 0-4 9-7 NCAA (2nd Round)
2007-08 Mark Turgeon (1st) 1-3 8-8 NCAA (2nd Round)
2008-09 Mark Turgeon (2nd) 1-4 9-7 NCAA (2nd Round)
Big 12 Bullets
- Texas A&M has posted a 28-15 Big 12 record since February of 2009 (6-0 to close 2009, 11-5 in 2010, 10-6 in 2011) ... it's the second-best record over that span among conference teams, trailing only Kansas (39-4).
- The Aggies have won 50 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 (50-33 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 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.
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
- JAN. 23, 2002: Texas A&M upsets No. 24 Texas in Austin, 80-74 ... it marked the Aggies' first road win over the Horns since 1987.
- JAN. 25, 1997: A&M picks up its first-ever Big 12 victory, downing Kansas State 76-67 inside G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Up Next
- Texas A&M has another quick road game turnaround, as the Aggies travel to Kansas to face the Jayhawks on ESPN's Big Monday (8 p.m.) ... A&M then will play three of its next four at home.