COLLEGE STATION – After a nice showing at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off last weekend, the Texas A&M men's basketball team returns to its home court Friday at noon for a matinee contest against New Orleans.
The game will be televised nationally on the SEC Network with Dave Baker (play-by-play) and Dane Bradshaw (commentary) calling all the action. The match-up can also be heard on the Texas A&M Sports Network with local coverage in Bryan/College Station on Zone 1150 AM.
The Aggies (3-1) come into the contest with their roster at full strength after the additions of guard Danuel House and centers Dylan Johns and Tonny Trocha-Morelos. House made the most of his Maroon & White debut on Sunday, contributing 18 points in a victory over New Mexico on the final day in Puerto Rico.
Junior forward Jalen Jones, meanwhile, continues to be a steady force in the A&M line-up, contributing 12.3 points per contest while pacing the team in rebound at 7.8 boards per game.
The Privateers come to Aggieland with a 1-1 record after defeating Pensacola Christian College during their season opener before dropping an 86-71 decision to TCU in Fort Worth last Thursday.UNO senior guard and Houston native Kevin Brown leads the way offensively, contributing 19.5 points per contest.
QUICK HITS
• The Aggies return home to Reed Arena on Friday to tip off a three-game homestand by hosting New Orleans at noon.
• Senior Kourtney Roberson enters the week in a tie for first among all active SEC players with 475 career rebounds (since the 2012-13 when the Aggies joined the SEC) alongside Gavin Ware of Mississippi State ... last week in Puerto Rico, Roberson set a personal best with 15 boards against Dayton
• For his entire career, Roberson has 646 boards to rank him 15th in program history ... up next on the list is Damon Johnson, who grabbed 679 boards from 1991-95.
• Junior Alex Caruso also sits atop the SEC's list for active career assists with 139 for his career ... Caruso dished out 10 Sunday against New Mexico on the final day of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off to give the College Station native his fourth career game of double-digit helpers.
• After receiving a waiver that allows him to play this season, following a transfer from the University of Houston, junior Danuel House made an immediate impact in his first appearance on the court for the Maroon & White ... The Fresno, Texas, native led all scorers with 18 points, going 7-of-11 from the floor as the Aggies defeated New Mexico on Sunday.
• Rookie Alex Robinson enjoyed the best performance of his young career against the Lobos, hitting 5-of-6 shot attempts to reach double-figures with 12 points.
SERIES HISTORY VS. NEW ORLEANS (UNO LEADS 2-0)
• Friday marks just the third meeting between the Aggies & Privateers on the hardwood ... UNO holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series.
• The first meeting in the series took place Dec. 28, 1992, when the Aggies, led by then-head coach Tony Barone, dropped a 72-55 decision against UNO in New Orleans during the Sugar Bowl Tournament.
• The next season the two teams again faced off in New Orleans, this time on March 16, 1994, during the NIT ... The Privateers prevailed once again, 79-73, in overtime.
• A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is 0-3 as a head coach vs. UNO, having faced them once while coaching at Centenary and twice at Southeastern Louisiana.
UP NEXT
The Aggies' three-game homestand continues next Wednesday (Dec. 3), as they host Sam Houston State in a 7 p.m. contest inside Reed Arena. The contest will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
HOUSE MAKES SPLASH IN DEBUT
After receiving good news that the NCAA had granted him a waiver to play the 2014-15 season after transferring from the University of Houston, junior guard Danuel House hit the court for the first time as an Aggie on Nov. 23 against New Mexico.
Initially not with the team in San Juan for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, House flew to the island to join his teammates. The Fresno, Texas, native made an immediate impact for the team as he made 7-of-11 field goal attempts to produce a game-high 18 points. In addition to making highlights with a pair of spectacular dunks, House added six rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
HITTING THE BOARDS
A year ago, the Aggies struggled at times rebounding the basketball, finishing 13th in the SEC in rebounding margin. Early in the season, the Maroon & White have shown marked improvement in that area. Through four games this season, Texas A&M holds a +13.3 rebounding margin and has enjoyed an advantage on the glass in each contest. Already this year, the Aggies have posted two games in which they have produced more than 20 more boards than their opponent - Northwestern State (+20) and Dayton (+21).
Individually, Kourtney Roberson highlighted the rebounding stat column during the contest against Dayton on Nov. 20 when he pulled down a career-best 15 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass.
AGGIES WIN TWO GAMES AT PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF
A trip to the island proved to be a fruitful one for the Aggies as they captured a pair of wins at the 2014 Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan Nov. 20-23.
The weekend started off with a hard-fought 55-53 loss to Dayton that featured the eighth career double-double by senior Kourtney Roberson. The Arcadia, La., set a career high with 15 boards in the contest to go along with 12 points.
Texas A&M bounced back with 59-50 victory over College of Charleston during which junior Jalen Jones posted the first double-double of his A&M career, finishing with 12 points and 11 boards. After trailing midway through the second period, the Aggies closed strong as senior Jordan Green scoring nine of the Aggies' last 15 points to finish with 11 points on the day.
During the tournament's final day, Texas A&M was reinforced by the additions of Danuel House, Dylan Johns and Tonny Trocha-Morelos before going on the defeat New Mexico 64-51. House was the star of the day as he notched a game-high 18 points during his first action wearing the Maroon & White.
AGGIES HIT THE CENTURY MARK FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE `08
The 109-point outburst during the season opener against Northwestern State not only turned heads but it also gave the Texas A&M men's basketball program its first 100-point game since the 2007-08 campaign.
It was the first time the Aggies have hit the century mark since scoring 110 points in a five-overtime loss to Baylor on Jan. 2, 2008, as well as the first time the Aggies hit triple digits on the scoreboard in a non-overtime game since Dec. 8, 2007, against Texas State.
Overall, it marked the 53rd time the Aggies have scored 100 points or more in program history and the ninth time they have done it at Reed Arena.