Men's Basketball Hosts Tarleton State in Friday Night Exhibition Tilt

Friday, November 3

College Station

7 p.m.

Texas A&M

Tarleton State

Tickets

Gameday Preview Mens Basketball Tarleton

Nov 02, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Buy Tickets Watch Live Listen Live Live Stats SEC Basketball

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

Aggie Basketball Exhibition Game:
#25 Texas A&M vs. Tarleton State
Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 · 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,989) · College Station, Texas

VIDEO STREAM: Watch ESPN (For more info – 12thMan.com/TV)
   Dave South, Play-by-Play
   Al Pulliam, Commentary

RADIO: WTAW 1620 AM (Bryan-College Station)
   Dave South, Play-by-Play
   Al Pulliam, Commentary

SATELLITE RADIO: n/a
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: 12thman.com/live
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: tamustats.com

--
COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M men's basketball team will take the court for its final tune-up before the 2017-18 regular season on Friday as the No. 25 Aggies welcome Tarleton State to Reed Arena for an exhibition at 7 p.m.

A video stream of Friday's contest will be available via Watch ESPN with audio provided by the Texas A&M radio crew of Dave South and Al Pulliam. The game can be heard locally in the Bryan-College Station area on 1620 AM.

The Aggies enter the new campaign with aspirations of returning to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons under head coach Billy Kennedy, who enters his seventh season in Aggieland. Texas A&M, which enters the year at No. 25 in the first edition of the Associated Press Top 25, returns one of the SEC's formidable rosters to the hardwood for the 2017-18 campaign as A&M brings back four starters and 10 total players, representing 82.3 percent of the Aggies' total scoring output.

Highlighted by the big man combo of Tyler Davis and Robert Williams, who each garnered second-team all-league honors a year ago, the Aggies stand out as the only SEC program to return more than one All-SEC performer. Both players were honored as Preseason All-Americans by NBC Sports with Williams selected to the third team and Davis named an honorable mention.

Additionally, the Maroon & White will be boosted by the return of veteran contributors Admon Gilder, DJ Hogg and Tonny Trocha-Morelos as well as a slew of talented newcomers ready to make their mark on the court.

Led by long-time coach Lonn Reisman, who is entering his 28^th season leading the program, Tarleton State comes to Aggieland following a 22-8 campaign a season ago that featured a trip to the NCAA Division II Regional Quarterfinals. The Texans were pegged to finish third in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll.

TRENDS & SUPERLATIVES

• A&M stands to return one of the SEC's formidable rosters to the hardwood for the 2017-18 campaign as the Aggies bring back four starters and 10 total players, representing 82.3 percent of the team's total scoring output from last season. Highlighted by Tyler Davis and Robert Williams, who each garnered second-team all-league honors a year ago, A&M stands out as the only SEC program to return more than one All-SEC performer.
• Additionally, A&M is the only SEC school to return four players who averaged 10 or more points per game last season – Tyler Davis (14.1 ppg), Admon Gilder (13.7 ppg), DJ Hogg (12.0 ppg) and Robert Williams (11.9 ppg).
• Forward Robert Williams, who elected to return to Texas A&M for his sophomore campaign despite being projected as a lottery pick in the NBA Draft, was pegged as a 3rd Team Preseason All-American by NBC Sports.
• A&M's non-conference slate will be among the most daunting in the country as the Aggies take on West Virginia (at Ramstein Air Base in Germany as part of the Armed Forces Classic), USC, Arizona (in Phoenix) and Kansas, all away from College Station. Additionally, A&M will take part in the Legends Classic (Nov. 20-21) at Brooklyn's Barclays Center where the Aggies will play two games as part of a quality field that includes Oklahoma State, Penn State and Pitt.
• In SEC Play, A&M will host Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina in College Station while traveling to Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt for road tilts.
• As a league in men's basketball, the SEC is showing a lot of improvement over recent years and is coming off an attention-grabbing campaign where it posted an 11-5 record in the NCAA Tournament and had three teams advance to the Elite Eight.
• Additionally, the Maroon & White will be boosted on the hardwood by the addition of another nationally-ranked signing class to Aggieland. 247 Sports regards Texas A&M's incoming class as the 14th best in the country while ESPN slots the four Aggie commits from the high school ranks among the top 12 players in the state of Texas.
• A&M head coach Billy Kennedy enters his seventh season in Aggieland with an overall mark 115-85 (.575) during his tenure in College Station. His 115 victories are the second most all-time among A&M men's basketball coaches, trailing only legendary Shelby Metcalf's 438 from 1963-90.

UP NEXT AFTER THE TARLETON STATE EXHIBITION

The Aggies officially christen the 2017-18 season next Friday, Nov. 10, when they travel to Ramstein Air Base in Germany to face No. 11 West Virginia during the annual Armed Forces Classic. The game will be nationally televised by ESPN.