Thursday, November 30
College Station
7 p.m.
Texas A&M
vs
UTRGV
No. 9 Men's Basketball Hosts UTRGV Thursday
Nov 29, 2017 | Men's Basketball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – After notching a big road win over a top-10 opponent over the weekend, No. 9 Texas A&M returns to the familiar surroundings of Reed Arena where the Aggies will host UTRGV Thursday at 7 p.m.
The game will be shown digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect-TVs for SEC Network subscribers whose cable/satellite packages allow access to SEC Network+ content through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com. Additionally, radio coverage on the Aggie Sports Network can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on WTAW 1620 AM.
Aggie Basketball Game #7:
TELEVISION: SEC Network PLUS (For more info – 12thMan.com/TV)
Will Johnson, Play-by-Play
John Thornton, Commentary
RADIO: WTAW 1620 AM (Bryan-College Station)
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
SATELLITE RADIO: XM Ch. 380
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: 12thman.com/live
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: tamustats.com
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Texas A&M ascended into the nation's top 10 this week (No. 9 Associated Press / No. 10 USA Today/Coaches) on the strength of one of the best starts in school history which has seen the Aggies knock off a pair of highly-ranked teams in No. 11 West Virginia on Nov. 11 and No. 10 USC on Nov. 26 while totaling four total wins vs. high-major opponents. The Aggies are 6-0 and sit atop ESPN's daily RPI index, which also rates A&M's strength of schedule to this point in the season as No. 2 in the country.
UTRGV, meanwhile, makes the trip to Aggieland with a 3-5 overall record after falling 95-64 at SMU on Tuesday night. The Vaqueros are led by former Texas A&M assistant Lew Hill, who worked under former Aggie head coach Melvin Watkins from 1998-2004.
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• The Aggies rank No.1 in ESPN's Strength of Record index (SOR), a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve (Nov. 28).
• In its Nov. 28 edition, Kenpom.com rate the Aggies as one of the nation's elite defensive teams by slotting them second in adjusted defensive efficiency (89.7), trailing only Virginia (85.8) ... on the offensive end, Texas A&M has also been one of the country's best, checking in at No. 14 in Kenpom.com's adjusted offensive efficiency ... overall, kenpom.com ranks the Aggies fifth in its College Basketball rating.
• Give A&M its best start to a season under Billy Kennedy, topping 6-0 starts in the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons.
• Most recently, the two schools played on Jan. 1, 2014, with Texas A&M earning a 63-46 win.
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university in the University of Texas System. UTRGV has multiple campuses in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas; founded in 2013, it entered into full operation in 2015 after the consolidation of the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, the University of Texas–Pan American and the UT Regional Academic Health Center - Harlingen.
• Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is 1-0 vs. the Vaqueros.
A&M's most recent appearance in the Top 10 came during the 2015-16 campaign when the Aggies reached as high as No. 5 on Jan. 25. That No. 5 ranking stands out as the highest in program history.
The game will be shown digitally on mobile devices, tablets, PCs and connect-TVs for SEC Network subscribers whose cable/satellite packages allow access to SEC Network+ content through the WatchESPN app and SECSports.com. Additionally, radio coverage on the Aggie Sports Network can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on WTAW 1620 AM.
Aggie Basketball Game #7:
UTRGV (3-5) at #9 Texas A&M (6-0)
Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017 · 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Reed Arena (12,989) · College Station, Texas
TELEVISION: SEC Network PLUS (For more info – 12thMan.com/TV)
Will Johnson, Play-by-Play
John Thornton, Commentary
RADIO: WTAW 1620 AM (Bryan-College Station)
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Al Pulliam, Commentary
SATELLITE RADIO: XM Ch. 380
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: 12thman.com/live
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: tamustats.com
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Texas A&M ascended into the nation's top 10 this week (No. 9 Associated Press / No. 10 USA Today/Coaches) on the strength of one of the best starts in school history which has seen the Aggies knock off a pair of highly-ranked teams in No. 11 West Virginia on Nov. 11 and No. 10 USC on Nov. 26 while totaling four total wins vs. high-major opponents. The Aggies are 6-0 and sit atop ESPN's daily RPI index, which also rates A&M's strength of schedule to this point in the season as No. 2 in the country.
UTRGV, meanwhile, makes the trip to Aggieland with a 3-5 overall record after falling 95-64 at SMU on Tuesday night. The Vaqueros are led by former Texas A&M assistant Lew Hill, who worked under former Aggie head coach Melvin Watkins from 1998-2004.
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SETTING THE SCENE / NOTABLES
• Just a couple weeks into the season, A&M has quickly built one of the country's most impressive résumés with four wins over four high-major opponents - West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Penn State and USC … The Aggies remain the only team nationally to have notched four wins vs. high-major opponents at this point in the season.• The Aggies rank No.1 in ESPN's Strength of Record index (SOR), a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve (Nov. 28).
• In its Nov. 28 edition, Kenpom.com rate the Aggies as one of the nation's elite defensive teams by slotting them second in adjusted defensive efficiency (89.7), trailing only Virginia (85.8) ... on the offensive end, Texas A&M has also been one of the country's best, checking in at No. 14 in Kenpom.com's adjusted offensive efficiency ... overall, kenpom.com ranks the Aggies fifth in its College Basketball rating.
A WIN VS. UTRGV WOULD...
• Give the Aggies their best start to a season since the 2006-07 Aggies also started 7-0 under head coach Billy Gillispie ... The last A&M team to start better than 7-0 was the 2005-06 squad which began 10-0.• Give A&M its best start to a season under Billy Kennedy, topping 6-0 starts in the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons.
TEXAS A&M-UTRGV CONNECTIONS
• Vaqueros head coach Lew Hill served as a Texas A&M assistant coach under Melvin Watkins from 1998-2004.SERIES HISTORY VS UTRGV (A&M LEADS 4-1)
• Texas A&M has faced UTRGV (formerly Texas-Pan American) five previous times on the hardwood, winning four of the match-ups.• Most recently, the two schools played on Jan. 1, 2014, with Texas A&M earning a 63-46 win.
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a public research university in the University of Texas System. UTRGV has multiple campuses in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas; founded in 2013, it entered into full operation in 2015 after the consolidation of the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, the University of Texas–Pan American and the UT Regional Academic Health Center - Harlingen.
• Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy is 1-0 vs. the Vaqueros.
A&M RISES IN THE NATIONAL POLLS; CRACKS THE TOP 10
The latest batch of national polls were released Monday (Nov. 27) and slot the Aggies at No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 10 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Texas A&M begin the season at No. 25 in the AP Top 25 and unranked in the USA Today/Coaches.A&M's most recent appearance in the Top 10 came during the 2015-16 campaign when the Aggies reached as high as No. 5 on Jan. 25. That No. 5 ranking stands out as the highest in program history.
UP NEXT AFTER THE UTRGV GAME
The Aggies are back on the road as they travel to Phoenix, Ariz., to face Arizona inside Talking Stick Arena during the Valley of the Sun Shootout.
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