Men's Basketball Set to Tip Off Big Dance vs. Providence

Friday, March 16

Charlotte, N.C.

11:15 a.m.

Texas A&M

Providence

Tickets

Photo by: Mike Gunnoe

Mar 14, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Texas A&M Game Notes Providence Game Notes NCAA Tournament Bracket

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

NCAA West Regional • First Round:
Providence (21-13; 10-8 Big East) vs. Texas A&M (20-12; 9-9 SEC)
Friday, March 16, 2018 • 11:15 a.m. (CT)
Spectrum Center • Charlotte, N.C.

TELEVISION: CBS (For more info – 12thMan.com/TV)
   Jim Nantz, Play-by-Play
   Grant Hill & Bill Raftery, Commentary
   Tracy Wolfson, Reporting

RADIO: The Zone 1150 AM (Bryan-College Station)
   Dave South, Play-by-Play
   Mike Caruso, Commentary

SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius Ch. 137 / XM Ch. 201
LIVE VIDEO: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/
LIVE AUDIO: https://www.siriusxm.com/collegebasketballschedule
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: https://www.ncaa.com/game/basketball-men/d1/2018/03/16/providence-texas-am

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CHARLOTTE – The Aggies' run in the 2018 NCAA Tournament tips off Friday morning inside Charlotte's Spectrum Center when Texas A&M's faces Providence at 11:15 a.m. (CT).

Friday's contest will be televised on CBS with Jim Nantz calling the play-by-play action, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery providing commentary and Tracy Wolfson reporting. Additionally, radio coverage will be available on the Aggie Sports Network, which can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on Sports Radio 1150 The Zone (1150 AM/102.7 FM).

Texas A&M (20-12), one of eight SEC teams in the tourney, is the No. 7 seed in the West regional while Providence (21-13) enters the field as a No. 10 seed, both teams earned at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. The meeting with first ever between the two schools.

A&M will be led into the NCAA Tournament by a trio of players who recently received All-SEC honors as Tyler Davis earned First-Team All-SEC honors, while Robert Williams was named the league's Co-Defensive player of the Year and TJ Starks garnered a spot on the All-Freshman Team.

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TEXAS A&M IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The selection to this season's NCAA Tournament is the 14^th in program history for Texas A&M as well as the second bid in the last three seasons ... Texas A&M has made the field in eight of the last 13 years.
• Entering this postseason, the Aggies are 11-14 all-time in 13 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Texas A&M has advanced to the round of 16 five times -- 1951*, 1969†, 1980, 2007, 2016 (* 16-team field   † 25-team field) ... this included a trio of Sweet 16 appearances since the tournament field expanded to 48 teams -- in 1980, under the direction of Shleby Metcalf; in 2007, led by head coach Billy Gillispie; and in 2016 under Billy Kennedy.
• A&M enjoyed a school-record run of six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2006-2011.
• Five players on the Aggies roster have NCAA Tournament experience - Tyler Davis (3 games), Admon Gilder (3 games), DJ Hogg (3 games), Tonny Trocha-Morelos (3 games) and Duane Wilson (1 game at Marquette).
• A&M head coach Billy Kennedy has led three schools to the NCAA Tournament, Southeastern Louisiana in 2005, Murray State in 2010 and Texas A&M in 2016 and 2018 ... Kennedy is 3-3 as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament.

AGGIES VS. THE 2018 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD

• The Aggies have played 16 games against opponents who heard their names called on Selection Sunday and have compiled a 7-9 record against the group.
• This season, Texas A&M has notched wins over Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Buffalo, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia.

TEXAS A&M'S NCAA COACHES

• Billy Kennedy is the fifth Texas A&M men's basketball coach to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament. Legendary Aggie coach Shelby Metcalf (1963-90) is the all-time NCAA tourney appearances leader among the group, leading the school the Big Dance five times. Kennedy joins Billy Gillispie (2004-07), who was 3-2 in NCAA Tournament games during his tenure in Aggieland, as the only A&M coaches to hold a winning record in the tourney.