SB Nation - B.J. Holmes

Aggies Hang On To Defeat #16 Minnesota, 66-65

Beergut — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:11:36 -0000

Texas A&M's B.J. Holmes, center, is greeted by his teammate Dash Harris after Holmes made a three-point basket against Minnesota during the first half of the Texas A&M-Minnesota men's basketball game. Texas A&M prevailed, 66-65. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Derrick Roland was one of three Aggies to score in double-figures (he led the team with 19 points) as the Texas A&M men's basketball team hung on to defeat #16-ranked Minnesota, 66-65. Nathan Walkup added 11 points, and B.J. Holmes scored 10 as the Aggies' defense came up big in the final minute to secure the win.

The Aggies led by 7, 66-59, with 1:11 left in the game. Minnesota whittled the lead down to 1 point, helped by poor shooting at the charity stripe by the Aggies; the team would go a combined 3 for 14 in free throws in the final minutes of the game. Nathan Walkup summed up the Aggies' problems with two missed free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining in the game. Bryan Davis came up huge, blocking Paul Carter's attempt at a game winner, and the Aggies held on for the close win. Defensively, the Aggies forced 12 turnovers in the game which they converted into 24 points.

The win over the Gophers give the Aggies two wins in four days over top 20 ranked teams; the Ags opened the 76 Classic by defeating #19 Clemson. The Aggies will hit the court again Wednesday, when they take on Prairie View A&M at Reed Arena.

Around the ACC: Nov. 27

MRickman84 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:58:01 -0000

Only two games yesterday, so this'll be a short read today. Clemson got upset yesterday, which I was not expecting to happen. Don't know if this is a.) an indication that A&M is better than they looked (plus they have B.J. Holmes who already has a built-in fall-back career), b.) that Clemson is just doing what Clemson likes to do, or C.) that it is just a loss and we can't take anything away from it at all.

The big game is UConn vs. Duke, a game that has some history behind it (as I'm sure ESPN will let us know all day). The two other games to keep an eye on are FSU vs. Alabama (5 PM) and VT vs. Temple (8:30). And make sure to tough out your turkeyday hangovers.

FSU 54, Iona 49
Raise your hand if you were a bit surprised that Iona gave FSU such a game yesterday. The Gaels won 12 games yesterday and had a ton of injuries, but I guess getting healthy helped them out. The game was tied with under 3 minutes to play, but Florida State gutted out a victory (see what hitting your free throws does, kids?). Florida State had 27 turnovers (with only 8 assists), which is cause for concern, but got 16 points from Derwin Kitchen and 13 from Chris Singleton.

Clemson 60, Texas A&M 69

Clemson got shell-shocked early on, going down 17 at one point, but showed a lot of heart to cut it to two, but A&M added a late-game surge to finish the 9 point victory. A&M's Holmes had 20 points on an unorthodox 3-7 shooting (hitting 11 of his 12 FTs, with 3 three pointers). Trevor Booker led the Tigers with 18 and 6 rebounds, and Tanner Smith had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. If A&M hopes to get with the elite teams in the country, they're going to have to do a lot better than the 20-35 FTs they hit yesterday.

Men's Basketball Defeats Clemson, 69-60

Beergut — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:49:59 -0000

More photos » by Jason Redmond - AP

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B.J. Holmes scored 20 points, and went 3-5 from behind the arc, and David Loubeau scored 12 points and grabbed 9 rebounds as our bench players helped lead the Ags to a 69-60 upset of #19 Clemson. Despite Bryan Davis bewing the only starter to score in double-figures (10 points), our bench and our defense carried us to the win.

We held Clemson scoreless for the final six minutes of the first half as we built a 33-20 halftime lead. We struggled against Clemson's press and traps in the second half, leading to too many turnovers, but we never let them get closer than three points.

This was a nice win for our program, a win that helps out strength of schedule, and will help come Tournament time in March. It is always good to win on the road, even though this was at a neutral site.

We face West Virginia in the semi-finals of the 76 Classic at approximaltey 3:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Aggies Defeat Mustangs, 80-68

Beergut — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:24:12 -0000

The boys from Seagoville played well in front of their hometown crowd tonight, as Derrick Roland (21 points) and Donald Sloan (24 points) helped lead the Aggies to an 80-68 victory over SMU. B.J. Holmes was the only other Aggie ti finish in double-figures, as he scored 11 on the night, to go along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Center Bryan Davis had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal before fouling out. Dash Harris had 3 points, 2 steals, and 2 assists. Freshmen Khris Middleton and Naji Hibbert each failed to score a point in this game. David Loubeau finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist on the night. We really need him to play better and contribute more if we are going to improve as a team and accomplish some of our goals this season.

The Aggies move to 2-0 on the season, with our next game versus Samford coming up Friday at Reed Arena.

KNOW THY ENEMY: Texas A&M Aggies

BracketCat — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:30:13 -0000

This week's preview probably is one of the more distasteful I will compose, perhaps only to be topped by the one for the Flaw on the Kaw. When it comes to Aggie basketball, the word "enemy" well and truly applies.

I don't know if it's because of Mark Turgeon, the Kellis Robinett of basketball coaches, or Billy Clyde Gillispie, angry drunk that he is, but something about Texas A&M actually being halfway decent in basketball just pisses me off. I don't know — maybe it's just the grudge I've been holding against the 12th Man since December 1998.

At any rate, I'm still basking in the afterglow of the absolute pwning administered to the Aggies on Saturday, so I'll strive to be as magnanimous as possible in this preview. If you're looking for more information, feel free to hop over to I Am The 12th Man, where basketball season almost certainly is under way. Anything to distract from a likely 0-3 start, right?

Otherwise, click the jump for all you need to know about Ags-ketball.

The Coach

Mark Turgeon
Third Season

49-21 (17-15) at Texas A&M
202-140 (103-89) overall

Turgeon has a 49-21 record at A&M, the most wins by a Big 12 coach in his first two seasons at a league school. He is only the second coach ever to lead the Aggies to consecutive NCAA Tournaments and has led his teams to five 20-win seasons in the last six years.

Last season, the Aggies went 24-10 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year.

Turgeon led the Aggies to a 25-11 record in his first season, the third-most wins in school history. The Aggies lost in the final seconds to top-seeded UCLA in the second round of the NCAAs.

The Departures

Starters

Josh Carter (30.6 minutes per game, 13.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game)
Chinemelu Elonu (23.8 minutes per game, 9.8 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game)

Reserves

Denzel Bowles (5.4 minutes per game, 2.4 points per game, 1.2 rebounds per game)
Bryson Graham (2 minutes per game, 0.8 point per game, 0.3 rebound per game)

The Veterans

		#0 Bryan Davis Senior Forward 6-9 \| 250 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) The Aggies are 27-7 when Davis scores in double figures in his career. He averaged 16.5 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in two NCAA Tournament games, earning CBS Sports player of the game honors in both contests. Davis scored a season-high 21 points with nine rebounds and three blocks in a first-round win against BYU. He scored 12 points with a game-high 10 rebounds in a win against Missouri. Davis scored 15 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas, and just missed double-doubles at No. 2 Oklahoma (13 points, nine rebounds), at Baylor (13 points, nine rebounds) and at Colorado (nine points and nine rebounds). He matched his season high with 18 points in a win against Oklahoma State, making 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Davis had 13 points and eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; scored a season-high 18 points with 10 rebounds in a win at Rice; had 17 points against Baylor and 16 points against LSU; came off the bench to score 15 points with a season-high 13 rebounds against Kent State, earning SPI Invitational all-tournament honors; returned to the starting lineup against Arizona and had 10 points, making 5 of 6 from the field; scored 15 points with nine rebounds in a win at Alabama; had 11 rebounds vs. SMU; had at least five rebounds in all but four games; ranked third on the team in scoring (10.8), and second in rebounding (6.5) and blocks (46); ranked fifth in the Big 12 in blocks and ninth in rebounding; ranked fourth in the Big 12 in offensive rebounding (2.9) in league play; scored 14 points with seven rebounds against Jackson State and tied his career best with four blocks; and ranks seventh in school history with 96 career blocks.

		#2 Derrek Lewis Junior Guard 6-5 \| 195 Tulsa, Okla. Lewis appeared in five games, averaging 0.6 point per game. He scored a season-high two points against UNC Wilmington, played a season-best five minutes against Jackson State, and also saw action against BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

		#3 Derrick Roland Senior Guard 6-4 \| 190 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Defense Team (2009) Roland scored 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU, making a pair of three-pointers. He was named to Big 12 All-Defense Team by league coaches and media panel, and usually guarded the opponent's top scoring guard and in Big 12 play held all but two under his scoring average. League players he guarded made just 38 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range. Roland helped limit Arizona All-American Chase Budinger to just three points on 1 of 6 shooting in the second half of A&M's come-from-behind win. Texas' A.J. Abrams averaged just eight points (6 of 22 shooting, 1 of 9 3-pointers) in two games against Roland. Roland scored 11 points in the first win against Texas Tech and held John Roberson to four second-half points (2 of 10 from field, 0 of 5 3-pointers). Oklahoma State's James Anderson averaged just 9.5 points in two games against Roland. Roland matched his season best with 13 points in a loss at Baylor, scoring 11 in the second half to rally the Aggies from a 14-point deficit. He scored 12 points with four assists in a win at Colorado (8-8 FT); made 25 of his last 29 free throw attempts; played just 10 minutes against McNeese State, after leaving the game early with a bruised elbow, and did not play against North Dakota; scored six points with a season-high six rebounds against Arizona; missed the Kent State game after suffering a sprained foot against Tulsa; and averaged 8.5 points in the last six games. The Aggies are 11-2 in his career when he scores in double figures, and 8-1 on the season.

		#5 Dash Harris Sophomore Guard 6-1 \| 175 Los Angeles, Calif. Harris played in all 34 games and earned a start against Kent State. He ranked second on the team in assists (2.0) and was third in steals (0.7); scored a career-high seven points with three assists against Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament; had six points and made 2 of 2 from 3-point range against Iowa State, his first career 3-pointers; had a monster dunk and made a free throw to complete a key 3-point play and spark a comeback win at Nebraska; scored six points with three assists and two steals in a big win against Missouri; dished out a career-high five assists in consecutive games against Rice and McNeese State; matched his career best with five assists in wins against Texas (zero turnovers) and Texas Tech; scored a career-high six points with four assists and a career-best three steals against North Dakota; handed out at least four assists in seven games; and scored four points against Tulsa. The Aggies were 9-1 when he had at least three assists, with the only loss being to UConn.

		#10 David Loubeau Sophomore Forward 6-8 \| 230 Miami, Fla. Loubeau scored 11 points, making 5 of 5 from the field, against Connecticut in the second round of NCAA Tournament; ranked third on the team in offensive rebounds (58); ranked second among Big 12 freshmen in offensive rebounds in league play (1.9); scored eight points in a win against Missouri; had nine points, all in the second half, with six rebounds in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma; scored 11 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; had 10 points, all in the first half, in a win against Oklahoma State; scored a career-high 12 points with eight rebounds against Kent State in his first career start; also started against Iowa State; had seven points with five rebounds at Kansas, including a game-high four offensive boards; scored six points with a career-best nine rebounds against Tulsa; had eight points at Alabama, helping the Aggies rally from 14-point deficit; scored eight points with eight rebounds against SMU; had eight points and six rebounds against Jackson State, making 6 of 8 from the free-throw line; and tallied six points with six boards against UNC Wilmington. The Aggies were 7-2 when he scored at least eight points, losing only at Oklahoma and to UConn.

		#11 B.J. Holmes Junior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) In Big 12 play, Holmes led the league in 3-point percentage (.470) and ranked second in free-throw percentage (.860). He ranked among the top bench players in the Big 12 with an 9.1 scoring average in conference play; had 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU; scored 11 points (3 of 3 treys) in a win against Texas; scored 10 of his 16 points in the last six minutes in a comeback win at Colorado; had 13 points in a win vs. Missouri; had a career-high 24 points in the first win against Texas Tech, making 6 of 7 (.857) from 3-point range, the fourth-best percentage in school history; made six straight 3s against Tech, tying a Big 12 record; scored 19 points at Oklahoma State, making 4 of 9 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws; earned his first career start against Arizona and had a team-high 14 points (3 of 6 3-pointers); made a pair of key free throws in the final minute of the Arizona game and also drew a charge that fouled out Wildcat point guard Nic Wise late in game; scored 16 points with a career-best seven rebounds in a win at Alabama and made a rainbow 3-pointer with two seconds left to send the game to overtime; scored 15 points against Kent State, making 3 of 6 3-pointers and dropping a pair of free throws in the final seconds that helped ice the game; started in place of the injured Derrick Roland against North Dakota and scored 14 points (4-8 3-pointers); missed his first 12 shots of the season; led the team in steals (30); and had only 18 turnovers in 757 minutes (one every 42.1 minutes).

		#14 Andrew Darko Junior Guard 6-1 \| 175 Conroe, Texas Darko appeared in nine games, including three Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored two points against Jackson State and at Kansas.

		#15 Donald Sloan Senior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas The Aggies are 39-8 in Sloan's career when he hands out at least three assists, including a 16-3 mark as a junior, and the team is 33-13 when he scores in double figures. He averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in two NCAA Tournament games; scored 14 points with six rebounds and a season-high seven assists in a first-round win vs. BYU; added 12 points in the second round against Connecticut; had a career-high 22 points against Texas Tech in Big 12 Tournament; scored a team-high 16 points in a win against Missouri; averaged 15.6 points in the last five games; had 14 points and five assists with only one turnover, scoring seven points in the final four minutes of a comeback win at Colorado; had 14 points in a win against Texas; scored 17 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a loss at Texas; had 15 points in a win against Oklahoma State; tied his career high with 21 points against Florida A&M, making 10 of 10 free throws; ranked second on the team in scoring (11.8) and led in assists (3.2); scored at least eight points in all but three games; had 13 points and five assists with only one turnover in 35 minutes against Arizona; handed out a season-high seven assists against Kent State with only one turnover; had 16 points with three assists and six rebounds against Stephen F. Austin; made .743 (107-144) from the free-throw line; and had only 56 turnovers in 1,030 minutes this season (one every 18.4 minutes), a marked improvement over his sophomore season, when he averaged one turnover every 13.3 minutes.

		#24 Shawn Schepel Junior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas Schepel played in six games, including two Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored one point against Jackson State.

		#31 Chris Chapman Senior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Chapman appeared in three games, including the Iowa State game in Big 12 play. He scored two points with one rebound against Jackson State.

		#33 Marshall Carrell Junior Forward 6-9 \| 230 Paris, Texas Carrell appeared in four games, including an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He pulled down two rebounds against Jackson State.

		#45 Nathan Walkup Junior Forward 6-7 \| 210 Houston, Texas Walkup played in all 34 games, starting against UNC Wilmington and Iowa State. He averaged 14 minutes in two NCAA Tournament games; scored a career-high 12 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a win against Missouri; had eight points (2 of 2 3-pointers) against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament; had seven points, making 3 of 3 from the field (including a key second-half 3-pointer) in a win against Texas; also added seven points in a win at Nebraska and had a breakaway dunk that helped spark a comeback; scored six points with three rebounds in just 11 minutes in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma, including a breakaway dunk; made a game-winning 3-pointer with 20 seconds left against Arizona, his only points of the game; scored seven points in a win at Alabama and made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to pull the Aggies within two points, before teammate B.J. Holmes sent the game into overtime with two seconds left; scored a season-high nine points with a career-best 12 rebounds against UNC Wilmington; averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds; scored seven points with 11 rebounds against Stephen F. Austin and made a key long-range 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the final minute; scored eight points against Jackson State; and made a 3-pointer with 7:32 left to give A&M a six-point lead at Rice, and it never was a one-possession game again. The Aggies are 14-2 in his career when he scores at least five points.

The Redshirt

#12 James Blasczyk
Freshman Center
7-0 | 230
Houston, Texas

Blasczyk was named his high school district's defensive player of the year in 2008. He averaged 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds as a senior; was rated among the top 50 prospects in the state by TexasHoops.com; averaged 8.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 blocks as a junior; earned three varsity letters; scored a career-best 27 points with a career-high 17 rebounds against the Dallas Mustangs in 2007 as a member of Houston Select, one the top AAU programs in the nation; and played for Houston Swoosh in 2008.

The Newcomers

		#21 Ray Turner Freshman Forward 6-8 \| 220 Houston, Texas Turner was ranked No. 144 nationally and No. 6 in Texas by Rivals.com; averaged 16.5 points and earned district MVP honors as a senior; was named to all-state and all-region teams; played in the THSCA All-Star Game; led his team to a 29-7 record and a district title; posted career game-highs of 35 points, 25 rebounds and 12 blocks; averaged 16 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a junior; and also was recruited by Baylor, Marquette, Memphis, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma State.

		#22 Khris Middleton Freshman Forward 6-7 \| 215 North Charleston, S.C. Middleton was rated No. 64 by ESPN.com, which also ranked him as the best shooter among the nation's small forward prospects; averaged 22.4 points and 8.6 rebounds as a prep senior, earning all-state honors and leading his team to the state title game; averaged 21.0 points and 8.6 rebounds as a junior; twice earned state player-of-the-year honors; posted a career-high scoring game of 39 points; and also was recruited by Michigan, South Carolina, St. Joseph's and Virginia Tech.

		#23 Naji Hibbert Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 200 Baltimore, Md. Hibbert was ranked No. 59 nationally by ESPN.com and was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com; named to all-league and all-metro teams for the second straight year after averaging 15.7 points at storied DeMatha Catholic High School; and scored with 1.8 seconds left to lift DeMatha to the state championship. The team finished 31-4 and was ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN. Hibbert averaged 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a junior; scored 44 points in an AAU game; and also was recruited by Clemson, Marquette, Maryland, Miami, Syracuse and Xavier.

		#25 Jeremy Adams Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 195 Madison, Miss. Adams was rated as the No. 2 player in Mississippi by ESPN after averaging 27.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.2 steals as a senior at Madison Central; earned all-state honors; had three 40-point scoring games and earned all-division, all-metro and all-state honors; twice scored 43 points in a game; led his team to three straight district titles; and also was recruited by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame and Wake Forest.

My thanks to the Texas A&M sports information department for the photos and most of the information for the bios.

The Analysis

As much as I dislike the Aggies, it's hard to discount them as a force in Big 12 basketball. Over the past five years, they have been to four consecutive NCAA tournaments, made five consecutive postseason appearances and finished in the top half of the conference every year. Other than Kansas and Texas, Texas A&M is the only Big 12 team to win 20+ games during that stretch.

But while Texas A&M has been a consistent winner, it hasn't yet been a serious challenger for a Big 12 championship. The Aggies regularly have lost to powers such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas; own a two-game, regular-season losing streak to Kansas State, despite being favored in both games; and occasionally are upset by less-talented programs such as Baylor and Texas Tech. They even struggled with Colorado last year, before pulling away late.

I don't think anything will change in 2009-2010, either. In fact, I think it is more likely that Texas A&M will decline, rather than rise up, despite adding a recruiting class that hovered in and out of Rivals' Class of 2009 rankings, before finishing just outside the Top 25.

Although the Aggies lost only two significant players off last year's team, only Oklahoma lost two more significant starters. Josh Carter and Chinemelu Elonu by far were A&M's two best players in 2008-2009. Carter, a four-year starter and the Aggies' leading scorer last year, graduated, while Elonu, the team's leading rebounder who already had earned his bachelor's degree, tested the NBA draft waters and was selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Luckily for A&M, Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis did not follow Elonu's lead, and instead pulled out of the draft to return for their senior seasons. Good thing, too, or the Aggies would have lost four starters and been totally decimated. Sloan is one of the league's better point guards and Davis should step up to fill Elonu's void as the team's leader in rebounding.

The other returning starter is Derrick Roland, who rivals Dominique Sutton and J.T. Tiller in terms of defensive intensity. He has been bothered by injuries the past few seasons, but assuming he stays healthy, he should lock up the off-guard position all year.

Projecting the other two starters is trickier. I'm pretty sure that Nathan Walkup, who played in all 32 games last season, will figure into the equation, though. At 6-7, Walkup offers nice size at the wing position, and he probably can also hold his own in the post, in a smaller lineup.

The fifth starter probably will be situational. My projections use a traditional PG-SG-SF-PF-C lineup, so I went with James Blasczyk, a 7-footer who is the tallest player left on the roster. But Blasczyk is coming off a redshirt season and hasn't yet played a game in Division I, so it's a stretch to say he will be a consistent starter.

It's more likely that the Aggies will go with a smaller lineup when the opponent's makeup presents the opportunity. In that case, Davis would shift to the 5 and Walkup to the 4, and B.J. Holmes probably would come in as a third guard. Holmes was the Aggies' "sixth man" last season and replaced Roland as a starter whenever the latter was out with an injury.

Dash Harris (what a great name for a point guard!) was one of the conference's most impressive freshmen last year. He is a solid backup for Sloan and will continue to play understudy to the senior, in preparation for next year when he will be counted upon to fill Sloan's considerable shoes. David Loubeau rounds out the 7-8 players I see making up the Aggies' primary player rotation. He's a solid reliever in the frontcourt with some size (6-8, 230).

Marshall Carrell as primary backup at center is a stretch. I mainly picked him there because at 6-9, he's the tallest player (other than Blasczyk and Davis) on the roster. But he is a role player who has played sparingly in years past, and that highlights one of the primary problems the Aggies face this season. Other than Davis and maybe Loubeau, there are no experienced centers on the roster. When A&M faces frontcourts such as those of Kansas, Kansas State or Texas, they are going to be challenged and they probably won't be able to measure up, due to a lack of depth. When Davis gets into foul trouble (and he does that a lot), the Aggies will lose games.

Other than Mark Turgeon, nobody knows much about Chris Chapman, Andrew Darko, Derrek Lewis or Shawn Schepel, because they have played next to no minutes. One or more could surprise, I suppose, but there's nothing there in the track record to make you think it's imminent.

Khris Middleton doesn't really stand above the other incoming freshmen, but I liked the unconventional spelling of his name, so he rounds out the projected two-deep. Jeremy Adams, Naji Hibbert and Ray Turner complete a solid, but not heralded, recruiting class. How they develop in the years to come could indicate whether Turgeon really is a great coach, or merely is coasting with players inherited from Billy Gillispie.

Projected Starting Lineup


Donald Sloan	Derrick Roland	Nathan Walkup	Bryan Davis	James Blasczyk
1	2	3	4	5

Projected Top Reserves


Dash Harris	B.J. Holmes	Khris Middleton	David Loubeau	Marshall Carrell
1	2	3	4	5

The Final Verdict

Texas A&M's track record demands that I pick them in the upper half of the Big 12. That much, at least, the Aggies have earned.

But losing Elonu was a huge blow that basically halved the frontcourt, in terms of high-level, star talent. When Bryan Davis squares off with Cole Aldrich, Craig Brackins, Andrew Fitzgerald, Keith Gallon, Damion James, Wally Judge, Curtis Kelly, Marcus Morris, Dexter Pittman and so forth, he's going to wish Elonu still was there to back him up.

Upper division? Yes. NCAA Tournament? Most likely. First-day bye in the Big 12 Tournament? I highly doubt it.

Predicted finish: 6th

Best-case scenario: 4th

Previously on KNOW THY ENEMY...

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Iowa State
Texas Tech
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A&M Ranked #25 In ESPN's Totally Premature Top 25

Beergut — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:30:29 -0000

Andy Katz has his way-too-early pre-season rankings out, and the Ags scrape the bottom of the top 25, landing at exactly #25. With Bryan Davis, Junior Elonu, and David Loubeau in the post, and Donald Sloan, B.J. Holmes, Nathan Walkup, Derrick Roland, and Dash Harris on the outside, the Ags will have an excellent inside-outside game returning, and should be a veteran team to be reckoned with.

How we do next season will depend on how we fare in conference play; Katz has fellow conference members Kansas #1, texas #4, and Oklahoma #18. Considering we have to play texas and OU twice each next season, we'll have our work cut out for us. However, with Turgeon being in his third season as head coach at A&M, the excuses that we're young and inexperienced or that we're adjusting to a new system simply won't wash anymore.

Incoming freshmen Naji Hibbert, Khris Middleton, and Kourtney Roberson should help significantly next season. Hibbert will be added to our guard rotation, and Middleton will give us some more size if we slide him in at small forward. Roberson, at 6'9, can move from power forward to post if we decide to go small, so he gives us more depth inside. If we have to, we can slide Roberson down to 3, and feature a front line of 6'10, 6'9, 6'9, with Elonu, Davis, and Roberson.

Given who we return and who we have coming in, I am somewhat surprised that we weren't ranked a little higher, but since we failed to break the top 25 last season, and we haven't finished a season in the top 25 since Turgeon has been here, the skepticism is understandable. Add in the fact that Kentucky is ranked #12 in this pre-season poll, and you know not to take it too seriously. Still, any pre-season recognition is good recognition.

Connecticut Preview - NCAA Tournament - Second Round

Beergut — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:50:12 -0000

The UConn team we face tomorrow afternoon is very, very good. Here is a look at their team stats:

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
A.J. Price	31	31.6	4.7	11.3	41.8	2.5	6.0	41.1	2.3	3.2	72.0	0.6	2.8	3.4	4.7	2.7	0.6	0.0	1.1	14.2
Hasheem Thabeet	32	32.1	5.1	7.9	64.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.8	6.0	62.5	3.8	7.2	10.9	0.4	1.8	0.6	4.5	2.5	13.9
Jeff Adrien	32	34.8	5.2	10.3	50.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.2	5.3	60.9	3.3	6.9	10.2	1.6	1.7	0.5	1.1	2.0	13.6
Jerome Dyson	24	29.3	4.3	10.6	40.8	1.0	2.9	34.8	3.5	4.8	72.4	1.3	2.8	4.1	3.2	2.0	1.8	0.3	1.8	13.2
Kemba Walker	32	25.6	3.1	6.6	46.2	0.4	1.4	26.1	2.3	3.1	73.5	0.9	2.7	3.5	2.8	1.9	1.1	0.2	1.5	8.8
Stanley Robinson	24	23.3	3.3	6.7	48.8	0.1	0.8	10.5	1.2	2.1	58.0	2.0	3.5	5.5	1.3	1.5	0.7	1.0	1.4	7.8
Craig Austrie	32	24.6	2.2	6.3	34.3	0.9	3.1	30.6	1.9	2.4	77.9	0.6	1.1	1.7	2.3	0.8	0.7	0.3	0.9	7.1
Gavin Edwards	32	11.5	1.4	2.3	63.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.3	70.7	1.2	1.6	2.8	0.3	0.6	0.4	0.8	1.6	3.8
Scottie Haralson	15	4.4	0.5	1.8	29.6	0.5	1.7	28.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.5	1.5
Donnell Beverly	16	4.5	0.4	0.7	54.5	0.1	0.3	50.0	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.3	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.1	0.3	0.0	0.3	1.2
Charles Okwandu	10	4.5	0.1	0.4	25.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.2	50.0	0.4	0.7	1.1	0.2	0.6	0.1	0.3	1.0	0.3
Johnnie Bird	8	1.5	0.1	0.4	33.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.3
Jonathan Mandeldove	6	2.5	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0
John Lindner	3	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0
Jim Veronick	2	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Alex Hornat	2	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
	31	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.4	1.3	2.6	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Hasheem Thabeet, their center, is the key to their whole team. The team that most thoroughly dominated UConn this season is Pittsburgh, and they did it by being physical with Thabeet, and going right at him. With Davis, Elonu, and Loubeau, we have the depth to attack Thabeet inside, and force him into foul trouble. We need to focus on being physical in the post, and make him play our game. The Big East has a reputation for being one of the most physical conferences in the nation, so UConn isn't going to shy away from contact, but we need to hammer on Thabeet, and make him play physical.

Offensively, UConn is terrific, with four players who average in double-figures, but defensively they are awesome, as attested to by their 103-47 win over Tennessee-Chattanooga in the first round. Jim Calhoun's teams are defined by their defense first and foremost, and this team is no exception. Thabeet is an exceptional shot blocker in the post, so we need to focus on getting our shots out and up quickly when we go into the paint, and force him to foul us.

With Thabeet patrolling the paint, getting our outside game going with Carter/Holmes/Sloan is of utmost importance. If we can get hot frm outside, we can spread UConn out and open it up inside, isolating Thabeet in the post. Our main focus has to be on limiting turnovers, because scoring in transition is where UConn shines. Even though we dominated BYU, we still had issues with our transition defense, and you can be sure UConn is aware of this, and will try to exploit it.

More after the jump.....

If we win this game, it will be because we had fewer than ten turnovers for the game, and because we were able to get double-digit production from both Elonu and Davis inside. I'm thinking we may need someone unexpected to come up big for us, to be the hero, someone like Nathan Walkup or Dash Harris or B.J. Holmes to explode for us, and take it to the Huskies.

If we beat UConn, we will make it to the Sweet Sixteen for the second time this decade, a feat unmatched in Aggie basketball history. Here's hoping our guys are ready to make history.

BYU Game Review

Beergut — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:32:22 -0000

I apologize for the infrequency of my postings; my internet access is limited right now. Right now I'm trying to figure out why my live gameday thread for our win over BYU never posted yesterday.

In any case, there isn't too much to nitpick about when you upset someone in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies thoroughly dominated the game, the 79-66 score making the game appear closer than it actually was. Consider that the only time BYU led the game was after they made their first shot of the game for a 3-0 lead, and A&M answered with an 11-0 run that gave them the lead for good. Leading by as many as 18 points in the game, the Ags only let BYU bring it to within 8 once before they shut the door on the game.

In my game preview, I said we need to play inside-out with Davis and Elonu inside, and let Carter, Holmes, and Sloan get hot from the outside. BYU opened the game in a man-to-man defense, and we went inside to Bryan Davis immediately. Davis had four of the Aggies eleven points in that 11-0 run to open the first half, along with 1 rebound, 1 block, and 1 assist in that run. BYU switched to a 2-3 zone to try to stop our inside game, and we responded by having Sloan slash inside and kick it out to Holmes and Carter to hit threes. BYU was forced to switch back to their man-to-man defense, which again opened the middle for us.

BYU post Chris Miles was thoroughly intimidated by Davis and Chinemelu Elonu inside, so much so that he was benched for long periods of the first and second half, logging only 18 total minutes of gametime and ending up with 4 points on the day. Much like I suspected, we were a more physical team than BYU, and it showed on the court.

More after the jump....

Bryan Davis scored a season-high 21 points, to lead 5 Aggies who scored in double figures (Sloan 14, Carter 10, Roland 10, Holmes 10). Josh Carter hit two timely threes to keep the pressure on BYU, and Donald Sloan's driving and dishing (7 assists) helped us tear apart BYU's defense in an efficient manner. Nathan Walkup ended the game with only 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist, but Walkup gave us some key minutes. Walkup does a lot of things that don't always show up in the boxscore, but as one person pointed out to me, he does the little things that help you extend runs and keep the lead.

Next, we face a ridiculously talented Connecticut team tomorrow. Connecticut is very good, the best team I think we've faced in tournament play in the last four years, so we'll have our work cut out for us.

Big 12 Tournament - Texas Tech Game Preview

Beergut — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:22:40 -0000

The Aggies will play Texas Tech for the third time this season on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. As the #6 seed in the tournament, the Ags face the #11-seeded Red Raiders at 8:20 pm tomorrow.

Here's a look at Texas Tech's complete season stats:

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
John Roberson	31	35.3	4.6	11.9	39.1	2.3	6.2	36.3	2.8	3.5	82.2	0.3	3.3	3.6	6.5	3.5	1.0	0.1	2.6	14.4
Alan Voskuil	31	35.7	4.4	9.8	44.9	2.8	6.3	44.9	2.5	2.8	89.5	0.8	3.3	4.1	2.1	1.4	1.2	0.0	2.0	14.1
Nick Okorie	27	25.3	3.9	9.4	41.1	1.1	3.1	36.1	2.7	3.6	74.5	0.9	2.2	3.1	1.4	1.6	0.8	0.1	3.1	11.5
Mike Singletary	31	22.6	3.5	7.5	46.4	0.2	0.7	33.3	3.9	5.4	72.0	1.4	4.4	5.7	1.9	2.0	0.5	0.4	2.5	11.1
Trevor Cook	14	14.0	2.8	5.6	49.4	0.5	1.9	26.9	1.5	1.9	77.8	1.0	2.4	3.4	0.4	0.9	0.3	0.9	2.3	7.6
Robert Lewandowski	30	16.3	2.9	5.0	58.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.8	56.4	1.2	2.6	3.8	0.7	1.3	0.3	0.7	2.1	6.9
D`Walyn Roberts	31	16.9	2.1	3.8	54.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.5	60.4	1.4	2.3	3.7	0.6	0.9	0.4	0.6	2.1	5.1
Tyree Graham	13	14.3	1.2	4.1	30.2	0.5	1.5	31.6	1.0	1.2	86.7	0.5	1.2	1.7	1.5	1.5	0.4	0.1	1.5	3.9
Michael Prince	25	15.6	1.6	2.3	67.2	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.7	1.5	45.9	1.2	1.6	2.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.3	2.0	3.8
Darko Cohadarevic	24	10.3	1.5	3.5	41.7	0.0	0.4	11.1	0.5	0.7	75.0	0.5	1.5	2.0	0.5	1.0	0.2	0.2	1.7	3.5
Rogdrick Craig	22	6.7	1.1	3.2	33.8	0.4	1.4	25.8	0.1	0.2	50.0	0.2	0.6	0.8	0.3	0.6	0.2	0.0	1.0	2.6
Damir Suljagic	22	8.8	1.0	2.2	47.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.6	53.8	0.2	1.3	1.5	0.3	0.8	0.2	0.1	1.1	2.4
Wally Dunn	13	3.2	0.8	1.2	62.5	0.5	0.8	54.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.0	0.2	0.1	0.4	2.0
Corbin Ray	16	7.1	0.7	1.3	52.4	0.2	0.4	50.0	0.1	0.1	100.0	0.5	0.8	1.3	0.2	0.4	0.2	0.0	1.2	1.7
Esmir Rizvic	11	10.0	0.5	0.9	60.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.5	40.0	0.6	1.0	1.6	0.5	0.5	0.2	0.2	2.1	1.3
	30	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.9	1.8	3.6	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

What has changed since the last time we played Tech? Well, they blew out the conference champions, Kansas, in their final home game, with senior Alan Voskuil going crazy from behind the line, putting up 39 points in his last game in Lubbock. Voskuil and PG John Roberson are still the offensive keys to this team; if we can control them and make Tech rely on their inside game to beat us, we win this game.

Like our previous two match-ups, I think we have the advantage inside against Tech with Elonu/Davis/Loubeau, so we need to continue to work it inside and press our advantage. Loubeau has come on big as of late, so I expect him to receive some real minutes in this game. However, Elonu has been struggling in his last few games, and we need him to step it up if we're going to get far in the post-season.

I am also anxious to see if we're going to continue to see offensive improvement from Dash Harris. We keep seeing flashes from him, especially in the last few games, that show he has the potential to be a game-changing type of player for us, but he hasn't put it altogether yet. This would be as good a time as any for him to come up big for us.

I really don't see Tech being able to stop our inside-outside game, especially if Carter/Holmes/Sloan/Walkup are hot from the outside, but this is a one-and-done format. Tech knows their chances of playing another game depend on winning tomorrow, so they are going to be playing with a sense of desperation, and a desperate team can be a dangerous team. We just need to take care of business, and we'll be fine.

Mizzou-ATM: Statistical Oh Well

Bill C. — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:34:37 -0000

Well...if you're going to lose by 10 to a team you're supposed to beat, and you're going to (momentarily) lose any chance you have of sharing the Big 12 title, this is the way you want it to happen--with the other team's bench playing unsustainably well (unsustainable = good, since Mizzou and ATM will quite likely be meeting again next week), with a few important guys (Goose, Taylor, and Safford from long range...plus DeMarre from the FT line) finding their shooting rhythm in the second half, and with the whole team almost making an unbelievable second-half comeback. One or two more buckets, and the last two minutes might have unfolded in a completely different way. ATM deserved to win, but Mizzou never quit. Moral Victories R Us!

Let's take a look at the stats...from a "what happens when we (probably) play them Thursday night" perspective.

NCAA Basketball Stats

	Mizzou	ATM
Points Per Minute	2.13	2.40
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.17	1.32
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.47	1.92
2-PT FG%	52.6%	69.7%
3-PT FG%	55.0%	47.1%
FT%	59.1%	74.3%
True Shooting %	62.8%	73.4%

	Mizzou	ATM
Assists	17	15
Steals	8	7
Turnovers	14	14
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.79	1.57

	Mizzou	ATM
Expected Offensive Rebounds	11	8
Offensive Rebounds	9	7
Difference	-2	-1

After the hot second half, Mizzou finished the game having shot 7.6% above their conference true shooting % (55.2%). ATM, 21.7% above (51.7%). They were almost automatic from inside the 3-point line and, in the first half, almost automatic from outside it too.
Meanwhile, Mizzou got nowhere near their conference average BCI of 2.31, actually even falling below ATM's 1.85 allowed. A 1.79 BCI for Missouri against a weak defense is like a Tom Osborne's Nebraska teams rushing for 175 yards against somebody like Missouri or Iowa State a decade or two ago--it's a decent number, but it shouldn't have happened.
A&M's own 1.57 was well above their conference average (1.15) as well. When it's your night (or afternoon), it's your night (or afternoon). Mizzou just couldn't force enough turnovers, and whether that's because they weren't making enough shots to set up the press, or if ATM was just in a great rhythm and had a great gameplan, I'm not sure. Guess we'll see if these two teams play again.
Mizzou got just close enough to mourn that their poor FT% could have made a difference. While DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons went a solid 7-for-10 from the line, the rest of the team (i.e. the backcourt, for the most part) went a stunning 4-for-10. Normally when MU's struggled from the line, it's been because of DeMarre, or maybe Keith Ramsey, laying some bricks. But if you take out JT Tiller's 3-for-4, the combination of Kimmie English, Marcus Denmon, Matt Lawrence and Justin Safford went 1-for-6. That can't happen.
One positive for Mizzou--rebounding was even. If you'd have told me that before the game, I'd have been convinced that Mizzou won by 15. Whoops.

Player Stats

NCAA Basketball Stats

Player	AdjGS*	GmSc/Min	Line
Zaire Taylor	22.44	0.75	17 Pts, 4 Ast
DeMarre Carroll	20.71	0.74	18 Pts, 6 Reb, 4 Ast
Justin Safford	15.53	0.74	15 Pts, 3 Reb
Leo Lyons	10.21	0.64	11 Pts, 4 Reb
Matt Lawrence	10.07	0.37	13 Pts, 2 Reb
Keith Ramsey	5.32	0.41	2 Pts, 2 Ast
Marcus Denmon	1.15	0.07	1 Pt, 2 Stl
Michael Anderson Jr.	1.01	0.20	0 Pts, 1 Ast
J.T. Tiller	0.43	0.02	5 Pts, 3 Ast, 4 TO
Laurence Bowers	0.00	0.00	2 Pts
Miguel Paul	-1.01	-0.34	0 Pts
Kim English	-2.73	-0.23	2 Pts, 2 Reb

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It does the same thing my previous measure of choice did (it takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game), only the formula is more used and accepted. The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

Seriously, if you think of every hot shooting streak Zaire Taylor has had, it's almost completely been when Mizzou was down big. He's an interesting combination of a stat-padder and...well, Mr. Coffee.
DeMarre looked completely harmless for about the first 32 minutes of the game, and then when ATM started guarding the 3-point line, DeMarre went to town and took the reins on the comeback attempt.
The 'backup bigs' hierarchy from the last seven days: 1) Justin Safford, 2) Laurence Bowers, 3) Keith Ramsey. Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed that either. Safford has either turned the corner and become a viable weapon for Missouri, or he's hit a hot streak, but either way...it was well-timed. Especially since Ramsey's confidence hasn't been lower all season.
For those wondering why Leo Lyons barely touched the floor in the second half, here's a small explanation.

Lyons hobbled off the court with 14:26 to play in the first half. A trainer appeared to briefly examine his right knee, and Lyons went back in for an eight-minute stretch.

But the senior forward, who finished with 11 points on 4 for 12 shooting, played only two minutes in the second half.

“We just had some other guys,” Anderson said. “He’s probably banged up, but we had some other guys. I thought they gave us the energy, and that’s what we were looking for.”

So there you go.
Last time JT Tiller had a game this bad (at K-State), he followed it up with a month of almost flawless play. Just sayin'.
I once again will have trouble complaining about Laurence Bowers' three minutes of P.T., especially since DeMarre was great and even Leo Lyons took a backseat to Unstoppable Force Justin Safford (and Matt Lawrence was playing very well at SF to boot), but still...you're attempting a 25-point comeback, and your best overall athlete is sitting fresh on the bench. Not saying I'd have been able to do much differently, but being that I'm the president of the Bowers Needs More Floor Time Committee (or, BNMFTC), I had to mention it.

And since neither Mizzou's nor ATM's sites provided 1st half vs 2nd half data, we'll at least take a look at ATM's player stats to see who played okay and who played at a much, much higher level than normal.

A&M Player Stats

Player	AdjGS*	GmSc/Min	Avg/Gm (Conf)
B.J. Holmes	16.59	0.64	8.74 (+7.85)
Bryan Davis	14.38	0.51	9.28 (+5.10)
Josh Carter	12.66	0.47	15.46 (-2.80)
Donald Sloan	12.41	0.40	8.45 (+3.96)
Nathan Walkup	12.17	0.61	1.69 (+10.48)
Derrick Roland	9.83	0.35	6.27 (+3.56)
Dash Harris	6.51	0.47	1.05 (+5.46)
David Loubeau	6.39	0.40	3.82 (+2.57)
Chinemelu Elonu	5.04	0.50	13.67 (-8.63)

So ATM's two best players (Carter, Elonu) played well below their average (a combined -11.43), and that probably won't happen next week if Mizzou and ATM play again--they'll probably be worth at least another 6-8 points. But...
The ATM bench (Holmes, Loubeau, Harris, Walkup) was worth 26.36 points more than in the normal game. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that Carter spent part of the first half hurt, and Elonu spent most of the game in foul trouble. Plus, you always have to figure that matchups will account for some of the skews from average. But come on...26.36 points? Also, look at the per-minute averages. If you've been reading these posts for the last couple of months, you've seen that bench numbers are usually pretty scattered--a couple of guys are probably going to put up per-minute averages of higher than 0.30 or 0.40, and a couple are probably going to do almost nothing (0.00 or a negative number). Only one ATM player averaged less than 0.40 AdjGS per minute. That's almost certainly not going to happen again next week, no matter how hot ATM is right now.
If Mizzou and ATM play next week and ATM wins again (always possible), it's likely going to be because they played well in the typical way ATM plays well--with Davis and Elonu grabbing a ton of rebounds and Carter and Sloan making big shots. Walkup and Holmes, at the very least, probably won't do nearly as much, win or lose.
I should also mention, by the way, that the last time a team played that well against Mizzou in the first half (KU), they turned around and laid a big, fat midweek egg against Texas Tech. So all of this talk about what might happen when Mizzou and ATM play again could be made moot Wednesday night.

Keys to the Game Revisited

(From Friday's Preview)

Pace. Swing and a miss by me. Each team had about 72 possessions in this game...which is EXACTLY where Mizzou wanted this game to be played (ATM games are usually around 64 possessions).
The 3-pointer. ATM couldn't miss in the first half, but it wasn't Josh Carter who did them in. It was Nathan Walkup (3-for-4), Donald Sloan (2-for-3), and B.J. Holmes (2-for-5). In the second half, Mizzou almost pulled off a miraculous comeback because they couldn't miss, but the damage of the first half was clearly costly, and it was the 3-pointer that did the most damage.

If Mizzou is to play ATM again in a week, odds say they won't have to worry about being killed by Walkup...but Josh Carter really didn't have to do much yesterday--he could do more damage later on.
Turnovers. Mizzou had 14 turnovers, which isn't too bad for them--they had a ton in the first half when ATM was making its move, but for 40 minutes, 14's not bad. Problem was, ATM also had only 14...which was a killer. ATM was much better handling the ball than they could normally be expected, and whether that's because of their great play, or Mizzou's poor play, or bad calls, or whatever, it was what it was.

vs Big 12
Mizzou: 12-4

	Mizzou	Opp.
Points Per Minute	1.96	1.75
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.08	0.97
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.30	1.24
2-PT FG%	50.4%	48.3%
3-PT FG%	37.8%	34.5%
FT%	68.5%	68.7%
True Shooting %	55.6%	53.0%

	Mizzou	Opp.
Assists	281	206
Steals	159	102
Turnovers	194	299
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	2.27	1.03

	Mizzou	Opp.
Expected Offensive Rebounds	203	198
Offensive Rebounds	168	197
Difference	-35	-1

Player	AdjGS/Gm*	GS/Min	Line
DeMarre Carroll	18.43	0.62	17.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 2.4 APG
Leo Lyons	13.20	0.59	14.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.7 APG
J.T. Tiller	9.42	0.38	8.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.7 APG
Zaire Taylor	9.20	0.33	6.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.8 APG
Matt Lawrence	6.52	0.32	7.5 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Marcus Denmon	5.94	0.32	6.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.3 APG
Laurence Bowers	4.49	0.68	3.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Keith Ramsey	4.43	0.29	3.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG
Kim English	4.09	0.25	6.0 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.2 APG
Justin Safford	2.95	0.40	3.0 PPG, 1.6 RPG
Miguel Paul	0.84	0.10	1.6 PPG
Michael Anderson Jr.	0.39	0.09	0.0 PPG
Jarrett Sutton	0.21	0.10	1 walk-on
Steve Moore	-0.37	-0.13	1 Truman Patriot

So Mizzou finishes the BIg 12 season having basically broken even on defensive rebounds, but coming up short on the offensive boards. You'd have thought with this system it may have been the obvious.
The shooting success of KU and ATM at the end of the season have hurt Mizzou's true shooting % defense. At this point they're a team that allows an average shooting % but still forces enough turnovers to win most games easily.
DeMarre Carroll: first-team all-conference.

And even though we lost, there's a prime opportunity for a photoshop job that shouldn't go to waste...

Do your worst.

		#0 Bryan Davis Senior Forward 6-9 \| 250 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) The Aggies are 27-7 when Davis scores in double figures in his career. He averaged 16.5 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in two NCAA Tournament games, earning CBS Sports player of the game honors in both contests. Davis scored a season-high 21 points with nine rebounds and three blocks in a first-round win against BYU. He scored 12 points with a game-high 10 rebounds in a win against Missouri. Davis scored 15 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas, and just missed double-doubles at No. 2 Oklahoma (13 points, nine rebounds), at Baylor (13 points, nine rebounds) and at Colorado (nine points and nine rebounds). He matched his season high with 18 points in a win against Oklahoma State, making 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Davis had 13 points and eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; scored a season-high 18 points with 10 rebounds in a win at Rice; had 17 points against Baylor and 16 points against LSU; came off the bench to score 15 points with a season-high 13 rebounds against Kent State, earning SPI Invitational all-tournament honors; returned to the starting lineup against Arizona and had 10 points, making 5 of 6 from the field; scored 15 points with nine rebounds in a win at Alabama; had 11 rebounds vs. SMU; had at least five rebounds in all but four games; ranked third on the team in scoring (10.8), and second in rebounding (6.5) and blocks (46); ranked fifth in the Big 12 in blocks and ninth in rebounding; ranked fourth in the Big 12 in offensive rebounding (2.9) in league play; scored 14 points with seven rebounds against Jackson State and tied his career best with four blocks; and ranks seventh in school history with 96 career blocks.

		#2 Derrek Lewis Junior Guard 6-5 \| 195 Tulsa, Okla. Lewis appeared in five games, averaging 0.6 point per game. He scored a season-high two points against UNC Wilmington, played a season-best five minutes against Jackson State, and also saw action against BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

		#3 Derrick Roland Senior Guard 6-4 \| 190 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Defense Team (2009) Roland scored 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU, making a pair of three-pointers. He was named to Big 12 All-Defense Team by league coaches and media panel, and usually guarded the opponent's top scoring guard and in Big 12 play held all but two under his scoring average. League players he guarded made just 38 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range. Roland helped limit Arizona All-American Chase Budinger to just three points on 1 of 6 shooting in the second half of A&M's come-from-behind win. Texas' A.J. Abrams averaged just eight points (6 of 22 shooting, 1 of 9 3-pointers) in two games against Roland. Roland scored 11 points in the first win against Texas Tech and held John Roberson to four second-half points (2 of 10 from field, 0 of 5 3-pointers). Oklahoma State's James Anderson averaged just 9.5 points in two games against Roland. Roland matched his season best with 13 points in a loss at Baylor, scoring 11 in the second half to rally the Aggies from a 14-point deficit. He scored 12 points with four assists in a win at Colorado (8-8 FT); made 25 of his last 29 free throw attempts; played just 10 minutes against McNeese State, after leaving the game early with a bruised elbow, and did not play against North Dakota; scored six points with a season-high six rebounds against Arizona; missed the Kent State game after suffering a sprained foot against Tulsa; and averaged 8.5 points in the last six games. The Aggies are 11-2 in his career when he scores in double figures, and 8-1 on the season.

		#5 Dash Harris Sophomore Guard 6-1 \| 175 Los Angeles, Calif. Harris played in all 34 games and earned a start against Kent State. He ranked second on the team in assists (2.0) and was third in steals (0.7); scored a career-high seven points with three assists against Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament; had six points and made 2 of 2 from 3-point range against Iowa State, his first career 3-pointers; had a monster dunk and made a free throw to complete a key 3-point play and spark a comeback win at Nebraska; scored six points with three assists and two steals in a big win against Missouri; dished out a career-high five assists in consecutive games against Rice and McNeese State; matched his career best with five assists in wins against Texas (zero turnovers) and Texas Tech; scored a career-high six points with four assists and a career-best three steals against North Dakota; handed out at least four assists in seven games; and scored four points against Tulsa. The Aggies were 9-1 when he had at least three assists, with the only loss being to UConn.

		#10 David Loubeau Sophomore Forward 6-8 \| 230 Miami, Fla. Loubeau scored 11 points, making 5 of 5 from the field, against Connecticut in the second round of NCAA Tournament; ranked third on the team in offensive rebounds (58); ranked second among Big 12 freshmen in offensive rebounds in league play (1.9); scored eight points in a win against Missouri; had nine points, all in the second half, with six rebounds in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma; scored 11 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; had 10 points, all in the first half, in a win against Oklahoma State; scored a career-high 12 points with eight rebounds against Kent State in his first career start; also started against Iowa State; had seven points with five rebounds at Kansas, including a game-high four offensive boards; scored six points with a career-best nine rebounds against Tulsa; had eight points at Alabama, helping the Aggies rally from 14-point deficit; scored eight points with eight rebounds against SMU; had eight points and six rebounds against Jackson State, making 6 of 8 from the free-throw line; and tallied six points with six boards against UNC Wilmington. The Aggies were 7-2 when he scored at least eight points, losing only at Oklahoma and to UConn.

		#11 B.J. Holmes Junior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) In Big 12 play, Holmes led the league in 3-point percentage (.470) and ranked second in free-throw percentage (.860). He ranked among the top bench players in the Big 12 with an 9.1 scoring average in conference play; had 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU; scored 11 points (3 of 3 treys) in a win against Texas; scored 10 of his 16 points in the last six minutes in a comeback win at Colorado; had 13 points in a win vs. Missouri; had a career-high 24 points in the first win against Texas Tech, making 6 of 7 (.857) from 3-point range, the fourth-best percentage in school history; made six straight 3s against Tech, tying a Big 12 record; scored 19 points at Oklahoma State, making 4 of 9 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws; earned his first career start against Arizona and had a team-high 14 points (3 of 6 3-pointers); made a pair of key free throws in the final minute of the Arizona game and also drew a charge that fouled out Wildcat point guard Nic Wise late in game; scored 16 points with a career-best seven rebounds in a win at Alabama and made a rainbow 3-pointer with two seconds left to send the game to overtime; scored 15 points against Kent State, making 3 of 6 3-pointers and dropping a pair of free throws in the final seconds that helped ice the game; started in place of the injured Derrick Roland against North Dakota and scored 14 points (4-8 3-pointers); missed his first 12 shots of the season; led the team in steals (30); and had only 18 turnovers in 757 minutes (one every 42.1 minutes).

		#14 Andrew Darko Junior Guard 6-1 \| 175 Conroe, Texas Darko appeared in nine games, including three Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored two points against Jackson State and at Kansas.

		#15 Donald Sloan Senior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas The Aggies are 39-8 in Sloan's career when he hands out at least three assists, including a 16-3 mark as a junior, and the team is 33-13 when he scores in double figures. He averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in two NCAA Tournament games; scored 14 points with six rebounds and a season-high seven assists in a first-round win vs. BYU; added 12 points in the second round against Connecticut; had a career-high 22 points against Texas Tech in Big 12 Tournament; scored a team-high 16 points in a win against Missouri; averaged 15.6 points in the last five games; had 14 points and five assists with only one turnover, scoring seven points in the final four minutes of a comeback win at Colorado; had 14 points in a win against Texas; scored 17 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a loss at Texas; had 15 points in a win against Oklahoma State; tied his career high with 21 points against Florida A&M, making 10 of 10 free throws; ranked second on the team in scoring (11.8) and led in assists (3.2); scored at least eight points in all but three games; had 13 points and five assists with only one turnover in 35 minutes against Arizona; handed out a season-high seven assists against Kent State with only one turnover; had 16 points with three assists and six rebounds against Stephen F. Austin; made .743 (107-144) from the free-throw line; and had only 56 turnovers in 1,030 minutes this season (one every 18.4 minutes), a marked improvement over his sophomore season, when he averaged one turnover every 13.3 minutes.

		#24 Shawn Schepel Junior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas Schepel played in six games, including two Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored one point against Jackson State.

		#31 Chris Chapman Senior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Chapman appeared in three games, including the Iowa State game in Big 12 play. He scored two points with one rebound against Jackson State.

		#33 Marshall Carrell Junior Forward 6-9 \| 230 Paris, Texas Carrell appeared in four games, including an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He pulled down two rebounds against Jackson State.

		#45 Nathan Walkup Junior Forward 6-7 \| 210 Houston, Texas Walkup played in all 34 games, starting against UNC Wilmington and Iowa State. He averaged 14 minutes in two NCAA Tournament games; scored a career-high 12 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a win against Missouri; had eight points (2 of 2 3-pointers) against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament; had seven points, making 3 of 3 from the field (including a key second-half 3-pointer) in a win against Texas; also added seven points in a win at Nebraska and had a breakaway dunk that helped spark a comeback; scored six points with three rebounds in just 11 minutes in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma, including a breakaway dunk; made a game-winning 3-pointer with 20 seconds left against Arizona, his only points of the game; scored seven points in a win at Alabama and made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to pull the Aggies within two points, before teammate B.J. Holmes sent the game into overtime with two seconds left; scored a season-high nine points with a career-best 12 rebounds against UNC Wilmington; averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds; scored seven points with 11 rebounds against Stephen F. Austin and made a key long-range 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the final minute; scored eight points against Jackson State; and made a 3-pointer with 7:32 left to give A&M a six-point lead at Rice, and it never was a one-possession game again. The Aggies are 14-2 in his career when he scores at least five points.

		#21 Ray Turner Freshman Forward 6-8 \| 220 Houston, Texas Turner was ranked No. 144 nationally and No. 6 in Texas by Rivals.com; averaged 16.5 points and earned district MVP honors as a senior; was named to all-state and all-region teams; played in the THSCA All-Star Game; led his team to a 29-7 record and a district title; posted career game-highs of 35 points, 25 rebounds and 12 blocks; averaged 16 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a junior; and also was recruited by Baylor, Marquette, Memphis, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma State.

		#22 Khris Middleton Freshman Forward 6-7 \| 215 North Charleston, S.C. Middleton was rated No. 64 by ESPN.com, which also ranked him as the best shooter among the nation's small forward prospects; averaged 22.4 points and 8.6 rebounds as a prep senior, earning all-state honors and leading his team to the state title game; averaged 21.0 points and 8.6 rebounds as a junior; twice earned state player-of-the-year honors; posted a career-high scoring game of 39 points; and also was recruited by Michigan, South Carolina, St. Joseph's and Virginia Tech.

		#23 Naji Hibbert Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 200 Baltimore, Md. Hibbert was ranked No. 59 nationally by ESPN.com and was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com; named to all-league and all-metro teams for the second straight year after averaging 15.7 points at storied DeMatha Catholic High School; and scored with 1.8 seconds left to lift DeMatha to the state championship. The team finished 31-4 and was ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN. Hibbert averaged 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a junior; scored 44 points in an AAU game; and also was recruited by Clemson, Marquette, Maryland, Miami, Syracuse and Xavier.

		#25 Jeremy Adams Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 195 Madison, Miss. Adams was rated as the No. 2 player in Mississippi by ESPN after averaging 27.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.2 steals as a senior at Madison Central; earned all-state honors; had three 40-point scoring games and earned all-division, all-metro and all-state honors; twice scored 43 points in a game; led his team to three straight district titles; and also was recruited by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame and Wake Forest.

SB Nation - B.J. Holmes

Aggies Hang On To Defeat #16 Minnesota, 66-65

Around the ACC: Nov. 27

Men's Basketball Defeats Clemson, 69-60

Aggies Defeat Mustangs, 80-68

KNOW THY ENEMY: Texas A&M Aggies

The Coach

The Departures

The Veterans

The Redshirt

The Newcomers

The Analysis

Projected Starting Lineup

Projected Top Reserves

The Final Verdict

Previously on KNOW THY ENEMY...

A&M Ranked #25 In ESPN's Totally Premature Top 25

Connecticut Preview - NCAA Tournament - Second Round

BYU Game Review

Big 12 Tournament - Texas Tech Game Preview

Mizzou-ATM: Statistical Oh Well

Player Stats

A&M Player Stats

Keys to the Game Revisited

vs Big 12Mizzou: 12-4

vs Big 12
Mizzou: 12-4