Saturday, January 9
Knoxville, Tenn.
12:00 PM
Texas A&M
at
Tennessee
Aggies Set to Face Tennessee in Knoxville
Jan 08, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Aggie Basketball Game #15:
#21/17 Texas A&M (12-2; 2-0 SEC) at Tennessee (8-6, 1-1 SEC)
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 · 12:00 p.m. (CT)
Thompson–Boling Arena (21,678) · Knoxville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network (For more info – 12thMan.com/TV)
Richard Cross, Play-by-Play
Dane Bradshaw & Tony Delk, Commentary
RADIO: Texas A&M Radio Network
Dave South, Play-by-Play
Mike Caruso, Commentary
Local: WTAW 1620 AM (College Station/Bryan)
Satellite (UT Broadcast): Sirius (Ch. 108) / XM (Ch. 190)
LIVE AUDIO/STATS: 12thMan.com
LIVE MOBILE LIVE STATS: tamustats.com
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COLLEGE STATION – Riding the momentum of five consecutive victories, the No. 17 Texas A&M men's basketball team will take on the challenge of a second straight SEC road contest when the Aggies face Tennessee on Saturday at Noon (CT) inside Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
The matchup will be nationally televised on SEC Network with Richard Cross calling the play-by-play with Dane Bradshaw and Tony Delk providing color commentary. Additionally, radio coverage will be provided on the Aggie Sports Network, which can be heard locally in the Bryan/College Station area on WTAW (1620 AM).
The Aggies (12-2; 2-0 SEC) are coming off a hard-fought 61-60 win in Starkville over Mississippi State on Wednesday night. Senior Alex Caruso put together a well-rounded performance against the Bulldogs as the College Station native dished out a game-high eight assists against just one turnover, while scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
A&M also received big contributions from a pair of freshmen in the win over MSU, as Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg combined to score 21 points in 57 minutes of action. Hogg fell just short of his first collegiate double-double in the affair, finishing with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
Opposing the Aggies Saturday on the Tennessee bench will be a familiar foe, as former Texas head coach Rick Barnes is in his first season at the helm of the Volunteer program. Barnes, who has also served tenures at George Mason, Providence and Clemson, faced off against the Aggies on 31 occasions while leading the Longhorns from 1998-2015.
Tennessee (8-6; 1-1 SEC) opened SEC play with a 83-77 loss at Auburn on Jan. 2 before evening its conference ledger with an 83-69 win over Florida in Knoxville on Wednesday. On the court, the Vols are led by senior guard Kevin Punter who paces the team and ranks second in the SEC with a 23.1 point-per-game scoring clip this season.
OPENING TIPS
• The Aggies travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the third consecutive season when they face the Volunteers inside Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday … Texas A&M has earned a win in each of its last two trips to Knoxville.• The series between Texas A&M and Tennessee has been a tightly-contested one with last four games decided by an average of less than five points, including two contests then went into overtime.
• Senior forward Jalen Jones is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after standout performances in Aggie wins over Cal Poly and Arkansas last week ... Highlighting his week was a career-high 28 point-performance during Saturday's SEC-opening victory over Arkansas when he converted 9-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
• Last season, Jones scored 18 points to lift the Aggies to a 67-61 in Knoxville, the Aggies' third straight win in the series.
• Senior guard Alex Caruso enjoyed a solid all-around performances during Wednesday's win at Mississippi State, finishing with 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds while committing only one turnover ... In his last six games, Caruso is averaging 10.7 points per outing and has dished out 38 assists while committing only seven turnovers.
• During the win over the Bulldogs, freshmen Admon Gilder and D.J. Hogg combined for 21 points and 13 rebounds ... Hogg narrowly missed his first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine boards.
SERIES HISTORY VS. TENNESSEE (UT LEADS 5-4)
• Saturday will be the 10th meeting between the Aggies and Volunteers on the hardwood ... Tennessee owns a 5-4 edge in the all-time series, but the Aggies have won three straight meetings• Last season, the Aggies defeated the Vols 67-61 on Jan. 24 in Knoxville ... Jalen Jones led the team with 18 points, converting 8-of-13 field goal attempts with nine rebounds.
• On Feb. 23, 2013, the two squads engaged in a four-overtime thriller at Reed Arena which saw the Vols emerge with a 93-85 victory ... A&M's Elston Turner set a Reed Arena scoring record (men's games only) during the contest by finishing with 38 points.
• Prior to becoming conference partners in the SEC, most recent meetings between the schools came during a home-and-home series in back-to-back seasons with A&M winning 83-66 in College Station on Dec. 4, 2002, before dropping a 108-84 decision at Tennessee on Dec. 2, 2003.
• The Aggies' first win in the series came in College Station on Dec. 4, 2002 ... A&M's Antoine Wright logged a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lift the Aggies to an 83-66 victory.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M returns to Aggieland to host Florida inside Reed Arena on Tuesday (Jan. 12) … The game is slated to tip off at 6 p.m. on SEC Network.JONES NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (JAN. 4)
Following standout performances in Aggie wins over Cal Poly and Arkansas, Texas A&M's Jalen Jones was named SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 4.A 6-foot-7, 220-pound senior forward from Dallas, Jones averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in wins over Cal Poly and Arkansas. Jones exploded for a career-high 28 points during the Aggies' SEC-opening victory over Arkansas, converting 9-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, while grabbing seven rebounds and notching two steals.
Earlier in the week, Jones scored 11 points with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal as the Aggies defeated Cal Poly at Reed Arena.
TROCHA-MORELOS DEVELOPING INTO A CONTRIBUTOR
After making his long awaited debut season on the court of the Aggie big man Tonny Trocha-Morelos struggled at times last season to feel comfortable on the court after waiting almost two seasons to hit the court. The Columbian averaged under two points in 10.2 minutes per contest a year ago, but this season is turning heads as one of the most improved players on the A&M roster.Trocha-Morelos' numbers are significantly up across the board through 13 games of his sophomore campaign, including his first career double-double [10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Arkansas on Jan. 2].
KENTUCKY TOPS PRESEASON SEC MEDIA POLL; AGGIES THIRD
Kentucky was predicted to win the 2016 Southeastern Conference men's basketball championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.The Wildcats are the overall preseason favorite for the 11th time since the 1998-99 season.
LSU freshman Ben Simmons was the choice of the media for SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year. Simmons becomes just the second freshman chosen as preseason player of the year by the media, joining Kentucky's Julius Randle in 2013-14. Florida's Dorrian Finney-Smith, Kentucky's Tyler Ulis, Texas A&M's Danuel House and Vanderbilt's Damian Jones also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.
House, Jones, Simmons and Ulis were each All-SEC First Team selections along with Kentucky's Skal Labissiere and Ole Miss's Stefan Moody.
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