Game #21: No. 24/23 Texas A&M (17-5, 6-3) at Texas (12-8, 6-4)
STATE FARM LONE STAR SHOWDOWN: Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006: 8 p.m. (Central)
at the Frank Erwin Center (capacity 16,775), Austin, Texas
Game Day Information & Quick Facts
TV: FSNSW- FOX Sports Net Southwest: Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play); Brenda Van Lengen (color analyst)
Radio: Texas: KVET Radio/Sports Radio 1300 (1300 AM), Austin; Sports Radio 1550 AM (Coll. Station)
Teams at A Glance
National Rankings: Texas is not ranked ; Texas A&M is No. 24 (tied) in AP Poll, No. 23 in USA Today/ESPN Poll
All-Time Series Record: 68th meeting: Texas leads series, 54-13
Texas' H/A/N Record vs. Texas A&M: 27-2 at home; 20-8 away; 7-3 at neutral sites
Series Streak: +7, Texas
Last Year: #13/14 Texas 77, Texas A&M 62 (Feb. 2, 2005, Austin, Texas); #11/13 Texas 69, Texas A&M 57 (Mar. 2, 2005, College Station, Texas
Last Texas A&M Win: Feb. 2, 2002 (A&M 70, Texas 65, at College Station)
Texas Coach Jody Conradt (Baylor '63): 37th year overall: 1,167 games: 881-286 (.755); 30th year at Texas: 988 games: 764-224 (.773)
A&M Head Coach Gary Blair: 21st season overall: 652 games: 450-202 (.690); 3rd year at Texas A&M: 71 games: 42-29 (.519)
Quick Glance at the Teams
Texas enters tonight's State Farm Lone Star Showdown standing 12-8 overall and 6-4 in the Big 12, and begins a three-game home-stand tonight, hosting Texas A&M in the first of two matchups with the Aggies this year ... Texas A&M is 17-5 overall, 6-3 in the league... The Longhorns are 6-2 in their last eight games... Texas is unranked this week, while A&M is tied for No. 24 in this week's Associated Press Top 25 and No. 23 in the USA Today/ESPN poll (ranked for the first time since the end of 1994-95) ... The Aggies are in a three-way tie for third in the Big 12 (with Baylor and Missouri), while Texas and Kansas State are right behind at 6-4 ... Texas holds a 31-game home-court win streak against Big 12 opponents (the league's longest) ... Texas is coming off Saturday's 69-64 victory at Colorado, while the Aggies last defeated Texas Tech, 65-48, also on Sunday ... This is the second-longest rivalry in terms of games played in Texas basketball history... This is the 68th game in the series... Texas leads the series, 57-10, and has a seven-game win streak against the Aggies.
Bring 'Em On: Fourth Toughest Schedule in Land Belongs To Texas
According to the most recent RPI rankings (Feb. 7) on CollegeRPI.com, UT's schedule is rated the fourth toughest in the nation, while the Horns are ranked No. 22 overall in the RPI ... Beginning with No. 24/23 Texas A&M tonight, four of UT's next five games are against Top 25 opponents (also vs. No. 4/3 UConn on Feb. 12, No. 9/12 Oklahoma on Feb. 15, and the Aggies again on Feb. 22) ... Texas has faced six Top 25 teams (going 1-5 to date), with New Mexico and George Washington entering the polls after playing Texas ... UT's schedule has been rated first-through-fourth toughest all year long ... The NCAA released its first set of public RPI ratings on Feb. 2nd... In that RPI, Texas stood No. 11.. Next NCAA RPI will be released at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
Home Sweet Home- 31 Straight Big 12 Wins at Erwin Center
Texas brings a 31-game conference homecourt win streak into tonight's game, which dates back to the 2001-02 season ... UT's last Big 12 loss at home was to Kansas State on Jan. 30, 2001 when the No. 9 Wildcats posted an 80-76 double OT win over the No. 14 Horns ... To date this year, Texas is 8-2 at home, 2-6 in away games and 2-0 at neutral sites... Since the start of 2002-03, Texas is now 52-3 at home (94.5 percent)... Away from Austin in this span, the Horns have won 41 times (24 in actual away games, 17 times on a neutral court) with 25 losses... This year's two away wins were at Nebraska (70-62, Jan. 18) and at Colorado (69-64, Feb. 3) ... The two neutral court wins were UT's wins in the Junkanoo Jam tourney in the Bahamas on Thanksgiving weekend.
Texas Stat Leaders
Texas junior Tiffany Jackson, listed as doubtful for tonight's game with a right ankle injury, leads the Longhorns in scoring (14.4 ppg), rebounding (8.8) and steals (54, 2.7 spg)...Jackson injured the ankle with 5:55 left to go in Saturday's game at Colorado. Following in the scoring column are freshman Erika Arriaran (11.1 ppg), senior Nina Norman (9.3 ppg) and freshman Ashley Lindsey (5.8 ppg), with Lindsey second in rebounding (5.4 rpg) and Norman and Arriaran tied for second in steals (29 each) ... Texas is led in Norman is first in assists (48, 2.4 apg) and Arriaran and Jackson are tied for second in assists (each with 42, 2.2 apg)... Arriaran leads the club in 3-pointers made (31) and taken (88) and in free throw percentage (.871, 27-31) ... In Big 12 action, Jackson averages just under a double-double (14.9 ppg, 9.9 rpg), while Norman (10.6 ppg) and Arriaran (10.4 ppg) are in league double-figure scoring.
Texas A&M Stat Leaders
The Aggies are led by sophomore G/F Morenike Atunrase (12.6 ppg, 2.0 spg), freshman G Takia Starks (11.8 ppg), freshman G/F Danielle Gant (9.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and sophomore G A'Quonesia Franklin (8.8 ppg, team-high 4.4 apg) ... The Aggies enjoy a huge scoring advantage over their opponents, out-scoring the opposition by a +15.8 ppg margin (68.9 ppg to 55.8 ppg) overall ... In Big 12 action, A&M's scoring margin is +9.8 (65.1 ppg to opponents' 55.3 ppg).
State Farm Lone Star Showdown
Following tonight's game, the State Farm Lone Star Showdown trophy will be presented to the winning team...In the Lone Star Showdown points race across all sports that UT and A&M compete in, Texas currently holds a 6.5-1 State Farm LSSD points edge; a school needs 10 points to win the Showdown for the year ... This is its second year... Texas claimed the Showdown title last year (14.5 to 4.5)... Texas women's basketball earned a full point with two wins over the Aggies.
Texas-Texas A&M Series
Tonight's game marks the 68th game in the Texas-Aggie series, which is the second longest series in Texas women's basketball history ... The longest series is the UT-Texas Tech series which is at 73 games (Texas leads that series, 52-21) ... In all-time games against A&M, the Longhorns stand 57-10 with a seven-game win streak in the series... Texas is 14-1 against the Aggies dating back to the 1998-99 campaign ... The lone A&M win in this string was Feb. 2, 2002, a 70-65 victory in College Station which ended UT's seven-game win streak in the series ... The last time these two squad met with Texas unranked and A&M ranked was on Feb. 9, 1994 - 29 games ago in the series... That contest was won in Austin by Texas, 81-69. The Longhorns hold a 27-2 all-time record in Austin against the Aggies, and UT has won the last nine games played in Austin, dating back to the 1994-95 campaign ... In games played at College Station, UT stands 23-5, and is 6-2 in the last eight games in Aggieland; at neutral sites, Texas is 7-3 against TAMU.
Tight Games This Year For Both Squads
Both teams have been involved in closely contested games this year ... In games decided by 10 points or less, the Longhorns are 6-2 overall (4-1 in Big 12 action); breaking that down further, Texas is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play when the game is decided by FIVE POINTS or less. Texas A&M has five losses - two by a combined three points ... The Aggies are 2-2 in games decided by 10 points or less (1-1 in Big 12); in games decided by five points or less, A&M is 1-2 (0-1 in Big 12).
Texas No. 2 in All-Time Big 12 Wins
Texas stands 103-51 (.669) in all-time league victories - second-best all-time ... Texas and Texas Tech (114 wins) are the only schools to notch 100-plus wins in Big 12 regular season action (see chart, pg. 5).
UT's Big 12 Stat Leaders
After eight Big 12 games, All-America junior Tiffany Jackson ranks in the top 10 in eight different league stat catagories: steals (1st with 26, 2.6 spg); double-doubles (tied for 3rd with 5); overall rebounding (4th, 9.9 rpg); defensive rebounds (3th, 6.7/game); offensive rebounds (7th, 3.2/game); scoring (8th, 14.9 ppg); minutes played (10th, 34.5 mpg); and blocked shots (tied for 10th, 1.3) ... She also is 15th in free throw pct. ( .721). In single-game efforts, Jackson's 17 rebounds against Iowa State (Jan. 17) is tied for the second-best single-game rebounding total, while her eight steals against ISU is a league high... Her 13-for-17 free throw line against Texas Tech (Feb. 1) is the league high for single game free throws made and taken. Freshman post Ashley Lindsey is No. 9 in blocked shots (14, 1.4), while freshman Erika Arriaran is No. 11 in steals (17, 1.7 spg) and tied for No. 12 in 3-pointers made per game (1.6) ... Senior Daria Mieloszynska's six treys against ISU are tied for the single-game high in league action. Senior guard Nina Norman is No. 12 in steals (1.6 spg), and No. 24 in scoring (10.6 ppg). In the team statistics, the 6-4 Longhorns are one of the league's top defensive squads, but do not match those rankings offensively ... UT is No. 3 in blocks (5.3 bpg), No. 3 in steals (9.3 spg), No. 4 in defensive rebounds (26/game), No. 3 in offensive rebounds (14.5/game), No. 4 in field goal pct. defense (opponents shooting .386), No. 4 in turnover margin (+0.70, 16.6 per game to opponents' 17.3) and No. 4 in rebounding (40.5 rpg)... Offensively, the Longhorns are No. 5 in scoring (64.2 ppg), No. 6 in scoring margin (+0.6), No. 9 in field goal pct. (.400) and No. 7 in free throw pct. (.689), tied for No. 7 in scoring defense (allowing 63.6 ppg), ... UT sits No. 9 in 3-point pct. (.316), No. 10 in assist/turnover ratio (+0.62), tied for No. 11 in 3-pointers per game (3.0) and No. 12 in assists (10.2 apg).
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