Spring Break
Men to take on Tech in rival showdown
By: David Arno
Issue date: 1/28/09 Section: Sports
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The Aggies (15-5, 1-4) have dropped three consecutive games and will try to recover against a Red Raider team that has lost four of its previous five games and has not won a true road game this season.
A&M and Tech split the series in 2007-2008. In the first meeting, the Aggies lost 68-53 in Lubbock to start a three game losing streak. A&M won the second meeting at home 98-54.
After starting the season 14-1, A&M has suffered through a
difficult start to Big 12 play with losses to No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 11 Texas. Despite the team's recent struggles, Head Coach Mark Turgeon said he isn't putting any extra pressure on the team to win against Tech.
"I don't want to put pressure on these guys and say we have to win this game," Turgeon said. "I just want us to play well and the rest will take of itself. We're making strides and we'll see what happens Wednesday night."
Tech is in its second season under Head Coach Pat Knight, son of former Head Coach Bob Knight. The younger Knight took over the Raiders on Feb. 4, 2008 and went 3-3 in the final six games of the 2007-2008 season.
Senior forward Josh Carter said that, although the team has had a rough start to conference play, the team has not lost its nerve. He said his teammates know that they need to get back on the winning side of the column.
"We've got Tech coming in, and we need a win," Carter said. "It's good to be home, so hopefully the crowd gets going so we can get going and get ourselves a win. It's not time to start panicking. We knew that this stretch was going to be difficult, and it didn't turn out the way that we'd like it to, but we need to start winning games now."
Carter, who leads the Aggies in scoring with 12.9 points per game, scored 11 points against the Red Raiders at United Spirit Arena in 2008.
Turgeon said protecting their home court is important and wants to see a large amount of support from the Aggie fans.
"I can't imagine us not coming out ready to play and play well," Turgeon said. "We've been really good at home and our fan support has been really fantastic, especially since Big 12 started. We've had two really unbelievable crowds since we've started, so we're expecting to play well Wednesday."
Where to watch
The game between Texas A&M and Texas Tech at 8 p.m. today on ESPNU.
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