Aggie Hoops Host Missouri

The Texas Aggie basketball team faces a familiar foe but in a different conference when it hosts the Missouri Tigers at Reed Arena on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M men's basketball team will face a familiar foe in a new situation on Thursday night at 8 p.m. inside Reed Arena when it hosts Missouri for the first time as an SEC opponent. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.

The Aggies (13-8, 3-5 SEC) are coming off back-to-back overtime contests last week as they defeated Mississippi State 55-49 in Starkville on Wednesday before falling to defending national champion Kentucky 72-68 at Reed Arena Saturday.

Senior forward Ray Turner recorded his sixth career double-double during the match-up with Kentucky, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. It was the second double-digit rebound performance of the season for the Houston native and the first since he pulled down 11 boards in a win at Houston on Dec. 1.

Junior guard Fabyon Harris continued his recent run of offensive consistency against UK, scoring 14 in the contest to reach double digits in points for the ninth time during his last 12 games. The Chicago native ranks second on the squad with a 13.1 scoring average during SEC play.

Senior guard Elston Turner, who exploded for 40 points during a January meeting with the Wildcats in Lexington, scored a game-high 21 against Kentucky to give the Sacramento, Calif., native 42 career double-digit scoring contests in 53 career games at Texas A&M.

Missouri, meanwhile, comes to College Station with a 16-5 overall record this season and a 5-3 mark in SEC play. Missouri head coach and former Texas A&M assistant Frank Haith is in his second season at the helm of the Tigers after spending the previous seven seasons as the head coach at Miami (Fla.). The Tigers are coming off a 91-77 win over Auburn in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday and are led by Preseason All-SEC first-teamer and Dallas native Phil Pressey, who averages 12.1 points and seven assists per contest.

In addition to Pressey, four other Tigers average double digit points on the season, including senior forward Laurence Bowers who paces the team with a 16.1 point per game clip.